1）据gamezebo报道，King本周宣布将于2014年初在德国柏林成立新工作室，此前该工作室在巴塞罗那、布加勒斯特、伦敦、马尔摩和斯德哥尔摩已经成立多家工作室。

该公司首席执行官Riccardo Zacconi表示，德国拥有许多出色的游戏开发人才，柏林是欧洲领先的创意中心之一，他们相信柏林工作室将为全世界成百上千万用户创造出有趣的休闲游戏。

king’s game(from gamezebo)

2）据gamasutra报道，今年9月份才刚关闭的英国工作室Blitz Games Studios联合创始人Philip和Andrew Oliver最近又成立了一家新工作室Radiant Worlds，并聘回了一部分老员工，据称新工作室已经招聘了约50名成员。

Radiant Worlds-logo(from radiantworlds.com)

Philip和Andrew Oliver此前已有23年游戏行业经验，他们关闭Blitz Games的原因是“与客户紧张的关系、全球经济衰退，以及运气不济”，查阅Radiant Worlds网站可知新工作室的成立就发生在Blitz关闭期间。

3）据gamasutra报道，独立工作室Double Fine日前宣布从Nordic Games手中购回之前自主开发的两款游戏——《Costume Quest》和《Stacking》的所有权。

Costume-Quest(from platformnation.com)

这两款数字下载游戏最初由THQ分别发布于2010和2011年，THQ原来掌握了这两者的所有权，但由于该公司宣告破产并拍卖资产，Nordic Games从中购买了这两款游戏及其他THQ资产（游戏邦注：包括《Darksiders》和《Red Faction》）。

4）《侠盗猎车手》发行商Take-Two日前宣布从主要股东Icahn Group手中，以2.035亿美元购回1200万股票。

鉴于Carl Icahn是活跃投资者，在过去数年一直是Take-Two的重要影响因素，Icahn Group在Take-Two董事会拥有三个席位这一情况，行业观察者曾认为Carl Icahn会促使董事会出售Take-Two。

take-two(from gameinformer.com)

从现在这一情况来看，形势发生了逆转，Carl Icahn的出局可能意味着他并不认为Take-Two存在出售公司的可能。

除此之外，Take-Two还宣布购回了价值7350万美元的股票。

5）据gamasutra报道，伦敦游戏设计工作室Hide&Seek日前宣布，由于财政困难，不得不关闭成立五年的工作室，并被迫裁员。

该公司曾在今年初成功展开Tiny Games在Kickstarter的大众融资活动，其创始人Alex Fleetwood承认公司基于佣金的商业模式已经不具有可行性，其预算已经接近于零。

Tiny Games（“针对用户”量身打造的商业模式）是该公司进行的一种创新尝试，但却并没有改变公司的窘境。（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）King to open Berlin studio in 2014, recruiting new talent

By Joe Jasko

King has announced this week that the powerhouse company responsible for gaming juggernauts like Candy Crush Saga and Papa Pear Saga will be opening a brand new studio in Berlin, Germany in early 2014. The upcoming Berlin studio will join King’s handful of other existing Europe-based locations in Barcelona, Bucharest, London, Malmo, and Stockholm.

It certainly makes sense, given everything we’ve learned from our recent trip to King’s studio in Stockholm last month. The company strives to keep everything regarding King completely based out of Europe, so that everyone is always working within the same time zone, and if employees need to make a trip out to a different studio, then it’s only just a quick plane ride away.

In speaking on the company’s decision to set up shop in Berlin going forward, King CEO Riccardo Zacconi has stated, “Germany is home to an exceptional amount of games development talent and Berlin is one of Europe’s leading creative hubs, so we have no doubt that the Berlin studio will produce fantastic, fun casual games that can be enjoyed by millions of people around the world.”

