1）据Joystiq报道，从EA招聘启示的消息来看，社交及手机游戏开发商PopCap正在招聘一名“开发AAA主机游戏”的软件工程师，该公司很显然准备进军AAA主机游戏市场。

其招聘要求是熟悉Frostbite 2引擎（游戏邦注：该引擎由《战地》工作室EA Digital Illusions CE开发），并且拥有PS 3或Xbox 360开发背景。

PopCap-Looking-to-Develop-AAA-Console-Title(from softpedia)

2）据粉丝网站The Facebook & Zynga Blog报道，社交游戏公司Zynga最近为了节省开支，停止向其美国论坛版主发放报酬，目前其多数版主已不再继续为Zynga游戏粉丝提供服务。

报道称Zynga已经解聘所有美国论坛版主，以便填补海外版主的空缺，很有可能将版主这一岗位分配给印度市场。该博客声称，这一命令就是Mark Pincus本人的授意。

farmville-sad-cow(from games)

Zynga发布的声明仅指出公司为缩减成本，将取消一些外部服务（包括一部分论坛版主）的合同，但论坛版本仍将是所有Zynga游戏的功能，玩家仍可通过邮件，在线聊天及社交渠道的群组功能获得额外支持，但并未提及将由谁来负责打理公司的多个游戏论坛。

3）游戏行业博客gamesbrief最近撰文预测，于2004年上线的《魔兽世界》可能将在2013年走向没落，该游戏已经从最高峰时的1200万降至1000万，虽然其扩展内容《Mists of Pandaria》对注册用户的提升有所帮助，但作用并不大。

魔兽世界(from static.mmorpg)

原因在于，多数玩家是因为自己的好友也在《魔兽世界》中，所以他们还会坚持参与游戏。但这些好友现在可能转向《Guild Wars 2》或者《旧共和国》，以及《Clash of Clans》、《World of Tanks》、《英雄联盟》、《CSR Racing》等免费增值游戏，因此《魔兽世界》吸引力将持续下降，它在2013年可能流失300万注册用户，总用户数量将降至700万以下。

4）据insidesocialgames报道，以色列手机游戏发行商MoMinis日前宣布融资600万美元，该轮融资由Gemini Israel Ventures主导。该公司计划利用这笔资金扩展游戏开发项目，向iPhone、Windows Mobile、Facebook等平台推出更多游戏，并扩大MoMinis团队规模。

MoMinis(from crunchbase)

MoMinis目前在全球18个市场已有近100款游戏处于开发或计划阶段，它在过去10个月中获得显著发展，拥有3500万用户，600万月活跃用户，100万日活跃用户以及10万日下载量。

5）网络测试公司RootMetrics最近调查报告指出，纽约移动网络速度比伦敦快4倍，手机信号问题已经成为英国找房人的一个重要参考因素。

在2000名受访者中，有54％表示自己会购买信号很差的房子，46％表示不会租用这种房子。64％英国人家中时常会遇到信号问题，有86％表示家中信号很差，44％常遇到电话呼叫问题，还有三分之一称移动网速很慢。

mobile_phone_reception(from ipad2_iphone_ipod(from mobilechoices)

与此同时，有80％表示如果想买房或租房，会考虑更换网络以便获得更好的信号，有70％称会考虑更换运营商服务以便获得更好的网络信号。

75％英国人补充称网络信号和覆盖面问题重于折扣税率、免费电影票和其他优惠信息。

6）据gigaom报道，根据苹果供应产商以及一些分析师传闻可推测，苹果可能计划在2013年6月推出新款iPhone和iPad产品，分别与目前的iPhone 5、新iPad发布时间仅隔七八个月（与现在仅隔6个月）。这种速度超过了苹果以往更新产品的做法。iPhone于2007年发布时，基本上只是每年更新一次产品，iPad问世的情况亦是如此，iOS软件也多为一年进行一次大升级。

ipad2_iphone_ipod(from mactogether)

