1）据pocketgamer报道，休闲游戏公司PopCap日前确认将关闭都柏林工作室的消息，已就该工作室的清盘问题进行内部讨论。

该公司全球PR高级总监Gareth Chouteau表示，此举将裁减该工作室96个工作岗位，但其中有许多员工可加入“PopCap其他部门或者公司在爱尔兰的技术合作伙伴的团队”。

popcap-layoff(from manolith.com)

他称欧洲仍是PopCap的重要市场，但这项举措是公司进行业务重组的一个步骤（游戏邦注：该公司美国团队也已经裁员50人左右），这是PopCap所制定的决策，并非其母公司EA所干预的结果。

Chouteau指出关闭该工作室并不代表EA在爱尔兰业务的终结，EA曾于上周在爱尔兰戈尔韦宣布其欧洲用户体验中心将增加300个工作岗位，这个用户体验中心目前员工已将近400人。

2）据gamasutra报道，《Triple Town》开发商Spry Fox与《Yeti Town》开发商6waves的游戏侵权风波最近又有新进展（游戏邦注：Spry Fox在今年初起诉6waves），法庭最新文件承认“《Triple Town》和《Yeti Town》这两者在内在理念、规则及角色、背景的视觉效果等方面确实存在许多相似之处”。

Triple Town(from games)

但法庭也指出“Spry Fox的版权并不意味着该公司垄断了这一游戏理念。6waves或其他人均可基于相同理念而制作电子游戏”。6wave的撤销控告申请已被驳回，所以此案有可能开庭或者通过庭外解决。

3）据pocketgamer报道，指向点击冒险游戏《断剑：蛇之诅咒》开发商Revolution最近在Kickstarter平台超额实现融资计划，总筹得77万1561美元（游戏邦注：该项目在Kickstarter平台上线头两周就已突破40万美元集资目标，如果算上通过PayPal渠道捐助的款项，这一数额已经超过80万美元），预计这款《断剑》新游戏将于2013年4月亮相。

broken sword(from robotsgonebad.com)

4）据serkantoto报道，Bushiroad公司日前在东京游戏展上宣布推出新社交游戏平台Bushimo，该平台将于今年冬季向智能手机用户开放服务，并与Mobage、GREE或LINE形成竞争。

bushimo-logo-bushiroad(from serkantoto)

该公司表示这一平台将推出游戏、虚拟形象、聊天功能、博客等服务，允许第三方游戏供应商接入Bushimo，其首航合作伙伴包括日本社交游戏公司KLab（将向Bushimo推出《Love Live! School Idol Project》）。

5）据Serkantoto报道，Konami日前宣布公司社交游戏玩家已达2500万。该公司在今年4月份的社交游戏注册用户为2000万，旗下最热游戏是《Dragon Collection》；今年4-6月，Konami社交游戏收益达1.02亿美元，超过其消费者游戏业务收益。

6）在本周MAU增长最快Facebook游戏榜单上，Zynga有4款游戏位居前5名，《Zynga Slingo》排名第一，新增780万MAU，增幅达18%。

Top gainers this week-MAU(from AppData)

《FarmVille 2》则因交叉推广而受益，排名第二，新增190万MAU，增幅达173%。《Texas HoldEm Poker》排名第三，新增170万MAU，增幅达5%。《ChefVille》新增160万MAU，增幅达3%；Kixeye游戏《War Commander》新增130万MAU，增幅达33%。

6waves游戏《Bubble Epic》新增90万MAU，增幅为69%；迪士尼Playdom游戏《Threads of Mystery》新增43万MAU，增幅达44%。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）PopCap closes Dublin office, 96 jobs affected

by Keith Andrew

PopCap has confirmed it is to close its office in Dublin, with an internal consultation period looking concluding with the studio’s liquidation.

In a statement released detailing the news, senior director for worldwide PR Gareth Chouteau said a total of 96 jobs in the Dublin office have been affected.

Many employees, however, have been offered positions within “other parts of PopCap, at EA or new opportunities with technology partners in Ireland.”

European impact

“The consultation period in Ireland has been completed, and after having consulted fully with the employee representatives the PopCap leadership team has decided to close our Dublin office,” said Chouteau.

“Europe remains a critical market for PopCap and we will continue to grow our presence through centralised services operated from our North American offices and through the extensive European EA network.”

The decision is part of a company-wide reorganisation that resulted in around 50 jobs in the US also being shelved.

At the time, PopCap was keen to claim all such decisions were being taken independently, and didn’t come as a result of parent company EA.

Not over yet

Chouteau has been equally keen to point out that the closure of PopCap’s office doesn’t signal the end of EA’s Irish operations altogether.

“In Ireland, EA announced last week the addition of 300 jobs for its European Customer Experience Center in Galway, almost doubling the number of staff,” he added.

“The Galway facility currently employs close to 400 people.

