1）据pocketgamer报道，Chair Entertainment日前宣布《无尽之剑2》在苹果App Store庆祝上线5周年的免费活动中，下载量比平时增长了3倍（游戏邦注：苹果该时期推出10款付费游戏为期一周的限时免费活动），新增570万用户。在限免活动第一天，该游戏下载量就达到170万次。

假如这些新用户是付费下载游戏，那么Chair在苹果抽成之后的收益可能将近2800万美元，但Chair并没有将限免活动视为一大损失。因为《无尽之剑2》中还有IAP选项，这些用户还可以在游戏中购买付费道具。

无尽之剑2(from pocketgamer)

该公司还透露，原版《无尽之剑》在此期间也实现了下载量增长，虽然该游戏并未参与限免活动。这款问世已达三年之久的动作RPG在此一周下载量就增长2.5倍，其售价为5.99美元/3.99英磅。

除此之外，《无尽之剑：觉醒》（2.99美元/1.99英磅）这个将两款游戏融合在一起的版本，在App Store促销之后下载量也增长了70%。

2）据venturebeat报道，摩根斯坦利分析师Katy Huberty最近表示，苹果2013财年第三季度的iPhone出货量为2900万至3200万台，高于舆论预计的2650万台，苹果该季度的收益将超过360亿美元。

apple-iphone-5s(from gizbot.com)

苹果在第二季度的iPhone出货量为3740万台，收益达436亿美元；而在2012年第三季度，该公司iPhone出货量为3510万台，收益达392亿美元。

值得注意的是，Huberty认为新iPhone 5S也许要在9月底才会面世，并预计苹果本季度iPad出货量为1800万台，Mac出货量为390万台。

3）据gamasutra报道，前Zynga首席游戏设计师Brian Reynolds（Big Huge Games创始人，Firaxis Games联合创始人）在3月份离开Zynga之后成立了SecretNewCo工作室，最近宣布与游戏巨头Nexon合作开发了一款基于《文明2》的游戏《SecretNewGame》。

Brian Reynolds(from game.iresearch.cn)

玩家在该游戏中要扮演石器时代的部门酋长，推动部落迈向人类历史的各个时代，能够与其他玩家结盟、交易和战斗。预计该游戏将于2014年发布，但尚未透露具体目标平台。

4）据gamasutra报道，Media Molecule工作室主管Siobhan Reddy在最近的BBC Radio 4采访中表示，她认为女性在游戏行业中的生产力被低估了，行业急需解决女性开发者数量稀少的问题。

Siobhan Reddy(from stuff.co.nz)

她称行业应该致力于让女性看到游戏是一个令人兴奋的领域……女性创意总监数量极少，但行业中却有不少女性在运营工作室或掌舵，女性在行业中的影响力确实很大，但在游戏设计和编程领域仍然缺乏代表性的人物。

5）据彭博社报道，美国破产法院日前正式批准游戏发行商THQ的清盘计划，至此该公司正式宣告破产。

THQ(from psvnetwork.com)

这家公司已欠下数百万美元债务，将通过出售资产偿还债主，但这只是杯水车薪，据称那些无担保债权人将只能收到20-52%的债款。

6）移动云服务公司Kinvey最近发布信息图表显示，苹果在应用领域下载量所占份额仅为18%，但收益却比谷歌多500%左右，日常收益达510万美元。谷歌虽然占据75%下载量，但日常收益仅为110万美元。

Google Play检索结果更好，即使用户拼错应用名称或类型，也能够显示相应的产品。此外，游戏在Google Play应用中占比26%，而在App Store仅占比14%。

值得注意的是，Google Play中的应用最高售价为200美元，而苹果应用的最高售价达到999美元，App Store中前100款热门应用仅有7个不同售价点，而Google Play前100款热门应用却有29个不同售价点。

apps_and_oranges_infographic(from kinvey)

（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）Free for all: Infinity Blade II downloads triple during App Store anniversary promo

5.7 million pick up free version

by Matthew Diener

Infinity Blade II developer Chair Entertainment has claimed downloads of the game tripled as a result of the title going free as part of the App Store’s fifth birthday celebration.

The studio has revealed that the promo – which saw Apple give away 10 paid apps and games across a week long period – delivered 5.7 million new players, roughly three times the amount the developer would expect to bring in typically.

Indeed, Chair has revealed 1.7 million downloads alone were made on the first day of the promotion.

Infinite wisdom

If all these players had paid to download Infinity Blade II, Chair could have pulled in close to $28 million in sales after Apple’s cut. But the firm doesn’t see the promotion as a loss.

Given Infinity Blade II features optional in-app purchases, it’s expected the 5.7 million new players could go on to push up IAP-driven revenue in the weeks ahead.

Chair has also noted an increase in downloads of the original Infinity Blade, despite the fact the game wasn’t included in the promo.

Infinity Blade II

Downloads of the three-year-old action RPG surged to two-and-a-half times what Chair would have expected in a given week, with each user paying $5.99/£3.99 to play.

Additionally, downloads of Infinity Blade: Awakening – a $2.99/£1.99 e-book which ties the two games together – were up 70 percent following the App Store sale.（source：pocketgamer）

2）Analyst: Apple shipped 29M to 32M iPhones last quarter, boosting revenue to $36B

John Koetsier

Apple’s doing better than Wall Street thinks, if we can believe Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty.

Huberty says that Apple shipped 29 million to 32 million iPhones in its third quarter of 2013, higher than consensus estimates of 26.5 million, and that will boost Apple quarterly revenue to over $36 billion, also higher than the street expects. Both could have a significant positive effect on Apple’s coming quarterly earnings report, which is due next week Tuesday.