但从今年来看，情况似乎有所变化。其中最明显的迹象就是，苹果在2012下半年几乎推出了所有设备的更新产品（游戏邦注：包括iPod、iPhone、iPad和MacBook）。Asymco分析师Horace Dediu认为，苹果如果不转向现在这种半年一次的更新周期，该公司就有可能面临许多压力。

7）据AllThingsD报道，为进一步开拓亚洲游戏市场，迪士尼日前收购韩国游戏开发商Studio Ex，但并未公布具体成交金额。

disney_game(from allThingsD)

Studio Ex至今未发布任何游戏，专注于多人模式、免费增值网络及手机游戏，将制作基于迪士尼新品牌或现存品牌的网络及手机游戏。

迪士尼过去在游戏领域的主要收购对象包括Club Penguin、Playdom以及Tapulous团队。

8）在本周MAU增长最快的Facebook游戏榜单上，Zynga游戏《CityVille 2》再次登顶，新增160万MAU，增幅达6％。

Top gainers this week-MAU(from AppData)

King.com游戏《Candy Crush Saga》位居第二，新增100万MAU，增幅达6％；《Pet Rescue Saga》排名第三，新增80万MAU，增幅为10％；Nordeus的《Top Eleven Be a Football Manager》排名第四，新增40万MAU，增幅为6％；Zynga游戏《ChefVille》排名第五，新增30万MAU，增幅为1％。（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 looking for developer to work on “AAA console title”

Mike Thompson

Social and mobile game developer PopCap is apparently planning to work on a AAA console title, according to a listing on Electronic Arts’ job board.

Joystiq reports the developer behind Lucky Gems Casino, Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled Blitz is seeking a software engineer, ”to build a AAA console title.” The ideal candidate would be experienced with the Frostbite 2 engine, which is the engine created by EA Digital Illusions CE (the studio behind the Battlefield first-person shooter games).

Details about the project this position is for aren’t available right now, but  the person hired will be wearing a lot of hats since duties will include animation, audio, resource

management, pipelines and visual effects. PopCap is looking for someone with experience working on either the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360, which the developer has previously released titles for.（source：insidesocialgames）

2）FarmVille maker drops contracts for U.S. forum moderators [Report]

by Joe Osborne

The house that built FarmVille seems to have lost some of its foundation. According to fan website The Facebook & Zynga Blog, social gaming giant Zynga has neglected to renew contracts for its U.S.-based forum moderators. Save for some employed by Zynga full time, the majority of moderators are no longer working to serve disgruntled Zynga game fans.

This outlet reports that Zynga has fired all of its U.S.-based forum moderators in favor of filling those positions overseas, though with no attributable source. More specifically, it’s claimed that India will be home for these contracts. Also, “word on the street,” according to the blog, is that the order came directly from Mark Pincus, the developer’s CEO and co-founder.

Of course, all of those claims may as well be rumor, but Zynga didn’t shed much more light on the particulars in this confirming statement:

As part of the cost reduction program we announced in October, contracts on some outside services, including a portion of our forum moderators, will be allowed to expire. Player support remains a top priority for Zynga. Forum moderators will continue to be a feature of all Zynga games, and players will continue to have access to additional support through email, live premium chat and peer groups through social channels.

Allowing a contract to expire is essentially a layoff, at least for the affected party. It’s clear that Zynga made the move to save some cash, but what isn’t clear is how exactly whomever is left will handle moderating the developer’s various game forums, which continue to grow. Frankly, the timing of this move couldn’t be worse, and here’s to those affected finding new gigs quickly.（source：games）

3）My first prediction for 2013: World of Warcraft will lose 3 million subscribers.

Nicholas Lovell

Tweet  At the Mobile Gaming Europe conference last week, I predicted that 2013 will be a tipping point for World of Warcraft, in a bad way. I believe that time is running out on the most successful game of all time. It’s been a good run. The game was launched in 2004. It has been a billion dollar franchise for many years. Unfortunately, I think it’s time is coming to an end.

