Week that was

The PocketGamer.biz week that was: Let's bask in Facebook's billions, Gamevil booms, and is PS Vita the next Dreamcast?

The past 7 days in bite-sized portions

The PocketGamer.biz week that was: Let's bask in Facebook's billions, Gamevil booms, and is PS Vita the next Dreamcast?
On Friday afternoon, Facebook became a public company with the sale of 421 million shares.

You could almost hear the billions whizzing around.

But as our editor Jon Jordan points out, the social network's IPO isn't just good news for founder Mark Zuckerberg and company – it's good news for the entire technology industry, including mobile games.

But while we love the odd billion as much as the next pundit, Facebook's IPO wasn't the only story in town. Elsewhere we saw Samsung assert its dominance in the smartphone arena, Sony's PS Vita struggle, and Apple's various legal battles continue to make headlines.

Here's a quick roundup that to get you up-to-speed while minimising your time away from checking the Facebook share price.

Funding and acquisitions


  • Zynga acquires female-focused casual dev Wild Needle for undisclosed sum.

  • Dundee-based iOS dev Serious Parody raises £1 million to establish a new studio.

  • Triple-A console developers from Disney, Gearbox, and Junction Point join up to form Fun Machine, making games for tablets, smartphones and smart TVs.

  • Zombies, Run! developer outlines its Kickstarter project's journey to the App Store.

  • We think Rovio's acquisition of the Casey's Contraptions IP is a canny move, but Rovio can't afford to get the game wrong. 


Platform wars


Legal wrangles


Monetisation


  • Superdata research shows social gamers are spending less, but more are converting to paying players.

  • Fishlabs' Michael Schade explains the 'painful decision' to add IAP to Galaxy on Fire.

  • The switch to free-to-play sees Gamevil's Q1 FY2012 sales up 160 percent year-on-year.

  • Zynga uses Canadian launch of Zombie Swipeout as monetisation testbed, with a paid version and an ad-supported version.

  • CMO of mobile ad company Velti reckons Facebook could generate up to $2 billion a year from its mobile app.


Industry voices


Staff Writer

PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013