近来，由于虚拟世界类游戏每况愈下，不少发行商纷纷转向目前当红的社交和手机游戏市场。

昨天，虚拟世界开发公司Hip Venture也宣布将转向开发社交和手机游戏。此前，Hip Venture计划为青年人（比青少年略大的尴尬年龄层）开发一款拉丁美洲风格的虚拟世界。但现在，该公司重新定位了HipChicas.com虚拟世界，以便面向更广泛的社交和手机游戏市场。

hip-venture

近来，位于美国纽约的Hip Venture公司为其新发展策略的运营紧密筹备新游戏、新技术和顾问人员。该公司继续将目标投注在美国西班牙裔，拉丁美洲和西班牙用户市场，计划在Faceook，Orkut，Hi5或iPhone手机平台，iPad和Droid发布游戏。该公司的第一款社交游戏Hip Chicas将在2011年的第一个季度亮相，之后会发布以拉丁美洲流行玩具或书籍为蓝本的社交游戏，如Homies, Mijoes, Hacienda, Bodeguita和Hospital等。

由此可见，Hip Venture公司是要打赌拉丁美洲用户也会完全沉溺于Facebook或其他社交网站的游戏之中。尽管拉丁美洲人在美国人口中占有很大比重，但目前现有的社交游戏体验鲜有迎合这一人群。

Hip Venture公司此次的重新定位计划已经耗时一年。在这期间，该公司致力于开发社交和手机游戏，开发支付和技术平台，并与美国和拉丁美洲公司达成合作协议。另外，Hip Venture公司还在咨询委员会中聘请了律师兼顾问Kenneth Lamb和Univision的前任总裁Javier Saralegui。目前Hip Venture公司正在计划进行集资。这家成立于2007年的公司现有员工4人。

其潜在劲敌包括被Playdom收购的阿根廷公司Three Melons，Atakama Labs和巴西游戏公司Mentez和Vostu。（本文由游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明：游戏邦）

There’s a stampede going on. Publishers of virtual worlds are moving on to better things, or they’re perishing. Usually, that means they’re pivoting into the hot markets of social and mobile games.

That explains the announcement today by virtual world maker Hip Venture that it will shift its focus to making social and mobile games. Previously, Hip Venture planned on creating a virtual world for tweens (older kids who are just shy of their teen years) with a Latino perspective. Now the company is repositioning its HipChicas.com virtual world so it can pursue the bigger market of social and mobile games.

The New York-based company is adding new titles, new technology and key advisors to execute on its new strategy and will continue to focus on the US Hispanic, Latin American and Spanish markets. It plans to publish games on social networks such as Facebook, Orkut and Hi5 or mobile platforms such as the iPhone, iPad, and Droid. Its first game, HipChicas, will debut in the first quarter of 2011 and will be followed up with games based on popular Latino toy and book brands such as Homies, Mijoes, Hacienda, Bodeguita, and Hospital.

Hip Venture is betting that a growing US Latino population will become as hopelessly addicted to Facebook and other social networks as everyone else. Although Latinos are a huge part of the population, the content available in social games today doesn’t really cater to them.

The repositioning has been about a year in the making. The company has worked on the social and mobile aspects of its games, developed payment and technology platforms, and formed partnerships in the US and Latin America. It has also expanded its advisory board to include lawyer and investor Kenneth Lamb, who advised Playfish on its $400 million sale to Electronic Arts, and Javier Saralegui, former president of Univision. Hip Venture is looking for a round of funding. The company was founded in 2007 and has four employees.

Potential rivals include Three Melons, an Argentinian firm that was acquired by Playdom; Atakama Labs; and Brazilian game firms Mentez and Vostu.（Source：VentureBeat）