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Singapore injecting $14 million investment into games development
[Image credit: WilliamCho] The Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore plans to invest $14.6 million in the country's video game industry. IndustryGamers notes that the money will be granted over three years to the GAME+ Program, an initiative that plans to "address the needs of the entire games value chain by providing support for concept development all the way to go-to-market strategies" -- with an emphasis on projects that are "internationally-marketable." The MDA will invest in "bigger-budget" game content like MMOs, create "financial management games" for social networks and mobile platforms, and assist start-ups on "emerging platforms." Wait -- is the decimal point on the $14.6 million in the wrong place?
LG Display set to triple OLED production capacity with $226m facility expansion, effects to be felt in 2011
As usual with OLED displays, we're taking one step forward only to find there are hundreds more to go. LG has today officially announced a new $226 million investment in its OLED production facilities, which will markedly expand its ability to churn out ultrathin canvases of wonder. The not so good news, however, is that this production line is still being built -- with a planned activation in the third quarter of 2010 -- and the effects of the new cash infusion will not be felt until the second half of next year. Should you have the patience to endure such protracted roadmaps, you should be seeing a lot more from LG in the mobile display space -- where Samsung currently holds the technological lead with its Super AMOLED screens -- as well as the luxury TV market that already counts the 15-inch 15EL9500 among its numbers. The Korean manufacturer describes OLED screens as one of its "new growth engines," alongside e-paper and solar cells, so even if we may consider development slow, it's looking increasingly likely that OLED TVs will eventually make their way into the mainstream.
Reliance Big Entertainment acquires 50% stake in Codemasters
Reliance Big Entertainment -- a subsidiary of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group -- is a pretty big deal in India, handling a variety of different media and entertainment businesses in the region, including movies, sports, music, internet and video games. That last item is what's most important to this story, as Reliance now has a 50 percent stake in UK-based firm Codemasters, publisher of games like Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Dirt, Overlord and Grid. Zapak Digital Entertainment, Reliance's gaming division and India's largest gaming company, will oversee Reliance's investment in Codemasters. The company also runs an online gaming portal. "Reliance and Zapak have immense resources and will help us realize the full potential of our game coding and online excellence across so many platforms, and especially in the world's fastest growing markets," said Codemasters' CEO Rod Cousens. "The future of Codemasters has never looked brighter." [Via Develop]
HP and Dell said to be investing less in 10-inch netbooks, looking to bigger and better things
The latest word from our favorite rumor rag DigiTimes suggests that HP and Dell are both curtailing investment in the 10-inch netbook market, with their sights now set on the chunkier 11.6-inch size class. Additionally, with profits from machines built on Intel's Pine Trail platform appearing lower than expected, both are also said to be contemplating AMD's alternatives, presumably in the shape of the Neo CPU and Radeon integrated graphics. HP is even claimed to be considering quitting the 10-inch space entirely, which wouldn't be that unusual given the progressive obsolescence we've witnessed with the 7- and 9-inch predecessors of the current de facto netbook standard. Not to worry, though, Acer, ASUS and Samsung are still deeply involved, and the 10-inch mini laptop isn't about to disappear on us anytime soon. What may happen, according to the source, is that we could see fewer smartbooks popping up as a result, which just means we'll have to find some other way to sate those media consumption needs. Update: Dell has responded to the original DigiTimes article and insists that "what is being reported has no basis in fact." Perhaps it was just an April Fools joke after all.
Kleiner Perkins iFund doubles to $200m, investing in iPad apps from Shazam, ngmoco and more
Apple said it expects the iPad to be a "second gold rush" of app development as consumers rush to add content to their new devices, and it looks like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers agrees: the venture capital firm just announced that it's expanding the iFund to $200 million to invest in iPad app development. If you'll recall, the iFund was originally announced alongside the iPhone OS 2.0 SDK, and provided $100 million in total investments to 14 iPhone app developers like Shazam, ngmoco, and Shopkick -- companies responsible for 18 apps that have hit the App Store Top 10. Keep in mind that this money was promised before the iPhone App Store was even launched -- so given how that bet paid off, it's not surprising that KPCB's decided to double down on the iPad, which looks like it'll have even higher app prices. Along with the announcement, some iFund devs announced the following iPad apps: Pinger: Doodle Buddy and Starsmash Booyah: MyTown, a popular location-based game Shazam: Shazam, optimized for the new screen size, ngmoco: Flick Fishing, a new MMO called CastleCraft, Charadium (described as "massively multiplayer Pictionary"), God Finger, We Rule, WarpGate, and one more we missed -- anyone catch it? GOGII: TextPlus Nothing too surprising here, but it looks like the heavy hitters are going to be on the iPad bandwagon from day one -- and pushing hard for this thing to be a success.
