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Trion CEO introduces MMO investing to Bloomberg TV

Larry Everett — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, New titles, RIFT

Have you ever wondered where to invest your savings for the future? Have you thought about the MMO market? Apparently, multimedia companies like Time Warner, NBC Universal, and Bertelsmann believe it is worth their money. These three media giants have invested over $100 million into Trion Worlds, the top-tier gaming company featuring upcoming MMOs like Rift: Planes of Telara and End of Nations.

Yesterday, Trion's CEO Lars Buttler was featured on Bloomberg's CEO Sitdown. In the interview, Buttler mentioned the role that games, specifically MMO games, will play in the future economy. "This is actually one of the fastest-growing segments of the games industry. And there are markets like Korea or China where you can see what a massive potential these online premium games already have," Buttler explains in the video. As MMOs become more mainstream, the media industry is beginning to see them as a viable form of entertainment. They are not just pretend fun for teenage boys anymore. Buttler expounds later, "It's really once-a-gamer-always-a-gamer, so as people get older they stay with their favorite game types." The industry is constantly growing because the audience sticks to its favorite form of entertainment.

For more on this story check out the full video on Bloomberg's website.

Trion CEO introduces MMO investing to Bloomberg TV originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga passes EA in estimated worth rankings

Jef Reahard — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual

Like a horde of unstoppable zombies, social titles are devouring the domestic and worldwide gaming industry at an alarming rate. The latest example of the brain-sucking apocalypse comes courtesy of a Bloomberg report on Farmville-maker Zynga's estimated worth. It clocks in at $5.51 billion, placing it squarely in front of industry titan Electronic Arts ($5.22 billion).

Despite potential hits like BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic waiting in the wings, EA seems to be losing ground in the war for your online entertainment dollar. Since March 1st, EA's shares have declined 6.3 percent, while Zynga's estimated value has more than doubled in the same period. That said, while Zynga has leap-frogged EA, they still have a ways to go to catch Activision ($13.9 billion estimated worth), as well as China's Tencent Holdings ($43 billion).

Zynga passes EA in estimated worth rankings originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab sets terror-alert level to 'Google'

Tateru Nino — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds, Lively

Linden Lab certainly showed signs of fear when Google's Lively kicked off its public beta. Now we're seeing signs more akin to terror, panic or desperation. 'Who wouldn't be concerned when Google comes after their business?' said new Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon to Bloomberg.

Given recent changes and marketing pushes, you can see Linden Lab's management showing a sheen of sweat. Curiously, it seems that Google isn't after Linden Lab's business -- Lively's certainly no competitor to the business that Linden Lab has. However, what Google represents seems to be a threat to the business that Linden Lab wants to have.

This week saw the hiring of Frank Ambrose (AOL's head of technology for infrastructure and network services for a decade) as Senior VP of global technology. While Ambrose has more tech knowledge than the average suit in his position, his primary competencies seem to be negotiations, coordination, contracts and costs -- which all marries up nicely with Linden Lab making a push into corporate, government and military sales, and hiring additional staff to do just that. We're not sure what they're going to be selling, exactly, but virtual environment meeting spaces are probably right at the top of the list.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

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Linden Lab sets terror-alert level to 'Google' originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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