来自social times本月22日的一则并购新闻，家庭娱乐巨头华纳兄弟（Warner Bros.）发布公告称已经正式并购Turbine公司，后者是在线社交游戏开发公司。

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Turbine公司成立于1994年，根据地在波士顿，开发过大型多人游戏龙与地下城（Dungeons and Dragons ）以及指环王（Lord of the Rings）。

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Turbine公司的研发能力将使华纳兄弟处在一个游戏开发的新高度上。social times认为可以期待华纳兄弟在某一时刻进入社交游戏开发领域。

华纳兄弟的此次并购同时还获得了Turbine公司的数字出版平台，该平台的社区和虚拟交易等各项功能已经和其他的社交网络平台诸如facebook相接近。尽管社交游戏这个概念在这次的并购中并没有被很明确地提出来，但事实上Turbine公司完全有能力在不久的将来就进入社交游戏领域。

Turbine公司在介绍中自称是在线娱乐的领先者，将成为华纳兄弟战略的重要组成部分，他们将继续开拓游戏范围和游戏性能。华纳兄弟主席Kevin Tsujihara称赞Turbine正在游戏研发和发行方面卓著的表现将帮助华纳兄弟发展产品研发方面的能力。

ChrisDempsey turbine创始人

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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced today the acquisition of Turbine, Inc., an online social gaming studio that focuses on creating Massively Multiplayer Online games.  Turbine was founded in 1994 and is based out of Boston, and has created MMOs based on Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings.  This puts Warner Bros in a position to develop any type of game that they please using the Lord of the Rings license, and we can expect that to include social games at some point soon.

Warner Bros. also gains Turbine’s proprietary digital publishing platform that enables microtransactions, virtual goods and easy e-commerce.  Their games leverage online communities that have social networking built in integration to other social networks like Facebook.  While social gaming isn’t mentioned explicitly, the fact that this company provides virtual goods, MMO gameplay and online communities with Facebook Connect pretty much spells out that Warner and Turbine will bring something to the social gaming sphere soon.

“Turbine is a leader in online entertainment and a strong strategic fit for Warner Bros. as we continue to broaden our games portfolio and development capabilities,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. “Turbine’s renowned online game development and publishing expertise will help us develop additional online product offerings, while also providing us with new and innovative ways to market and communicate with our consumers.”

In 2007, Warner Bros. acquired TT Games, developer of the hit LEGO-based game franchises, including LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman, which have wide appeal with players of all ages. Early in 2009, Warner Bros. acquired Snowblind Studios to develop its The Lord of the Rings games franchise, with the first title The Lord of the Rings: War in the North expected to be released in 2011. Also in 2009, the Studio purchased the primary assets of Midway Games. Midway published the Mortal Kombat franchise, which has sold over 26 million units worldwide. Most recently, Warner Bros. acquired a majority stake in Rocksteady Studios, a privately held developer of interactive entertainment targeted at teens and adults.

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