For many of the players still subscribing to WoW, they stay because of their friends. They pay each month to preserve the possibility that they might go raiding. An expansion like Mists of Pandaria is not about earning $40 from the sale of a box at Gamestop (of which Activision only sees half); it is about persuading a subscriber to keep subscribing for the two years between expansions. That’s over $200 of revenue, most of which does go to Activision.

That’s what is in trouble. Activision has seen users drop to below 10 million users, down from a peak of 12 million. Mists of Pandaria boosted the number of subscribers up again, but not by much. Now, I believe, enough consumers are thinking that they won’t be going back to Warcraft that the subscription is not worth it. Their friends aren’t there enough any more. They are playing Guild Wars 2 or Rift. A few of them are playing The Old Republic. More of them are playing Clash of Clans and World of Tanks and League of Legends and CSR Racing.

It’s not that the core WoW fans aren’t there. It’s that those who are not so committed don’t see the point of paying for the option of playing. They will move in.

Warcraft will lost 3 million subs in 2013, and drop below 7 million.（source：gamesbrief）

4）MoMinis secures $6M in Series B round

Emanuel Maiberg

Israeli mobile game publisher MoMinis today announced it secured $6 million in a Series B round led by Gemini Israel Ventures with previous investor BRM Group participating as well. MoMinis’ press release states the publisher intends to use the new funds to expand its game developer programs and features, further expand its offerings on platforms such as the iPhone, Windows Mobile and Facebook, and grow the MoMinis team.

With almost 100 titles planned and in development in more than 18 countries worldwide,  MoMinis is clearly seeing success and will continue to pursue game development. But other developers should keep a closer eye on MoMinis’ other offerings, including its game development studio which offers development and distribution tools for indie developers and its PlayScape platform which offers cross-game experience points and currency.

MoMinis said the investment comes on the heels of significant growth in the past 10 months, citing its 35 million users, 6 million monthly active users, 1 million daily active users and 100,000 downloads a day.

MoMinis also said that the round is still open to further investments.（source：insidemobileapps）

5）More than half of Brits fear buying a home with poor mobile signal

by Zen Terrelonge

Full strength 3G becoming as important as choosing the best school for your child to attend.

Network testing company RootMetrics recently revealed that mobile web speeds in New York are four times faster than they are in London, and now says that mobile phone signal is becoming increasingly more important for UK home hunters.

A 2,000 respondent strong survey shows 54 per cent would be put off of buying a home with poor signal, falling slightly to 46 per cent for renting. 64 per cent of Brits have had continuous signal issues at their homes, of that number, 86 per cent cite poor signal strength, 44 per cent said call quality and a third report slow mobile web.

Bill Moore, CEO and president, RootMetrics, said: “While there are obviously more important considerations when it comes to weighing the pros and cons of a house move, there’s no doubt that mobile phone coverage is becoming a factor in the decision making process.”

Meanwhile, 80 per cent would consider changing network in order to receive better coverage at a home they’re considering buying or renting, while 70 per cent have toyed with changing operator based on the coverage at their current home.

75 per cent of Brits added that an honest and transparent overview of network signal and coverage would be preferred over discount tariffs, free cinema tickets and other promos.（source：mobile-ent）

6）Two new iPads, iPhones per year? It’s not as crazy as it sounds

By Erica Ogg

Were you annoyed that after you bought an iPad 3 in March, Apple introduced a newer, slightly better model of the same device in October? Now imagine that scenario for, say, your iPhone too; and think about that happening every year. Whether that’s annoying or exciting to you, know that it’s something that some think could actually happen.

Thanks to hints from Apple’s supply chain, as well as some analyst gossip, there’s some speculation that Apple may be getting ready to release a new iPhone model and a new iPad in June 2013. That’s six months from now, and eight and seven months, respectively, since each was last refreshed. That would be way faster than we’re used to from Apple. Since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, it’s been updated once per year. And until this year, the same has gone for the iPad. iOS software also gets a major update once annually.

