Electronic Arts heft Nederlandse marketingafdeling op
De Nederlandse marketingafdeling van speluitgever Electronic Arts gaat dit voorjaar sluiten. Dat meldt Gamer.nl. Als gevolg van de reorganisatie verdwijnt een onbekend aantal banen.
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Zynga And EA Settle Legal Battle Over ‘Unmistakable Copy’ Of The Sims And ‘Anti-Competitive’ Practices
According to InsideSocialGames, Zynga and EA have settled their legal dispute over the former’s alleged copying of EA’s popular game “The Sims.” It was clear to many that once Zynga started teasing “The Ville,” it took some major elements from EA’s classic. A source has told TechCrunch that no money has exchanged hands as part of the settlement. At the time of the lawsuit, companies threw barbs back and forth with EA alleging that Zynga “doesn’t understand copyright.” Details as to what the terms of the settlement are haven’t been made available, but we’ve reached out to both companies, and people familiar with the case, for more information. At one point, Zynga countersued for “anti-competitive” practices, turning this into an online gaming bloodbath of epic proportions. Things quieted down since August, and today it appears that everything is resolved. At least legally. EA and Zynga spokespeople have issued the following statement on the matter, which is clearly a part of the settlement: EA and Zynga have resolved their respective claims and have reached a settlement of their litigation in the Northern District of California. Here is the copy of the proposal to dimiss the case, via AllThingsD: eavszynga This is developing. [Photo credit: Flickr]
EA Mobile Moves: IronMonkey & Firemint Merge Into “Firemonkeys,” Now Have 50M Players Between
Electronic Arts announced today that it is merging two top mobile game studios, IronMonkey and Firemint, which will fittingly combine to create a new company, called Firemonkeys. (All parties are awarded 50 points for the awesome portmanteau.)
For those unfamiliar, IronMonkey is probably best known for adapting popular EA titles to mobile, like Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space, and The Sims FreePlay. Freemint, meanwhile, has produced a number of its own popular games, including Flight Control, Real Racing, and SPY Mouse — to name a few. Both studios are currently subsidiaries of the gaming giant, which acquired IronMonkey in early 2010 and Firemint in May 2011.
Lees meerPopCap And Wooga Pull Games From Google+
Less than a year after the debut of gaming on Google’s social platform, Google+, two game developers are pulling their titles. Bejeweled Blitz, a popular game owned by Electronic Arts‘ Pop Cap divsion, and several titles from Wooga, the maker of games for children, will no longer be available on the Google+ social network.
Is The Next Big Game Company In The Middle East? Peak Hits 9.7M DAU, Revenue Up 600% Since Jan. 1
Over the last several months, the biggest Western social gaming companies have been making moves, and attracting attention as a result. Japanese gaming giant GREE bought Funzio for $210 million to help it move into Western markets, and Zynga grabbed Draw Something creator OMGPOP for $183 million. Meanwhile, European social gaming companies, like Sweden’s King.com and Germany’s wooga have been steadily moving up the developer leaderboards.
EA Tempers Coming Layoffs With $1.2B In Digital Revs For The Year, Promise Of “Big Social Title”
EA’s big shift toward treating games as services instead of packaged goods is going to mean restructuring this year.
Chief executive John Riccitiello said in today’s earnings call that there will be some layoffs as the company increases production of online, mobile, and social games. While EA beat earnings estimates for the quarter ending in March, its shares fell in after-hours trading by as much as 9.5 percent. The company has slipped nearly 20 percent since its last earnings call in February.
EA said in the statement that the move was being launched “to align the company’s cost structure with its ongoing digital transformation.” For some quick history: About a month ago, Derek Anderson reported that EA would be laying off 500+ employees, which came on the heels of its big Popcap acquisition, the departure of its CFO, and the ignominious title of being named “the worst company in America,” according to The Consumerist.
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