CGW - Oct. 5 - The Social Network

by Wonacott Communications

It's pretty safe to say almost everyone you know is on a social network or knows someone on a social network. This is especially true with Facebook, as the social networking giant announced it has surpassed more than 1 billion users, which means almost 1-in-7 people on the planet are on Facebook. That wasn't the only news coming out of Facebook's headquarters this week as the company will soon offers its controversial Promoted Post feature in the U.S. For $7 a post, Facebook users can get their post more visibility on their friends' news feed. We aren't sure how this will affect what people say, but it will definitely help when trying to sell an old TV.

All summer long we saw the decline of subscription games and the rise of free to play. We'll it doesn't look like World of Warcraft got the memo as the game's newest edition, Mists of Pandaria, sold more than 2.7 million copies in its first week. Already Blizzard Entertainment has seen one million new WoW subscribers sincePandaria's release.

For years it's been debated whether or not videogames classify as art and a year ago the California Supreme Court ruled videogames were indeed art during a First Amendment ruling on the sale of violent videogames. Since then The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. ran an exhibition called the "Art of Video Games," which sadly came to an end this week, but not after 686,000 attendees gazed upon the beauty of videogames.

Check out the links below for more news from the world of online gaming in this edition of the CGW, and have a great weekend!

The Industry
Research: How Mobile Players Find New Games to Play
Smithsonian Games Exhibit Draws 686,000 Attendees
Opinion: Would You Pay to Have Your App Reviewed?

The Players
Nexon's Latest Acquisition: $468 Million for Mobile Studio Gloops
Ouya Names Roy Bahat Chairman of the Board, Hires Leadership Staff
US Court: Motorola Can't Enforce German Xbox Injunction
Cliff Bleszinski Leaves Epic Games
Zynga Partners With Hasbro to Turn Its Board Game Apps Into Board Games
EA Maxis Opens Mobile Sims Developer in Finland
Battlecry Studios is New Austin-based Developer From Bethesda Softworks
Zynga Slashes 2012 Forecast, Up to $105 Million in Losses for Q3
KOG Games Acquires Kill3rCombo
No Doubt and Activision Don't Speak in Court, Agree Settlement Instead

The Entertainment
Left 4 Dead Series Sales Hit 12 Million
Minecraft Xbox 360 Sells 4 Million
World of Tanks Reaches 40 Million Registered Users
I Got a Basketball Jones for NBA 2K13's Launch Today
World of Warcraft Gains 1 Million Subscribers Following PandariaRelease
Mists of Pandaria Sells 2.7 million in First Week
Xbox Live's First Free-to-Play Game Out Next Week
FIFA 13 Sells More Than 4.5 Million Units in First Five Days

The Technologies
Sony: PS Vita Price Cut in 2013
iPad Mini Debuting This Month?
PlayStation Mobile Launches Today

Upcoming Industry Events
GDC Online, Austin, Oct. 10-13
New York Comic-Con, New York, Oct. 11-14
Digital Hollywood Fall, Los Angeles, Oct. 15-18
G-Star, Busan, Korea, Nov. 8-11
Digital Hollywood, New York, Nov. 15-16
CES, Las Vegas, Jan. 8-11, 2013
SXSW, Austin, March 8-17, 2013
GDC, San Francisco, March 25-29, 2013