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Nexon invests $687M in NCsoft, becomes largest shareholder
MMO competitors and countrymen-in-arms Nexon and NCsoft are closer than ever today, as Nexon has acquired a minority interest in its fellow company. The move makes Nexon NCsoft's largest shareholder. Nexon announced that it had invested in NCsoft by snapping up 3,218,091 shares in a private transaction. The deal cost Nexon 804,522,750,000 South Korean Won, or $687 million US. This puts Nexon's share ownership of NCsoft at 14.7%. It will certainly be interesting to see how this investment affects the future of both Nexon and NCsoft. Nexon said that it "forms the basis of a long-term partnership" between the two companies. Nexon has been making aggressive moves of late, particularly with acquiring Taiwanese publisher Gamania last month.
Facebook allowed to triple size of its HQ, pays $10 million for the privilege
Swollen with cash following its IPO, Facebook is looking to expand its headquarters in Menlo Park. Its plan to triple its workforce there from 2,200 to 6,600 people was approved by local officials last night, removing the previous cap that allowed a maximum of 3,600 messy, resource-consuming humans. In lieu of the added burden on the city, Facebook will have to contribute $850,000 per year for ten years, plus a one-time payment of $1,000,000. The start of a surge towards greater products and profits, or the beginning of a complacent corporate decline? We'll let the stock market decide.
Zynga shares close at record low following lackluster Facebook IPO
Facebook went public yesterday, and its unexpectedly less-than-stellar performance on the trading floor has had powerful ramifications for its social soul sister Zynga, which finished the day's trading at a record low of $7.16 a share.It's possible that Facebook's unimpressive IPO, closing out Friday at $38.23 a share – four dollars less than its $42.05 opening price – caused Zynga's value to drop in tandem, as the two platforms are inexorably intertwined in the public mindset. It's also possible that Zynga share holders jumped ship in favor of that new Facebook hotness, no longer having to settle for social second best. Regardless, the severe downturn in value lead to two trading halts on Zynga shares over the course of the day; once after reaching $7.17 a share, and once again after a slight increase in market value. Despite this, share values eventually dropped to as little as $6.93 before finally settling at $7.16.
Daily Update for April 17, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Zynga executives unloading 20 million shares in secondary offering
Zynga is prepping for its upcoming secondary stock offering, which will put 43 million shares of the company up for sale -- 20.2 million of which are "Class B" shares that currently belong to the high ranking Zynga executives.In descending order of shares being sold, cofounder Mark Pincus is unloading the most at 16.5 million shares, roughly 15 percent of his ownership of the company. Directors Reid Hoffman and Owen Van Natta come in second and third, selling 687,626 shares and 505,627 shares respectively. CFO David Wehner is selling more than 50 percent of his ownership in the company by offering 386,865 shares, followed closely by COO John Schappert whose 322,350 buyable shares make up nearly 45 percent of his total stake.It's easy to read into things like this and infer all kinds of assumptions, both positive and negative, about what it means for the company. So instead of doing that, let's all forget the stock market even exists and watch cat videos.
AAPL flirts with $600 today
Apple's stock soared on Wednesday and now it is poised to cross the US$600 mark. As noted by CNN Money, the stock hit $600 once and has fallen back down to $598 at the writing of this post. As The Wall Street Journal points out it took Apple 34 trading days to jump from $400 to $500 and a mere 23 days from $500 to $600. With strong iPad sales expected tomorrow, it's highly likely the price will go over $600 and stay there sometime today. This threshold will push Apple's market value even higher. It's currently sitting at the $556 billion mark which, according to a report in Wall Street Pit, is just below the 2011 GDP for Saudi Arabia. [Via CNN Money]
Subscriber numbers lead to a new hope for Electronic Arts stock
It's official: As of yesterday, Star Wars: The Old Republic has 1.7 million active subscribers and has sold 2 million copies. That's good news for fans of the game, but it's also good news for both BioWare and Electronic Arts. Apparently, it's seen as very good news for Electronic Arts, as the company's stock has gone up by 6.1% in the announcement's wake. The stock closed on Wednesday at $18.44 a share and closed today at $19.56, an appreciable gain for the company and a sign of good health. This is sharp contrast to some of the early analyst responses before subscriber numbers were released, as well as some suspicions that the game was falling after a few first-patch fumbles. Whether the game will rise further or stabilize where it is remains to be seen, but it's certainly making a strong showing out of the gate, and the financial sector is taking note. [Thanks to Robert for the tip!]