For context, Apple shipped 37.4 million iPhones in the second quarter, with revenue of $43.6 billion, and a year ago, in 2012′s third quarter, the company shipped 35.1 million iPhones while pulling in $39.2 billion in revenue.

Interestingly, Huberty also believes that the new iPhone 5S won’t arrive in time to significantly impact Apple’s fourth quarter, meaning that we potentially won’t see the new smartphone until late September.

A positive quarter where Wall Street is looking for a major slump could be a major boon for Apple’s sagging stock, which has famously sunk from its heights of $700 to the $400 range. But

Huberty’s report has not helped the company’s stock — at least not yet.

Apple stock is slightly down today to $430.

Huberty also expects Apple to move 18 million iPads this quarter and 3.9 million Macs. That would be a 50 percent bump on the year-ago quarter’s iPad numbers and a very slight drop — along with the rest of the PC industry — on laptops and towers.

Even if Huberty is using rose-tinted glasses, her worst-case estimates indicate that Apple will surpass its guidance of $33.5 billion to $35.5 billion for the June quarter.（source：
venturebeat）

3）Brian Reynolds goes back to his Civilization roots

By Mike Rose

Brian Reynolds, best known for founding Big Huge Games, co-founding Firaxis Games, and most recently serving as Zynga’s chief game designer, has revealed his latest plans — a partnership with online game giant Nexon.

Reynolds left Zynga earlier this year to “pursue other opportunities.” As has now been revealed, he went on to found SecretNewCo in March, and has partnered with Nexon to develop a game that goes back to Reynolds’ Civilization II roots.

SecretNewGame, as it is being called for now, sees players taking on the role of a tribe leader during the Stone Age, and working your game through each age of human history. You’re able to form alliances with other players, trade, and attack other people.

Nexon had made a cash equity investment towards the project, in exchange for a minority stake in the company, although the terms of the agreement have not been fully disclosed.

Although details regarding SecretNewCo’s first game are currently scarce, we’re told that it’s a “mobile strategic social network game.” Reynolds added that, “This partnership lets SecretNewCo tap into Nexon’s proven free-to-play expertise and resources as we continue to grow our team and scale the reach of our new game.”

SecretNewGame is set to launch on as-of-yet unannounced platforms in 2014.（source：gamasutra）

4）’It takes women working on games for games to change.’

By Kris Ligman

“It takes women working on games for games to change.”

- Media Molecule studio director Siobhan Reddy, in an interview with BBC Radio 4.

Siobhan Reddy believes women are underestimated as a productive force in the games industry. “There are all sorts of discussions about where it is now and where it has been,” she tells BBC
Radio 4. “[The scarcity of women in the field] is one that I’d really like to see us solve.”

“There are some sad statistics which are that by the time girls are in Year 8 they’ve been put off working in tech or in games, whether in the home or by a teacher or by friends,” she continues. “We really need to be looking at how we can encourage women to see games as an exciting industry… We have very few creative directors who are women. We have a lot of women within the industry who run studios and pack a mean punch, you know — the influence of women within the industry is pretty great — but we need to see that on the game design and programming side as well.”

Reddy acknowledges that one issue which needs to be addressed in order to start closing the industry’s gender gap is the present lack of female role models for tech. “That actually did give me a bit of a kick, to [help] make sure we were visible to young women out there contemplating a career in video games,” she offers.

“We get here via various different ways, and the way that things change is from within. I feel like the change for the industry is in representing our female audience. I will never make a
game that does not take that into consideration.”（source：gamasutra）

5）THQ is officially over, as liquidation plans are approved

By Mike Rose

Although game publisher THQ has been essentially dead for several months now, the company’s demise became official this week, as a U.S. bankruptcy court approved liquidation plans.

THQ was cut up and sold off to various bidders earlier this year, but U.S. judge Mary F. Walrath officially ended the company’s bankruptcy case this week, reports Bloomberg.

The judge noted that THQ “has met the burden of establishing that the plan should be approved, and I will confirm it.”

However, THQ’s creditors most likely aren’t going to be a happy bunch. While the defunct publisher owes tens of millions in debt, and will be using the money earned from the asset sales to pay its creditors back, the majority are destined to recover less than half of what they are owed.

In fact, it’s projected that those unsecured creditors will recover 20-52 percent of what they’re owed, depending on the number of allowed claims. Of course, that won’t stop creditors trying to get back as much as possible — Sega just last week said it was suing THQ over Company of Heroes 2 preorders.（source：gamasutra）

6）Comparing Apples and Googles: The App Store vs. Google Play (infographic)

John Koetsier

Apple owns only 18 percent of the app universe, but it banks almost 500 percent more than Google, pulling in a sweet $5.1 million in revenue each and every day. Meanwhile, Google owns 75 percent of all app downloads, but it only takes in $1.1 million per day.

These are just two of the highlights in a new “unconventional comparison” between the two largest software distribution outlets on the planet today: Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

Not shockingly, Google Play has better search, showing apps even when people misspell the name or category. In addition, people on Google Play apparently just wanna have fun: 26 percent of Google Play apps are games, versus just 14 percent on the app store.

One thing both Apple and Google have in common: They both lead their own app store in number of downloaded apps.

Interestingly, while Google has a top price of $200 for an app and Apple has a highest price of $999, the top 100 apps on the app store group into only seven different price points, while the top 100 apps on Google Play group into 29 different price points. Which, I suppose, is due to the fact that you see prices like $2.73 on Google Play, but pretty much only prices ending in 99 on the app store.（source：venturebeat）