But before you scoff, think about how Apple managed to get two different iPad models out the door in the same calendar year. Could the company do it again? (And again, and again?)

Horace Dediu at Asymco gathers some tantalizing though circumstantial evidence that points to such a scenario, including seemingly random rises in the company’s capital expenditures, its recent (by all counts successful) experiment with super fast global product rollouts, and Foxconn moving to make the supply chain even shorter. “If Apple is not switching to a six month cycle then there seems to be a lot of stress for no benefit,” he wrote.

The biggest and most obvious sign that something may be up is Apple’s decision to launch almost all of its major product refreshes — iPods, iPhone, iPads, MacBooks — in the second half of 2012. By stacking all of its product introductions at the end of the year — and all of the associate revenue boosts that come with high-profile launches — it leaves the whole rest of the year as a giant question mark. That’s a long time without a new product; what will Apple introduce in the meantime? (Don’t say Apple television.)

This year could have been a one-off situation: perhaps two iPads in one year had everything to do with the bump in the A6 processor and/or getting the iPad on the same Lightning connector as other iDevices. Or, there could be another so far still-secret product Apple is planning to unveil us next spring. But something big enough to offset a spring iPad launch? Not likely — at least not at first. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said Apple won’t try “to do everything” — he is focused on keeping his company focused on its strengths.

Which for now, is perfecting the iPad and the iPhone and getting both to market faster and faster. It would be a crazy huge task to do two major refreshes of both, year after year. But if Apple is able to get another iPhone and another iPad out in about six months’ time it would be Cook’s most impressive feat yet.

It’s possible that what’s been going on behind the scenes is that Apple is transforming into the ultimate Tim Cook-run company: one whose supply chain and operations can churn out two of the company’s most important, and most profitable, devices every year.（source：gigaom）

7）Disney pushes into Asia with purchase of South Korea’s Studio Ex

Dean Takahashi

Hoping to push into the Asian game market, Disney is acquiring South Korean game developer Studio Ex, according to AllThingsD.

Disney did not disclose the terms. Studio Ex hasn’t yet launched any games. But this aggressive push into the Asian market with free-to-play multiplayer games includes David Moon, the former director of game services at NHN, a big game destination in Asia.

“The Walt Disney Company has acquired Studio Ex, a game development studio in Korea that focuses on multiplayer, free-to-play online and mobile games,” Disney said, in a statement. “Through a stock purchase agreement, Studio Ex is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company reporting into Disney Interactive.”

The studio will make online and mobile games based on new brands or existing Disney properties. Disney also has deals with South Korea’s Smilegate and Zipi Studio. Disney’s big acquisitions in games in the past include Club Penguin, Playdom and Tapulous.（source：venturebeat）

8）CityVille 2 returns to the top spot among the fastest-growing Facebook games by MAU

Mike Thompson

Zynga’s CityVille 2 has once again seen a population boom among the fastest-growing games by monthly active users. The game took the No. 1 spot with 1.6 million MAU, a 6 percent increase.

King.com’s Candy Crush Saga is also continuing to see strong growth, grabbing the No. 2 spot with 1 million MAU (also for a 6 percent gain). The recently-launched Pet Rescue Saga  came in at No. 3 with 800,000 MAU, up 10 percent. Nordeus’s Top Eleven Be a Football Manager snagged the No. 4 position, up 6 percent with 400,000 MAU. Zynga’s ChefVille fills out the top five games on the list with 300,000 MAU, a 1 percent increase.

Only three other games on the list saw growth that was in the double digits. Megapolis drew in 270,000 MAU, a 270 percent gain. Playdom’s Full Bloom is continuing to enjoy renewed popularity, bringing in 200,000 MAU for a 16 percent increase. Finally, Mob Science’s Legends: Rise of a Hero saw a 48 percent surge with 110,000 MAU.（source：insidesocialgames）