Chasing more engaged users, Zynga acquires ‘midcore’ social game startup A Bit Lucky. Expanding into a much different market with a more engaged social gamer, Zynga is announcing today it has acquired the “midcore” social game startup A Bit Lucky for an undisclosed sum.
Zynga’s move shows it is still aggressive about acquisitions and keeping pace with rivals such as Gree, which today acquired App Ant Studios. It also shows the growth potential of the midcore market, which sits between the hardcore gamers who play on high-end PCs and consoles and the casual gamers who play mass market games with lightweight, short-duration content. The midcore market is hard to define, but it sits as a bridge between hardcore and casual games, said Bill Jackson, the creative director at Zynga, in an interview with GamesBeat. “This is the beginning of our expansion into the category of mid-core multiplatform games, and we’re bolstering our efforts with this acquisition of A Bit Lucky,” Jackson said. The whole team of 20 employees (pictured right) at San Mateo, Calif. SPORTSFRIENDS featuring Johann Sebastian Joust by Die Gute Fabrik. We're four game developers – Douglas Wilson, Ramiro Corbetta, Bennett Foddy, and Noah Sasso – joining forces to release Sportsfriends, a compendium of four highly acclaimed local multiplayer games: • Johann Sebastian Joust• BaraBariBall• Super Pole Riders• Hokra All four games are accessible, spectator-friendly, and deeply replayable.
They already exist as playable prototypes, and have been exhibited around the world at festivals and parties. They've received lots of honors and awards, including three IndieCade awards and the Innovation Award at the 2012 Game Developers Choice Awards. Most importantly, we know they're super fun. We want to take the current prototypes to completion, adding tons of different ways to play while keeping them simple at heart. Back us with $15 or more, and you'll get this package of four games PLUS exclusive rewards. "This is a game that people need to play. " I first prototyped the game in 2011 at the Nordic Game Jam.
One of the design goals behind J.S. A Complicated Relationship: Doug Wilson « Electron Dance. Douglas Wilson This is the ninth article in the series The Academics Are Coming.
Dr. Douglas Wilson is the man behind Johann Sebastian Joust, prototyped while Wilson toiled away on a PhD at the IT University of Copenhagen. Prior to Joust, he worked on the titles B.U.T.T.O.N. and Dark Room Sex Game with the Copenhagen Game Collective. Collectively, they are best described as party games that encourage players to look foolish in pursuit of the win. Two weeks ago, Dan Pinchbeck said that academics are able to make games that define the bleeding edge as, in the academic world, failure is just as valuable a teacher as success.
HM: Doug, there is still much scepticism regarding the value of academic research so... why become a game studies academic? My father is a professor, and so partly because of his example, academia has always seemed like an attractive lifestyle to me - independence, job security (if you get tenure), smart colleagues, etc. It depends on what your goals are. Stats for Your E-Book Is Reading You - WSJ.com. Solstice Arena.