“Worldwide, PopCap is still growing, and intends to continue hiring and developing current staff. We will continue to invest in new games, platforms, and markets while we expand the reach of hit franchises like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies.”（source:pocketgamer）

2）U.S. courts sees ‘substantial similarity’ between Triple Town, Yeti Town

by Joe Osborne

The legal battle between Triple Town developer Spry Fox and Yeti Town creator 6waves has finally moved forward. After Spry Fox filed a copyright infringement suit against 6waves earlier this year, a U.S. court may rule in favor of the former, Gamasutra reports. Soon after Spry Fox filed the lawsuit, 6waves filed a motion to dismiss, which the court recently shot down.

According to Gamasutra, the court stated in a filing that “SpryFox has plausibly identified enough copying to state a claim for relief.” The filing goes on to state: “No one would deny the many similarities between Triple Town and Yeti Town. Those similarities pervade the games, from their underlying concepts to their rules to the visual appearance of their characters and backgrounds.”

However, the court also points out that “SpryFox’s copyright gives it no monopoly over this idea. 6Waves (or anyone else) is free to create a video game based on the same idea,” Gamasutra reports. Regardless, the filing continues with: “Because the allegations of its complaint plausibly satisfy both the intrinsic and extrinsic test, Spry Fox has plausibly alleged substantial similarity between Triple Town and Yeti Town.”

With 6waves motion to dismiss denied, this case will either go to court or be settled outside. We’ve reached out to Spry Fox and 6waves for comment.（source:games）

3）Broken Sword 5 crowdfunding project raises over $800,000

by James Gilmour

Revolution has raised more than double its initial Broken Sword – The Serpent’s Curse Kickstarter target, ensuring that the point-and-click sequel will see the light of day.

The Kickstarter-based funding drive smashed through its $400,000 goal within the first two weeks, eventually attracting a hugely impressive $771,561 (over $800,000 if you include PayPal contributions) in donations.

Though this result can definitely be considered a roaring success, it wasn’t enough to guarantee the development of Beneath a Steel Sky 2, a project which Revolution promised to greenlight if it raised $1 million.

Encore

Still, the extremely healthy donation figure does ensure that at least one lucky backer will be inserted into Broken Sword – The Serpent’s Curse as an in-game character.

If the delivery date for the pledge rewards are to be believed, expect the new Broken Sword adventure to debut in April 2013. Paris in the spring? We can’t wait.（source：pocketgamer）

4）Bushimo: Japan Gets Yet Another Social Gaming Platform [Social Games]

Dr. Serkan Toto

“Bushimo” is the name of a new social gaming platform Tokyo-based Bushiroad announced at Tokyo Game Show 2012.

The new service will be exclusively available on smartphones starting sometime this winter, going (to some degree) against the likes of Mobage, GREE, or LINE.

Bushiroad says users can expect games, avatars, a chat function, blogs, etc.

What’s interesting is that the company allows 3rd-party game providers to plug into Bushimo, too. Japanese social gaming heavyweight KLab, for example, is already on board and announced a title called  ”Love Live! School Idol Project” for Bushimo.

That game was unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show – in addition to five other ones that will be rolled out in the next few weeks.（source:serkantoto）

5）Konami Now Counts 25 Million Social Game Users [Social Games]

by Dr. Serkan Toto

Konami used the Tokyo Game Show 2012 (which ended today) to announce an important milestone: the company says the number of registered users playing their social games has hit 25 million.

In Japan, Konami is active across a number of platforms, including Mobage and GREE. It recently rolled out Mixi Park, a social gaming platform operated in cooperation with Mixi.

The company hit the 20 million registered social game user mark in April this year. Konami’s biggest hit is Dragon Collection, which recently became available in the Canadian App Store.

Between April and June this year, Konami made US$102 million with social games – more than with its consumer games segment.

And here’s the interesting point: the company is still sitting on an IP treasure trove it has barely touched yet: Castlevania, Goemon, Metal Gear, Contra, or Suikoden are just a few examples for Konami brands that can be turned social. And I am not even taking the perspective of the global social and mobile gaming market for Konami into account.（source:serkantoto）

6）Zynga dominates this week’s list of fastest-growing Facebook games by MAU

Mike Thompson

Zynga had a good week, taking four of the top five spots on this week’s list of fastest-growing Facebook games by monthly active user. The No. 1 spot went to Zynga Slingo (which has been seeing a dramatic upswing in traffic recently), with 7.8 million MAU for an 18 percent gain.

FarmVille 2 looks like it’s starting to see some serious cross-promotion from the developer and took the No. 2 spot with 1.9 million MAU, a 173 percent traffic increase. Texas HoldEm Poker came in at No. 3 due to its 5 percent gain of 1.7 million MAU. ChefVille brought in 1.6 million MAU, a 3 percent surge that allowed the title to take the No. 4 spot. The only non-Zynga title in the top five games on the list was Kixeye’s War Commander, which was up by 1.3 million for a 33 percent gain.

Five other games on the list had traffic gains greater than 30 percent. Murzik’s Bubble Pirate Quest was up by 150 percent with 1.2 million MAU. 6waves’ Bubble Epic took in 900,000 MAU for a 69 percent increase. Peak Games’ Lost Jewels was up by 600,000 MAU, a 38 percent gain. Finally, Disney Playdom’s Threads of Mystery was up by 430,000 MAU for a 44 percent increase.（source:insidesocialgames）