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Monster Galaxy Facebook game coming to the big screen

Jef Reahard — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items, Casual, Miscellaneous

The list of films based on video games is long, if not particularly distinguished. The list is about to get a bit lengthier thanks to an upcoming collaboration between Gaia Interactive and Radar Pictures.

The two firms have just released a new press blurb trumpeting the fact that they've formed an alliance to bring Monster Galaxy to the big screen. What the heck is Monster Galaxy, you say? Well, it's a Facebook title that "has reigned as a top 10 game on the platform for six consecutive months," according to the release.

The film version of Monster Galaxy will feature its unique "Moga" characters as well as "rich story and charming artwork." Gaia Interactive was founded in 2003 and claims to be one of the world's most active social gaming communities. Radar Pictures is owned by Ted Field, an entertainment executive with producer credits on films including Pitch Black, The Last Samurai, and Jumanji.

[Source: Gaia press release]

Monster Galaxy Facebook game coming to the big screen originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OGPlanet announces N.E.O. Online

Jef Reahard — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, News items, Free-to-play

OGPlanet has announced the release of its latest free-to-play MMORPG, a fantasy title called N.E.O. Online. Set in the monster-infested world of Gaia, N.E.O. allows players the freedom to upgrade abilities and statistics at will, rather than being restricted to a traditional class/level system.

While at first blush N.E.O. may sound like yet another entry into the increasingly overcrowded free-to-play fantasy market, the title boasts at least one unique feature that bears watching. Player actions are the centerpiece of the Chaos Meter system, in which user decisions determine how dangerous particular sections of the game world are at a given time. If players fight evil, the Chaos Meter will empty and the world will reflect peace. If players disrupt the peace or engage in evil acts, the Chaos Meter will fill, and Gaia will become populated with powerful creatures.

PvP also becomes available as the Chaos Meter increases, and player conflict comes in mano-a-mano, group, and guild flavors. Spoils of victory include fame, money, and stat-boosting titles, many of which can only be worn by a single player in the game at any given time.

N.E.O. Online also features crafting, a pet and mount system, and a marriage mechanic. Check out the official website for all the details.

OGPlanet announces N.E.O. Online originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chris Davis of Gaia Online talks MMO marketing

Larry Everett — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Browser, Virtual worlds, Gaia Online

The MMO industry is an ever-changing, totally unpredictable universe of online games, from hot, massive fully-realized worlds like World of Warcraft or EVE to fun casual games like Farmville or the Agency: Covert Ops. Gaia Online takes a bit of a different approach by mixing a casual gaming and social worlds. We caught up with Chris Davis, a marketer for Gaia who handles sponsorship accounts, at E3 to discuss his game. He has his own unique take on MMOs and brand marketing, and how companies should interact with their potential customers. Chris describes why he believes mixing marketing and gaming is good for both the user and the brand.

Continue reading Chris Davis of Gaia Online talks MMO marketing

Chris Davis of Gaia Online talks MMO marketing originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaia Online makes modest staff cuts

Kyle Horner — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Casual

Here's yet another news post on companies cutting back on their staff, oh boy. At least with Gaia Online it's a paltry 36 employees, 16 full-time staff and 20 contractors. That happens to be about 13% of the staff and is attributed to the less-than expected performance of zOMG!, which had around 500k players in November and just hit one million. As large as that number sounds, it's being drawn from the 11 million base of Gaia Online, so, it's all relative.

There doesn't seem to be much worrying though, as the company has said they're merely preparing for a downturn in the coming year. We get the feeling that news like this is going to keep coming over the next 12-18 months, if not a little longer. Hopefully though, it's only small cuts like this and not the sort of job loss that's starting to become expected at other well-known developers.

For those of you scratching your heads over this whole "zOMG!" game, check out Massively's first impressions for a glimpse into the beast, as they say.

Gaia Online makes modest staff cuts originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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zOMG! beta reaches half a million players

Alexis Kassan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Free-to-play, Browser, Gaia Online

Gaia Online's latest title, zOMG!, has attracted over half a million beta users, according to Worlds in Motion. This cutesy, anime-looking game was named by the players back in July of this year and has enjoyed tremendous success even this early in its life cycle.

zOMG! is a Flash-based browser game marketed primarily to children and teens. Players earn Gaia Gold by interacting with the Gaia website and can then spend said gold to customize their avatar. If you're interested in trying the beta or just looking for more information on what it's all about, check out our First Impression of zOMG!.

Gallery: First Impressions: zOMG!

zOMG! beta reaches half a million players originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaia Online costs $25 million a year to run

Kyle Horner — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Gaia Online

When you take a look at the casual-focused Gaia Online, you probably don't think that the community-central site has been costing around 25 million each year -- well, according to company CEO Craig Sherman. It's kind of surprising to hear, since Gaia was a small start-up and has only been asking for around 100k to 500k for brands that want entry into the world of Gaia. We guess you have to spend money to make money, but that's a whole boatload of cash to throw at such a small start-up.

It seems to have paid off for the creators of Gaia Online, at least. They're reportedly starting to see deals in the higher six figures range. We're happy it worked out for them, but this is definitely a good example of how risky the MMO market can be even for any sort of game a developer might want to put out there. We shudder at the thought of how much cash has been dropped on some of the upcoming mainstream titles this year.

Gaia Online costs $25 million a year to run originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC08: Gaia Online launching casual MMO

Elizabeth Harper — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:42:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, New titles, Browser, Casual, Gaia Online

At GDC this afternoon Gaia Online's Craig Sherman announced that Gaia is developing a free, flash-based to play casual MMO. Though you may presume this is just another web-based casual game, Sherman says it will be a "real MMO." It will be launching this summer and Gaia expects it to become one of the top MMOs in the world within the first few months -- after all, they already have a user-base of 5 million players who want this kind of game play, so they aren't starting from scratch. Sherman wouldn't give us a name for the game (saying that they'd solicited names from current Gaia users and received around 20,000 responses), but ensured us that it would be a full-scale MMO (with combat, etc) with a heavy social aspect. Though we're hungry for more details, summer is only a few months away!

GDC08: Gaia Online launching casual MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marketing in virtual worlds: which company gets around the most?

William Dobson — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Economy, MMO industry, Second Life, Virtual worlds

These days we're becoming used to seeing advertising pop up in all aspects of daily life. A lot of the free games out there are only free because of the deals that have been made with various marketing companies. To get a good overview of the advertising in virtual worlds, Kzero created a table that shows companies and the games they are represented in, with an accompanying write-up.

The study shows that Toyota is the most "adventurous" marketer, shopping themselves out in five different MMOs. I recall that they also had a game available on Xbox Live Arcade until the end of 2007 called Yaris, which was free to download, and thankfully free to delete, as it was nothing more than a giant ad for the launch of the car by the same name. It looks like Toyota is definitely switched on to marketing to the gaming audience. On the games side of things, Second Life and Gaia have the dubious honor of being the home to the most advertising. Clicking on the table above will take you through to the bigger version at Kzero.

[Via Virtual Worlds News]

Marketing in virtual worlds: which company gets around the most? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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