Zynga Reports Massive Losses YoY


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Zynga has posted their second quarter figures for 2014 and the results are less than stellar, depressing even. The creator of Farmville posted a 34 percent drop in revenue compared to last year, with net income dropping down to $2.8 million from $6.1 million. The company continued its ongoing losses with a dramatic rise from $15.8 million last year to $62.5 million.

Last year was not good for Zynga, as the developer/publisher faced a revolving door of top executives resigning as well as the continued diminishing popularity of their games. Last year at this time, Zynga boasted 39 million daily active users, 187 million monthly active users, and 123 million monthly unique users. Those numbers plummeted to 29 million, 130 million, and 89 million respectively. Farmville 2 and Zynga Poker make up the bulk of Zynga’s revenue, 32% and 24% respectively.

Despite these losses, Zynga is looking to expand into two new mobile categories: Sports and endless runners. Zynga has formed a multi-year partnership with the NFL to create games for mobile devices. The company is projecting lower losses next quarter and increased revenue.

(Source: CNN Money)

Ironman Mode Considered For RuneScape


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The RPG community is one that is constantly challenging itself to complete games in new and unconventional ways. We’ve talked about this before on Dungeons & Dragons Online, where some communities institute perma-death, deleting their characters if they die. As unofficial challenges, of course, participation is completely based on the honor code. There is no way to know for sure if a player has kept up their end of the deal, which can often lead to distrust and fighting within said communities.

Jagex has noticed the popularity of an Ironman Mode, a game type where players level up completely self-sufficiently. The company is planning on implementing an official version of this mode, where players will be completely restricted from interacting with others. While the fine details are still being worked out, players will be unable to trade with others in any way, either by direct trade, picking up drops, picking up other players’ loot, using the auction house, buy items sold by other players to shops, or accepting aid. Players will also not be allowed to group up, join multiplayer minigames, receive buffs, use housing services by other players, or group up in Dungeoneering.

There is also a hardcore version being thought of which will delete the player’s character when they die, leaving only their highscore behind. The mode has support in both versions of RuneScape.

(Source: RuneScape)

Pathfinder Online Early Access Coming Soon


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Goblinworks has announced that open enrollment for Pathfinder Online will begin on September 15th. The open enrollment area is suited for at least twenty thousand active players, and to ensure that the game reaches those numbers, Goblinworks has accelerated all open enrollment packages to have access beginning the first month.

In addition, all early enrollment package owners will be invited to play in the alpha stage. The timing for alpha early enrollment will be announced soon. If you want access to early enrollment and haven’t purchased a package yet, however, you will need to buy in at the $50 level for access starting month 2 (October) or $100 in month 1 (September).

There are a few other announcements including premium items, base camps, and more. Check out the entire announcement at the link below.

(Source: Goblinworks)

MMOrning Shots: High Finance


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from, well, me. Those of you who follow MMOrning Shots know that I occasionally use this as a platform to make website announcements. Last year I ran a Lineage of Support for NCSoft, and I planned on integrating this into the website on a more permanent basis. One thing led to another, I got busy, and the details were never hashed out.

I’ve long wanted MMO Fallout to have more resources available to viewers, and compiling some of the more business-focused pieces of content is step one in accomplishing that goal. Part of that step is to make sure that said content has more publicity than a simple post on the front page that is obscured after a day or two.

I will have more details likely next week. Check out MMOrning Shots on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Respec For One Gold In Elder Scrolls Online


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Personally, my favorite cost reduction is dollar drafts. In preparation for patch 1.3.4, Zenimax Studios has lowered the price of respec to one single gold piece. You may not be aware of this if you haven’t checked in game or found this buried in the latest patch notes:

  • The cost to respec has been reduced to 1 gold per skill point or stat point. Note that this is a temporary change and in approximately one week, respec costs will return to a normal (but reduced) cost in patch v1.3.4.

(Source: Elder Scrolls Online)

Blizzard Announces Warlords of Draenor Launch Date Announcement Date


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You are too kind, Blizzard. World of Warcraft’s next expansion Warlords of Draenor is ready to bust through your door and kick your productivity to the curb. In an announcement put out, Blizzard has revealed that on August 15th we will…find out when Warlord of Draenor will be released. Yes, the hype train goes so deep that we now have announcements to tell us when something will be announced.

Next up on MMO Fallout: Trion Worlds announces upcoming press event to discuss the details of a viral marketing campaign that will hint towards when we can expect a full announcement on the release date of ArcheAge. Maybe.

Rusty Hearts Shutting Down


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Perfect World Entertainment has announced that Rusty Hearts will be closing down on September 15th. Starting today, August 4th, it will no longer be possible to download Rusty Hearts and players will be unable to transfer Zen to their characters. Players who have been active during the past thirty days will find any Zen they purchased in the last six months credited to their wallet, which can then be transferred to other Perfect World Entertainment titles.

Rusty Hearts launched three years ago.

(Source: Arc Games)

MMOrning Shots: Bioshock Nostalgia


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from 2K Games. Bioshock released in 2007 on PC and Xbox 360, but the screenshot above was sent out more than a year prior. Later this summer, you’ll be able to get your hands on Bioshock on your iPhone or iPad.

Nostalgia it up with MMOrning Shots every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Darkfall Introduces PLEX-like D.U.E.L


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Aventurine is the latest company to jump on board the PLEX train. In a recent update post, the company revealed D.U.E.L, an item that can be purchased from the in-game shop that extends a player’s subscription by 30 days. The patch notes don’t offer much in terms of details, so we reached out to Aventurine to answer a couple of questions. The D.U.E.L is a physical item that is placed in the player’s inventory. It can be used to add 30 days to an account (extending any existing subscription time), or it can be traded to other players for in-game currency. The D.U.E.L does not drop on death cannot be looted by other players.

Thank you to Tasos Flambouras from Aventurine for providing additional information.

(Source: Darkfall)