Big user numbers for social game giant’s latest release underline the steady popularity of Facebook games.
US-based social game company Zynga has called CityVille its biggest-ever launch. According to Inside Social Games 290,000 people played the game in its first 24 hours of launch.
SouthPeak will still publish the game in the US and Australia, but will no longer handle UK release.
SouthPeak Games has sold the rights to Two Worlds II back to developer TopWare Interactive, who will now handle the game's UK release - moved to January 2011. TopWare has already released the game in Europe, but SouthPeak will retain publishing duties in the US and Australia. The UK delay is put down to various improvements which are being implemented by TopWare ahead of release.
Square Enix reveals that Crystal Dynamics is working on a prequel which charts Lara Croft's origins.
Publisher Square Enix has revealed a reboot of Tomb Raider, to be developed by Crystal Dynamics. The game delves into the past, charting the first adventure of a younger, inexperienced Lara Croft washed up on an unknown beach after being shipwrecked during a storm.
The second part of our in-depth look at the method behind Blizzard's creative destruction. You can read part one, here.
New report shows gap closing on iOS in the US as Angry Birds heads for $1 million per month ad revenues on the platform.
Market research company comScore’s monthly smartphone report for October shows an increasing subscriber base for the Android platform.
At 8:30pm tonight, the BBC will air a programme of its investigative reporting series Panorama on gaming addiction. The documentary claims to expose the "hidden psychological devices in games that are designed to keep us coming back for more."
Capcom announces new series record set by Freedom 3 in Japan, with almost 1.7 million day-one sales.
Monster Hunter Freedom 3 for PSP has shipped two million units in its first week of release in Japan.
Publisher and developer Capcom also says that since the first title was released in 2004 the series has sold 15 million units. Freedom 3 is a follow-up to Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, which made its debut nearly three years ago.
On the eve of World Of Warcraft's Cataclysm, we take an in-depth look at the method behind Blizzard's creative destruction.
Within Blizzard, every game has a codename. Diablo was known internally as Hydra. StarCraft II was Medusa. World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King didn’t get anything as dramatic. Wrath Of The Lich King was known as WOW Expansion 3. On December 7, Blizzard launches the follow up: WOW Expansion 4, now known to the world as Cataclysm.
Demonstration of rumoured new device backs up recent speculation.
A video showing what is allegedly a new gaming smartphone from Sony Ericsson continues to fuel speculation that a handset is in development at the company.
Technically the demoed handheld resembles a PSPGo with a touchscreen and trackpad at its centre.
Bert Nordberg, Sony Ericsson CEO, recently addressed rumours of such a device, though the company has made no official statement.
Activision’s shooter leapfrogs Gran Turismo 5 as it tumbles down the latest chart.
Having been knocked off the top spot by Sony’s racer in the previous week, Call Of Duty: Black Ops is once again the UK number one for the week ending December 4.
Gran Turismo 5 fell three places to fourth in its second week of release, while FIFA 11 managed to push passed Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for second.
Social game developer snaps up the makers of a game engine for next generation of Facebook games.
US-based game developer RockYou has acquired TirNua, the developer of a next-generation game engine for Facebook games.
TirNua’s self-titled first Facebook game made use of a 3D game engine and RockYou’s acquisition is geared towards pioneering the technology in a number of games next year.
Just a note to point your attention to our new Facebook page.
There we'll be posting specific gaming news and views - please do Like the page and join the discussion. Find us right here: www.facebook.com/edgeonline
US-based League Of Legends developer looking to fill over 100 roles.
Riot Games, the developer and publisher of free-to-play MMORPG League Of Legends, is aiming to double its workforce.
Speaking to Develop, Marc Merrill, president of Riot Games, which also has offices in Ireland, said the company is looking to “add more than 100 people to Riot Games”.
New LCD model combines videogame console and television features, a sign of things to come?
Sony’s KDL22PX300 Bravia television has a PS2 built into the bottom of the stand and comes complete with a controller for the system and support for Bravia internet features like iPlayer and Lovefilm.
The 22-inch display, HD-ready TV retails for £199 and launches at the end of a year that has seen building momentum for services like Apple TV and Google TV.
Japan-based developer will make the leap from iOS with Pocket God.
Mobile game developer Ngmoco, a subsidiary of Japanese social gaming company DeNA, has announced its debut title for the Android platform.
Pocket God was developed by US-based development team Bolt Creative for iOS devices and released last year.
Developer Zattikka launches official site for Facebook’s Ministry Of Silly Games.
Following last month’s announcement that it had acquired the rights to develop and publish a Monty Python social game, UK-based studio Zattikka is taking registrations for beta testers.
Chris Donlan suggests three downloadable games you really shouldn’t miss.
After two weeks away, there are a fair number of colourful oddities to pick over today, from side-scrolling RTS games to three-handed cat rescue sims. Luckily, I have a note explaining my absence, and the note reads: I was playing these games.
Swords & Soldiers HD
Developer: Ronimo Games
Format: PC, Mac, PS3
Culture minister suggests call for changes to game industry tax system will have to wait.
During a select committee for the department of Culture, Media and Sport yesterday, the government’s minister for culture, communications and creative industries Ed Vaizey said the UK may have to wait “three or four” years before game development tax breaks “realistically comes back onto the table.”
Blizzard's executive vice president of game design questions the industry's focus on figures.
In an exclusive Edge interview, Blizzard executive vice president of game design, Rob Pardo, questions the benefits of metrics-led game design, saying that intuition should always play a more prominent role.
The difference between pornography and erotica is how much it’s pure stimulation and diversion versus how much the baser appeals have to make room for some higher purpose. Also, if it’s black-and-white, it’s erotica.
World Of Warcraft's co-designer on the challenges of maintaining a world and choosing to destroy it.
With Blizzard's world-changing WOW update, Cataclysm, launching early next week, Azeroth may never be the same again. We sat down with executive vice president of game design, Rob Pardo, to discuss how much longer WOW can stay at the forefront of MMORPG's, the relative benefits of intuition over metrics and where the world can go next.
Head of Interactive Entertainment says service has around 12.5 million Gold members.
Speaking at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference in the US on Wednesday, Dennis Durkin, head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business said: "Of our 25 million members [worldwide], about half of them are subscribers to the business and pay us about $60 a year for that."
The figure means Microsoft is receiving $750 million from its members each year from subscriptions alone.
Social game giant buys Texas-based Games With Friends developer.
US-based social game company Zynga has acquired the studio behind the Games With Friends mobile game franchise, Newtoy, for an undisclosed figure.
Newtoy was founded in 2008 by previous employees of Microsoft’s Ensemble Studios, Paul and David Bettner, who had worked on Halo Wars and the Age Of Empires series.
Call for “testing and tuning” of various new features, open to all TF2 owners.
Developer and distributor Valve has announced a public phase for its online shooter Team Fortress 2 to test “new technologies without the risk of breaking the game”.
The beta is open to anyone with a copy of the game installed and is accessed via the Steam Library.
US government drops prosecution “based on fairness and justice.”
In the third day of the Xbox 360 modchip case, which accused defendant Matthew Crippen of hacking consoles to run pirated software, prosecutor Allen Chiu told the judge: “The government has decided to dismiss the indictment.”