Curt Schilling says majority of savings spent on 38 Studios
Retired Red Sox player Curt Schilling has approached the development of 38 Studios with the same drive and enthusiasm as he did his baseball career, a fact that comes as no surprise to those who know what an avid MMO gamer he is. A recent article on Gamasutra took a closer look at the development of 38 Studios. Schilling felt confident in his endeavor from the very beginning, making an initial investment of $5 million and hiring a lineup of very familiar names including R.A. Salvatore, Todd McFarlane, and several others. Once the project was underway, he increased the investment in a big way: "I have put the majority of the money I've earned in my life on the table. If I make another financial investment, I will have crossed the point of no return from a personal investment and company standpoint." The financial and personal commitments have been significant, as with any large business venture, but Schilling remains very confident in the project: "I have no doubt I am on the cusp of creating a multi-million dollar company[...]" Take a look at the full story on Gamasutra.
Sparkplay Media secures more funding, may introduce new projects outside Earth Eternal
Sparkplay Media, the team behind the browser/client hybrid free-to-play title Earth Eternal, has just wrangled up an additional 2.8 million dollars in investments, according to a filing within the SEC. The team is certainly showing growth, as noted in a recent interview with the new lead designer on Earth Eternal when he asks for more members on his team, but VentureBeat believes that Sparkplay is experimenting on more projects outside of Earth Eternal. Currently their job page speaks otherwise, as Sparkplay is looking for more developers to be placed onto the Earth Eternal team. But, even if the company isn't working on new projects, more investments are only good news as it means more ambitious updates will likely be coming to Earth Eternal in the coming year, thanks to more people working on the project. [Thanks for the tip, Ripper!]
The9 invests in Red 5 Studios, Fire Rain [Updated]
They may have been burned by Blizzard when they lost World of Warcraft to their rival, NetEase, but The9 isn't out of the fight yet. Especially not when they've just recently backed the troubled Red 5 and Chinese developer Fire Rain with a substantial sum of money. Gamasutra is reporting that The9 has invested 100 million RMB (14.67 million USD) into Fire Rain, however the number is unconfirmed and neither The9 or Fire Rain are confirming the exact terms of the investment. However, if these reports are accurate, The9 would now have a large majority stake in the company or may have bought the developer outright. As to the US based Red 5 Studios, having The9 as a new backer may be keeping the studio alive. Last week, we reported that approximately 30 people had been laid off from the studio, and Kotaku has reported that the studio may have even been close to closing their doors. Red 5 has since "re-evaluated" their position and may be pursuing a game aimed at the Chinese market. Update: Red 5's community manager, Matt DeWald, has gotten in contact with us to say that Red 5 is not pursing a game aimed solely at the Chinese market. Red 5's MMO will be aimed at the worldwide market.
Zynga founder explains 'Facegroup' games to Charlie Rose
Now hang on just a minute before you head off to the next post in search of funny game-related desserts or screenshots from that hot new blockbuster game. Charlie Rose is no Kevin Pereira, but the man's a broadcasting legend, so let's give him his due. And Zynga just raised $180 million for their social gaming empire, so it can buy and sell any number of your Pokemons. When Zynga founder Mark Pincus appears on the Charlie Rose Show, you whippersnappers should take a little notice! After all, Zynga has not only been hiring up solid talent, but it also runs the bigger-than-you'd-believe Facebook games like Mafia Wars and FarmVille. Pincus tells the somewhat confused Rose that his company doesn't just want to roll in the venture cash; Zynga wants to create "an Internet treasure," and be recognized in the same way that brands like Google, Amazon, and Facebook are. You can watch the whole segment after the break. Bewarned: the video of two well-dressed men talking at a table doesn't feature any laser guns or girls in bikinis, but it does feature Rose holding up printouts of a virtual cafe created in his honor. Surreal.
Game-related startups raise $600 million in 2009, down 36%
Game-related startup companies raised $600 million throughout 2009, according to GamesBeat's analysis. And while $600 million is a lot of money if you're, say, trying to sell a shooter based on the art of modern warfare, it's not quite that much when you're an up-and-coming game developer. Total investments in the field were actually down by 36% since last year. That's not a bubble bursting, but it does mean that startup investors might be a little more careful with their money in the year to come. The biggest winners in the scene include Zynga, makers of Mafia Wars and a few other popular Facebook titles, who nabbed a big $180 million investment from a Russian technology company, and Playdom. You may not have played Sorority Life, the company's MySpace hit, but Lightspeed Venture Partners must have, because it invested $43 million in the company. If there's a theme here, it's social networking and online games: PopCap is probably the highest traditional game developer on the list, but even its $22.5 million investment was marked for putting its games on the web, mobile platforms, and social networks. Of course, that pull doesn't include the buck we gave them for Peggle.