Electronic Arts stock drops because of SWTOR fumbles
Electronic Arts' stock appears to be in a bit of trouble following Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch. The company's shares fell by almost 3% to $17.75 US this morning after a stock analyst working with Brean Murray Carret & Co. "cut his price target on the stock to $22 [US] from $28 [US]." In a note to his clients, analyst Todd Mitchell wrote that he felt some "creeping concerns" regarding The Old Republic's performance so far; he added that "initial sales appear to be below expectations, and casual observation of early play is causing us to rethink our churn assumptions." Now we just get to sit back with some popcorn and see whether BioWare can get its business together in time to make a recovery, so take a seat. [Thanks to Chum for the tip!]
Report: Rovio mulling Hong Kong IPO in 2013
Finnish school for agitated ornithological research mobile mogul Rovio may be looking to capitalize on its world-wide brand recognition and ridiculous, un-ending revenue stream by listing its stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2013, assuming the world still exists in 2013, that is. The financial liquidity inherent in Asia's increasingly prosperous business climate makes for an excellent pro-IPO opportunity, according to Finnish outlet Tekniikka & Talous. While no official announcements have been made as of yet, an IPO in Rovio's immediate future makes sense considering that the developer is currently valued between $2.6 and $9.1 billion and recently turned down $2.25 billion from Zynga.
Trion Worlds may go public following RIFT's success
Want to own a piece of your favorite MMO studio? If you're a fan of Trion Worlds, then you may yet get your chance. The company announced that it is mulling over a decision to put the company on the market with an IPO. CEO Lars Buttler says that it's just a matter of time at this point: "As we build scale and become more profitable, [an IPO] is clearly on our horizon at some point. We've had a lot of bankers coming to us recently. We keep all of our options open at this point. We definitely have enough substance and enough skill to be a public company at the right time." Trion has been doing well for itself lately, as it's doubled its staff in 2011 and raised $100 million from investments since 2007. RIFT's success has helped to convince the company that an IPO is a solid move. "RIFT is vastly profitable. It is profitable every single week and every single month," Buttler said. RIFT isn't Trion's only project, as the company is working on End of Nations, Defiance, and the Red Door publishing platform.
Nintendo shares drop 5 percent following TGS showcase
It seems Japanese investors weren't too thrilled by the presentation Nintendo put together for last night's Tokyo Game Show press conference. Despite revealing a new Mario Tennis, another Monster Hunter title, a firmware update and a different 3DS color, Nintendo's share price dropped to ¥12,290 by the end of trading yesterday -- a five percent day-to-day drop which some investors chalk up to a lineup that doesn't compete with the cheaper offerings of iOS and Android titles. Speaking to Reuters, Ichiyoshi Investment manager Mitsushige Akino said, "Nintendo succeeded by pulling in people who weren't gamers and their needs now are no longer being filled by Nintendo, they are happy playing games on their mobile phones." We suppose Nintendo could combat further losses by making 3DS games cost 99 cents. Whatever they do, they should do it quickly, as Nintendo's stock has fallen 84 percent from its all time high of ¥70,500 in November 2007.
