MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Consumers can now use their Amazon accounts to purchase virtual goods and in-game currency on titles sold in the retailer’s App Store. Developers creating software for the store can now incorporate in-app payments and microtransactions into their games, according to Joystiq. Payment options include any credit cards, gift certificates or …
Read More »Xbox opens up to free-to-play
Happy Wars to be first microtransaction game on platform
Read More »CSR Racing dev defends ‘energy’ micropayment design
The developer behind iOS hit CSR Racing has defended the implementation of microtransactions within the title. The game limits the time players can spend racing in a single session by rationing ‘gas’. Once gas has expired players can either leave it and return later when it will have recharged or …
Read More »Legal concerns decimate DeNA and Gree share price
Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency has announced an investigation into how social games firms sell their microtransactions in Japan, causing shares in the country’s two major players to nosedive. Nikkei.com reports that shares in both DeNA and Gree – the two major players in Japan’s social gaming scene – plunged to …
Read More »Microtransactions generate 90% of US mobile game revenues
Think the big money is in paid-for apps? Think again – the real money is in in-game purchases. The latest figures from research firm Newzoo show that over 90 per cent of mobile game revenues in the US is generated by microtransactions, according to Gamasutra. That’s considerably higher than in …
Read More »‘Spending limit on Japan teen in-app purchases’
Gree and Dena to spearhead new self-regulation policy
Read More »Female players to receive discounts in new MMO
Prime World to also offer mixed gender teams special in-game powers
Read More »Gambling with gameplay
Nick Gibson looks at whether microtransactions in games constitutes as gambling
Read More »PopCap axes 730,000-user Facebook game
EA PopCap has dropped ZipZapPlay’s Facebook game Baking Life, despite the title having almost three quarters of a million players. The free-to-play game will close at the end of the month. Users who have bought in-game currency using real money will not be able to use this in other PopCap-owned …
Read More »Publishers to Microsoft: ‘Don’t kick us off the Flight’
Microsoft Flight could harm the simulation games market if the company doesn’t open it up to third-parties, publishers have told MCV. Firms such as Mastertronic and Contact Sales currently sell extra content for Microsoft Flight Simulator X.But its sequel Flight, a free-to-play digital PC title out this spring, will not …
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