Motorola invests in Anywhere Multitouch technology
It's been awhile since we heard anything from Sensitive Objects, the French firm that developed Anywhere Multitouch, the platform that uses piezoelectric sensors to extend touch sensitivity beyond the display to the entire device. Well, we thought it was a pretty sweet idea -- and apparently Motorola did as well. According some spicy and exotic PR, Moto's investing some of its hard-earned cash in the company, which began as a project by the French Science National Research Center. As Reese Schroeder, managing director of Motorola Ventures, put it: "Natural user interface (NUI) and in particular interacting with a device through touch is an area of rapid development and great excitement. Sensitive Object provides an innovative and unique approach allowing new ways of interaction. We're most excited to be involved in their growth and success." One has to wonder what kind of new and innovative handset interfaces are coming around the bend -- and one has to wonder what kind of havoc it will cause when you put one of these "anywhere multitouch" phones in your pocket without locking it first. Luckily, the technology is said to be cheaper to implement than the other touchscreen solutions currently available -- so if these guys get their way, we might be accidentally calling our ex-girlfriends with the whole device very soon indeed. PR after the break.
Samsung invests in Fusion-io, takes relationship to 'a new level'
Specializing in PCI Express-mounted flash storage, Fusion-io has managed to not only survive in these tough economic times, but garner additional investments from some clearly impressed onlookers. Loathe to be left out of the loop, Samsung -- the world's biggest NAND flash manufacturer and also Fusion-io's chief supplier -- has thrown some cash at the young startup company, and declared that the pair are now officially dating. Or, in their parlance, they've agreed to "jointly evaluate technology for new SSD applications." Samsung won't have any board level influence, but providing a reliable supply chain and the clout of its name should ensure that Fusion-io is around long enough for us to eventually be able to afford an ioDrive.[Via PC World]
Paul Sams owns part of the Steelers
Ok, admittedly, this is about as far away from the World of Warcraft as we go on this site, but stick with me here, it'll be worth it for the jokes: Blizzplanet has discovered that Blizzard COO Paul Sams and his family are now major shareholders in the Pittsburgh Steelers, of all things. The connection seems a little hard to find, until you check the rest of the list: Thomas Tull is also a shareholder, and he happens to be CEO of Legendary Pictures, the same company that has made a deal with Sams and Blizzard to make the Warcraft movie. I can't say I know that many CEOs personally, but I have to imagine that the conversation went something like, "Hey, wanna own part of a football team with me?" And who would pass up an opportunity like that?Fortunately for Sams and his team, they're supposed to do pretty well this year (and of course they're coming off of a Super Bowl win last year), so the investment is likely a good one. But, more importantly, we can now point out that if the Steelers make their way to the conference championships and half of Blizzard travels to Pittsburgh to see the game, we'll know why the patch isn't coming out that week.
In-app purchases not so hot for some developers
PocketGamer.biz has an interesting interview up with Pangea, makers of the iPhone physics puzzle game Enigmo, and they say that so far, their experience with in-app purchases has been pretty lukewarm. The software itself has sold over a million copies, but only a very small number of those customers are going for the in-app purchases -- about 25 per day, according to Pangea's Brian Greenstone. 25 per day may not be bad for a smaller developer, but Greenstone says he "was expecting hundreds."Why aren't the microtransactions doing so hot? It's going to take time, first of all -- customers need to learn the value of picking up content piece by piece, and developers need to learn exactly how to price and plan the stuff out. On an established download service like Xbox Live, add-ons and content packs have become de rigueur, though some of those battles are still being fought. But on the App Store, not only are prices still up in the air, but in-app purchases are hard to find, and they're all over the map in terms of value versus investment.Greenstone seems to believe what I'd tend to agree with: that after all of the dust has settled, customers will pay for content that's worth paying for -- he's just given up on worrying about pricing, and is focused on delivering content that's worth whatever he wants to charge. Eventually, both devs and customers will settle on a fair price, and when that happens, I'm sure we'll see some major in-app purchase sales.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet should be called OMG WANT
Guys, there's a sweet trailer for Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet making the rounds and if you haven't seen it, consider this post an invaluable service. You have to watch it, and we've made sure to tuck it past the break for that purpose. What? No more reading. Go watch it. Now!...Okay, now that you've witnessed its glory, it's only natural to feel a need to fork over some cash. As it turns out, that's exactly what Shadow Planet Productions needs right now, but before you go grabbing that hammer and giving your piggy bank the evil eye, Shadow Planet Productions probably needs more than the $15 you have in there. Good thing Joystiq's biggest demographic is CEOs for investment companies!We've put in some questions to the minds behind this game, and will be sure to post them up as soon as we hear back. While you wait, may we suggest you watch the trailer again?[Thanks, Tiago!]