Zynga reveals intent to go public
Zynga today announced the launch of its new, sure-to-be-massive 'Ville social game, in which players from disparate backgrounds will be able to log on, buy a portion of a company through microtransactions and watch their profits grow! This new venture differs from other Zynga hits like FarmVille and FrontierVille in just a few key ways. 1. It doesn't actually have "Ville" in the title. 2. Players play with actual, totally real money. 3. Players' company won't necessarily grow. In fact, it may shrink through no fault of their own. 4. The company is Zynga, which made almost $600 million in revenue in 2010. 5. It's not a game, but a stock offering. OK, so maybe Zynga's filing of an S-1 form, detailing its intent to become a publicly traded company at some point in the future, isn't a new game announcement. But if you guys know of a better way to trick you into reading a story involving both the stock market and casual games, we'd love to hear it.
RIM shares hit a five-year low: oh, how the mighty have fallen
There was a time when RIM owned the smartphone space with its revolutionary push email-equipped BlackBerrys. And there are still plenty of folks who can't live without a good physical keyboard and BBM. But, despite the company's $4.9 billion in revenue and $695 million in profits from Q1 2011, RIM's stock has tumbled to its lowest price in five years. What's changed since those heady days when it seemed like there was a Pearl in every pocket? As many of you know, Androids and iPhones have carved out a big chunk of the smartphone market, largely at RIM's expense. Sure, Blackberry 7 OS is coming and the PlayBook is rolling out to help the company gain ground on Android and iOS, but only time will tell if these latest efforts from Waterloo can stem the rising tide of iPhones and little green bots.
HTC's market capitalization reaches $33.8b, overshadows Nokia and RIM
Nokia once said that going with Android was like "peeing in your pants" for temporary warmth. Well, even if that warmth doesn't last forever, it has now helped one of its upstart competitors, HTC, to rise beyond Nokia in terms of market valuation. This is a somewhat beguiling metric to compare companies by -- market cap measures the value of a company's shares available on the market, and not every company has the same proportion of its overall value available in stocks -- but it illustrates well the diametrically opposite directions in which the two mobile phone makers are moving. Bloomberg informs us that HTC's stock has risen by 33 percent this year, while Nokia's has shrunk by 19 percent. Surpassing Nokia now means HTC is the world's third most valuable smartphone maker. Of course, neither Nokia nor RIM is sitting idly by and letting the Taiwanese whippersnapper have things its own way, however both companies' roadmaps for re-conquering the smartphone high-end seem to stretch far off into the 2012 distance. As for HTC, we expect it to launch another Sensation of a device on Tuesday.
Warren Buffett hesitant on Apple, tech companies
Multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he still has no plans to invest in technology companies, including Apple, preferring to stick with companies like Coca-Cola because it is "very easy for me to come to a conclusion as to what it will look like economically in five or 10 years, and it's not easy for me to come to a conclusion about Apple." Buffett's latest comments came at the opening of a new cutting tools factory in Daegu, South Korea, in which his investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has a share. Even though he's a long-time friend of Microsoft founder Bill Gates -- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation receives around $1.5 billion a year from Buffett -- the 80-year-old investor has never been comfortable with technology companies. He says that, although recent events in Japan mean that technology stocks are depressed and therefore a good buy at the moment, he's sticking with what he knows. In fact, it's only within about the past five years that Apple stocks have out-performed those of Coca-Cola. Hindsight shows that a switch to Apple from Coke five years ago would have made Buffett a much richer man, but with around $50 billion to his name, his foresight seems to work pretty well. While Apple's stock has gone up like a rocket in the past five years, Coca-Cola's has remained fairly stable -- and in the previous five years, Apple's stock was in the doldrums in comparison, and Buffett's choice looked wise. And now, it turns out, even Bill Gates is investing in Coca-Cola via its Mexican bottler Femsa. [Via Electronista]
Rise and Shiny recap: Monster Forest
Monster Forest, brought to us by Asiasoft, is a deceptive little game. First of all, it feels so freshly translated that there are still bits of foreign language clinging to quest text and character speech. But the sheer amount of little games and systems involved makes me feel like I am revisiting Mabinogi for the first time. If you took a collectible pet game, a farming system, turn-based combat, a stock market, and several other major systems and wrapped them in a cartoony skin, you would get Monster Forest. Heck, we did get Monster Forest. Also, the GMs from Asiasoft are insane. Now, I am fully aware of the cultural differences between West and East. I respect them and always remember to avoid applying any stereotypes to any one group. But let's face it, North American game developers would never ask their GMs to dress up like the person in this video to film a game guide. It just wouldn't happen, unless the North American crew was attempting to be silly. To the lady in the video, this is just another day at the office. Anyway, let's find out some more details -- click past the cut!
