VirtualGoods
Latest
EVE Online creator CCP revving up for mobile release
Touch Arcade recently had a chat with CCP, the Icelandic developer behind the popular MMO EVE Online, and while there aren't any announcements yet, it certainly sounds like they're gearing up for some iOS apps, or even maybe a client for the game itself. EVE's been on the Mac for a while now, and there have been some third-party attempts at bringing parts of the game to iOS. But CCP has just released a companion game called Dust 514 on the PS3, and that means it's probably time they start thinking about tying in iOS and other popular mobile platforms as well. There's an app called Neocom coming from CCP to the PS Vita, and Executive Producer John Lander calls that app a "tracer bullet" to see if the community's interested in more mobile offerings. Neocom allows players to customize their weapons and buy and sell virtual goods for the game, and that seems like an excellent set of functionality to bring over to iOS as well. Lander says that there are lots and lots of possibilities, and that CCP is planning on stepping up development this year, hopefully moving towards lots of little projects with quicker turnarounds. At any rate, there's something coming from CCP for sure. "This time next year, you will have EVE Mobile in your hand," Lander told assembled fans at a recent company gathering.
Daily Update for March 21, 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
Mobile is the fastest-growing segment of social games
The iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices are a growing source of revenue for those selling virtual goods, says a report from Inside Virtual Goods. The report looks at the virtual goods market and tracks sales from mobile devices and social games like those on Facebook. Though social games will remain the leader with US$2.9 billion in sales expected this year, mobile gaming is on the rise. Mobile virtual good sales are expected to climb to $500 million in 2012, up from $350 million in 2011. And this is just the beginning. "Mobile gaming is still hitting its stride," said Justin Smith, the founder of Inside Network, in an interview with Venture Beat. While social games tend to attract older females, the Inside Virtual Goods report claims mobile gaming attracts a different audience. Being on Facebook is important, but the social network shouldn't be a games-only outlet. The winner in this market will be the company that can target both demographics by launching on Facebook and mobile devices at the same time. [Via Venture Beat]
Chinese prisoners forced to produce virtual gold, real profits for their guards
The virtual goods economy of massively multiplayer online games may be thriving, but it's also stimulating an undesirable side-effect: exploitation. A former detainee at a prison in Heilongjiang province, China, has told the Guardian about how he was habitually forced into playing MMOs like World of Warcraft for the collection of loot, which the prison guards would then resell online for as much as ¥6,000 ($924) per day. Such totals would be the product of up to 300 inmates working 12-hour daily shifts, though predictably they saw none of the profits themselves. The unnamed source was at a "re-education through labor" camp where the usual toil would involve actual, rather than virtual, mining. The profitability of the online market has seemingly inspired prison bosses to move with the times, however, with business being so brisk that the computers "were never turned off." A Chinese government edict from 2009 is supposed to have introduced a requirement that online currencies only be traded by licensed entities, but it's believed that the practice of using prisoners in this fashion continues unabated.
World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than 'real' economy
A report commissioned by the World Bank's infoDev unit has cast fresh light on one of the more fascinating aspects of our brave new interconnected world: the virtual economy. The "third-party gaming services industry" -- where wealthy but impatient players have someone else grind away at online games for them in exchange for monetary reward -- is one of the focal points of the study, chiefly owing to it having generated revenues in the region of $3 billion in 2009 and now serving as the primary source of income for an estimated 100,000 young folks, primarily in countries like China and Vietnam. What's encouraging about these findings is that most of the revenue from such transactions ends up in the country where the virtual value is produced, which contrasts starkly with some of the more traditional international markets, such as that for coffee beans, where the study estimates only $5.5 billion of the $70 billion annual market value ever makes it back to the producing country. The research also takes an intriguing look at the emerging phenomenon of microwork, which consists of having unskilled workers doing the web's version of menial work -- checking images, transcribing bits of text, bumping up Facebook Likes (naughty!), etc. -- and could also lead to more employment opportunities for people in poorer nations. To get better acquainted with the details, check the links below or click past the break.
It's coming... FarmVille heading to iPhone and iPad
Some will cheer, others will groan, but it seems that the love-it-or-hate-it Facebook game, FarmVille, is on its way to iPhone and iPad. A recent search of domains has uncovered both farmvilleiphone.com and farmvilleipad.com, both reserved by the same company currently overseeing Zynga's official FarmVille website. This means that sooner or later, we'll probably be seeing official clients for Apple's mobile devices. I've played FarmVille, and I find it to be not so much a game as a "social engine" -- it's basically a bunch of hooks to keep you "playing" and keep you passing gifts and virtual items between your friends. But it's definitely popular, and having official apps for the iPhone (or perhaps even just sites made to access on the iPhone -- the main game is currently done up in Flash) will likely only increase that popularity. It'll be interesting to see if Zynga makes its way over to these platforms. Ngmoco has already usurped part of the FarmVille mindshare with its popular We Rule game, but if the real thing shows up, it's unclear whether people will go back to the original, stick with the new, or even play (and spend money on) both. We'll have to see. [via Joystiq]