Former EA COO says EA is in 'investment mode,' focusing on digital distribution
Right before hitting the ol' dusty trail for Playdom, now ex-EA COO John Pleasants sat down with Reuters for an interview all about the future of EA. In it, he speaks to the multifaceted future of EA (especially with regards to business models), as well as the importance of EA's current "investor mode," saying the company will announce new deals with various social networking services "some time in the near future." Though we're not sure if the recent change in guard from Pleasants to Microsoft alum John Schappert will alter what the ex-COO said to Reuters, things like the recently announced Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online point to "not likely." This isn't exactly a dramatic change from statements that Pleasants has made in the past regarding the company's business strategy, so it remains to be seen whether or not Schappert will steer the EA ship in another direction or stay the course.[Via Edge]
Apple building server farm, secret lair in North Carolina
As Mike mentioned in the news roundup yesterday, word is going around that the corporate overlords at Apple are planning to build a massive server farm in the state of North Carolina within the next decade or so. How do we know? Because the company is working on getting a few nice tax breaks to go along with the deal, eventually worth about $46 million if Apple fulfills their end of the agreement. Their end of the agreement being a huge investment of a whopping $1 billion (that's over 333,000 Xserves, if that is indeed what they're installing -- and we bet not) into an economy that could probably use it. What exactly will go in there? We aren't sure -- lawmakers say the investment is worth it, and obviously Apple isn't showing their cards. [Note: the $1B investment figure is not an upfront number, but rather a total investment over the first 9 years of operation. –Ed.] But the facility, once up and running, will start by employing at least 100 people, so that's a nice start. Google has apparently gone through the same deal with North Carolina recently, though their deal was a little smaller: $600 million investment for a server farm that opened last year. More backend for Mobile Me? More power for the App Store or a project like it? A giant building full of Cubes running 24 hours a day? Or something we haven't even dreamt of yet?
Panasonic scales back flat-panel production investments
Panasonic already notified the world that it would be moving all plasma panel production to two facilities, and now it's announcing a cut back in investment dollars previously earmarked for a separate pair of plants under construction in Hyogo prefecture. In an effort to take slumping flat-panel demand into account, it's scaling back its investment through 2012 by around $1.5 billion to ¥445 billion ($4.9 billion). Interestingly enough, Panny is simultaneously aiming to "boost its flat TV unit sales by 50 percent next business year," which should be pretty tough unless it steals some serious share from Samsung and LG. Let the battle wage on, we say.
Activision Blizzard an investor's 'haven' in 2009
Activision Blizzard is the publisher you want to invest in if you hope to weather 2009's economic storm, says investment firm Lazard Capital Markets. (Note: They didn't use any terrible, meteorological puns when they said it and generally approach financial matters with a little more gravitas than we do.)According to Edge Online, the monolithic publisher has been dubbed a "relative haven" for investors this year, thanks to "industry-leading operating margins, a diverse online and offline revenue base, several of the strongest videogame franchises, and a depressed valuation following the recent market downturn." We don't know what a valuation is, but we hope it cheers up soon.Here's one thing we do know: When you're buying shares in the game industry, look for the safe bets if you're trying to find the safe bet.
DTS looks to expand its reach with Neural Audio acquisition
DTS, the company responsible for all those DTS-HD Master Audio tracks that you adore, has just announced that it's picking up Neural Audio in order to expand its reach. The company that it's acquiring is described as an "audio technology business that licenses branded intellectual property solutions for the creation, distribution and playback of music, movies, broadcast programs and video games," and DTS is hoping to use this to get branded technology offerings into satellite radio, automotive and gaming markets. The deal cost DTS a stiff $7.5 million for "certain assets and liabilities," and it may end up forking out up to $7.5 million more over the next five years if "certain conditions" are met. Way to look ahead, DTS -- now, we're totally expecting 7.1-channel Blu-ray surround systems in our 2010 model year vehicles. Cool?