Could EA's history make investors wary about SWTOR?
According to a report on Gamasutra, investors have been slow to support Electronic Arts in its latest MMORPG endeavor, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The article released today cites Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey as saying, "We believe many investors are betting against SWTOR achieving market success, provided the company's (Warhammer Online from Mythic) and industry's track record at releasing successful new MMOs." WAR and of course All Points Bulletin being the latest MMOs from EA could make a potential investor a bit gun-shy about placing his money into another game of the same genre. Investors are not just concerned with the initial sales of SWTOR but also the long-term success of the game. The article uses the sales trend of WAR as an example. The first week's sales of WAR topped at 500,000 subscriptions, which is impressive for any MMO, yet subscriptions did not stick as customer satisfaction plummeted. If an investor is not familiar with BioWare's past successes or if he happens to view BioWare as a rookie in the MMO genre, then his wariness is clearly understandable. Today, Mike Hickey is calling Electronic Arts a "buy," but that may change if investors continue to see EA as a risky investment.
Apple stock rises to over $342 intra-day
On a day where the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by US$38.20 and the Nasdaq composite is nearly flat, once again, AAPL is bucking the trend and going straight up. At this writing, Apple stock is at $342.05, (a new intra-day high) and bouncing. So far the stock is up $5.93 or 1.76 percent on moderate volume. I'm sure that this is at least partially due to the anticipated Verizon (VZW) announcement tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, Verizon is about flat for the day, trading at $36.01 or up only $0.08 so far. If the Verizon announcement goes as we all hope, I can see this continuing, but who knows? So if you've got 'em, hold 'em.
Apple's market cap passes $300 billion
After blasting through the $330 per share for Apple's stock today, the company now has a market capitalization valued at around $302 billion dollars. While market cap isn't everything, this is a substantial shift from the way things used to be. Apple used to be the underdog! Remember when Apple was on life support in the '90s after a series of bland and uninspiring CEOs and product lines? Since the return of Steve Jobs and his hand-picked crew of innovators, however, the company has seen a truly remarkable rise in profits and marketshare while expanding into completely new markets for the company. Apple is on the rise in a big way, and if what we saw in 2010 is any indication, 2011 will see even more growth for our favorite mobile device company.
Online gaming rakes in over $14.5 billion in 2010
Parents of many of the gaming industry professionals would scold them by saying, "You can never make a living playing video games." The industry overcame that stigma many years ago, but online gaming still carried that stench of worthlessness. However, that is no longer the case. ABI Research of Arizona says that online gaming is expected to exceed $14.5 billion this year. The most staggering figure is the projected influence MMOs have in the overall online gaming industry. A report by ABI Research claims, "The MMO market is expected to be larger in 2010 at $7.6 billion, but will show a lower CAGR of 12.8%, reaching almost $14 billion by 2015." Although the report downplays MMOs, this does mean that over half the revenue for online gaming this year will come from MMOs, and the total MMO revenue will potentially double in just five years. Games through connected devices, like the PlayStation 3, have promising potential as well, according to the report. This bodes well for cross-platform games like DC Universe Online, but the report also says that console online games will only make up 10% of the total online gaming market. Next time your parents tell you that video games will never amount to anything, you have a couple of reports to show them that claim otherwise. But good luck convincing them.