And as luck would have it, if you just so happen to live in the area, or just feel like packing up and relocating to Berlin on a whim, King needs some help filling up that shiny new studio before its 2014 grand opening, and is currently accepting job applications for numerous positions in the technical, art, and business performance departments (and don’t forget our top 5 reasons of why you’ll want to be working at King in the first place).（source：gamezebo）

2）Defunct Blitz Games Studios returns as Radiant Worlds

By Mike Rose

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Newsbrief: Although UK-based Blitz Games Studios was closed down just a couple of months ago, the company’s co-founders have already set a new studio in motion, and hired back a portion of its staff.

Philip and Andrew Oliver closed down Blitz in September, after 23 years in the business, citing “frustrations with clients, the global economic crisis, and more than our fair share of simple bad luck.”

Now the pair has founded Radiant Worlds, reports Develop, alongside former Blitz COO Richard Smithies. Although details on the studio are light right now, it has reportedly hired around 50 staffers.

A “whois” check of the Radiant Worlds website suggests that the new studio was formed within a week of the closure of Blitz.（source：gamasutra）

3）Two Double Fine games finally come home

By Kris Graft

Two of Double Fine’s video game children have come home after a long, drawn-out absence.

The independent studio said today it has reacquired the rights to two Double Fine-developed games — Costume Quest and Stacking — from publisher Nordic Games.

The two digital download games were originally published by THQ – Costume Quest in 2010, Stacking in 2011. THQ held the rights to those games, but when the publisher filed for bankruptcy and had to auction off its properties, Double Fine was unable to acquire the rights.

Nordic Games, on the other hand, was able to acquire the two titles, along with other former THQ properties including Darksiders and Red Faction.

Now, Nordic has struck a deal with the studio to grant full rights for Costume Quest and Stacking to Double Fine, at the same time partnering to bring retail versions of the digital-only games to North America and Europe on Mac and Windows in first-half 2014, along with a new retail release of Double Fine’s Psychonauts on the same platforms.

The canned commentary in the press release is good enough to reproduce here, so here you go:

Tim Schafer, CEO Double Fine: “I am pleased that we have regained full control over Costume Quest and Stacking, following a daring and top-secret midnight raid on the Nordic Games headquarters in Vienna.”（source：gamasutra）

4）As major Take-Two investor exits, company sale seems less likely

By Kris Graft

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two said Tuesday it entered a deal worth $203.5 million to buy back 12 million shares from major investor Icahn Group.

Carl Icahn, known as an activist investor, has been a major factor in Take-Two’s business over the years. With his heavy investment in the company and three Icahn Group designees on Take-Two’s board, industry watchers considered his involvement as a sign that he would push the board to sell the company.

With today’s buyback of the shares that intent appears to have changed. “Given Carl Icahn’s activist record, his exit may signal that he doesn’t believe a sale of the company is likely,” said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter in a research note.

With the buyback of the Icahn shares, Icahn Group withdrew its three designees from the Take-Two board, as part of a prior agreement.

On top of the $203.5 million buyback from Icahn, Take-Two also said today it repurchased $73.5 million worth of shares.（source：gamasutra）

5）UK-based Hide&Seek studio is closing down

By Mike Rose

London-based game design studio Hide&Seek today announced that it is sadly closing its doors after 5 years making games, as a result of the difficult financial landscape.

The company, which you might know from running the successful Tiny Games Kickstarter earlier this year, is currently wrapping up its final games, at which point it will shut down.

Hide&Seek is well known for supporting emerging game developers in the UK, as well as holding its own video game festivals and conferences.

In a blog post, founder Alex Fleetwood admitted that the company’s commission-based business model simply wasn’t working anymore, as the budgets from work-for-hire have dwindled down to next-to-nothing.

Tiny Games was an attempt to forge a new path for the company — a “for-customers” business model — but this wasn’t enough to swing the fortunes of the company.

The studio’s staffers are now looking for new jobs. Any company willing to hire should get in touch with Fleetwood.（source：gamasutra）