IPFranchise & Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Bring Old Friend into New Era of Gaming

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, February 22, 2012--The Pink Panther is stepping into
the spotlight of the social gaming scene in a partnership between media
development company IPFranchise, Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios,
Inc. The collaboration between MGM & IPFgames on “Pink Panther’s Amazing
Adventure" will provide a new venue for fans to experience the lovable
and iconic character.

"We're very excited to take the lead in bringing this brand to Facebook
as MGM's first social game. It represents fans of all ages and a worldwide
audience who have loved The PinkPanther since the late 60s,” said Kandice
Cota, CEO of IPFranchise (IPF). This interactive, animated adventure game
will launch on Facebook and expand to Google+ and other global social
platforms. With an interactive spin on one of pop culture’s original car-
toon franchises, longtime fans and newcomers will join The Pink Panther
on a comic adventure as they navigate the social gaming universe.

“We are thrilled to be working with IP Franchise on this great new game,”
said MGM’s VP, Licensing & Consumer Products, Tricia Samuels. “We look
forward to bringing Pink Panther to social gaming, a platform we recog-
nize as an important entertainment medium for our classic properties.”

For nearly 50 years, MGM’s The Pink Panther character has charmed and de-
lighted audiences of all ages. Along Pink’s adventure there are various
clues and puzzles, holding true to the original charm and mischievous
nature of The Pink Panther franchise. Mini-games will allow for additional
engagement to enhance the main story, giving gamers a unique experience.

The current target market for “Pink Panther’s Amazing Adventure” game is
also the fastest growing market on Facebook—women ages 30 to 55. In addi-
tion to this existing market, a study by Park Associates reveals that
advertising revenues and sales of virtual goods would make social gaming
a $15 Billion industry by 2015.

About IPFranchise:
IPFranchise, Inc. is a next generation media studio and home of IPFgames.
They specialize in social networking games and applications that can be
played on social networks such as Facebook and mobile smartphones. IPF
packages and previsualizes creative intellectual properties into market-
able concepts as games, films, television & licensed products and manages
all phases of development and distribution. IPF also collaborates with
partners to co-produce their IP and content, and is currently working on
many studio projects, adapting games from famous movies and other media.
www.ipfranchise.com

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is actively engaged in the worldwide pro-
duction and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home
video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company
owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100
titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television
Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM Interna-
tional Television Distribution Inc. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment
LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive.
In addition, MGM has ownership interests in domestic and international
TV channels reaching over 130 countries.
For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

MGM Interactive is a national video game publisher owned by Hollywood
Studio, MGM. THE PINK PANTHER ™ © 1964 – 2012 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Media Contact:
Name: Sandy Jones-Kaminski
Phone Number: 415-613-8508
E-mail: sandy@ipfranchise.com
www.ipfranchise.com
www.mgm.com

According to a new study by market research firm Parks Associates, 135 million people play a videogame at least one hour per month compared to 56 million four years ago.

While that’s a positive sign for the $16 billion a year games industry, there’s a catch: 80% of gamers prefer free titles like “Angry Birds” and “FarmVille” available on sites like Facebook and other platforms, opting to avoid subscription fees and pay only for add-ons and upgrades.

Still, they’re spending on average $21 a month on virtual goods or other perks, Parks Associates said, which added that occasional gamers with videogame consoles spend up to $27 per month.

Hasbro is looking to take advantage of those digital dollars by pairing up with social gaming giant Zynga to turn its toys into mobile games.

Deal, announced Thursday, also encompasses co-branded merchandising that will intermingle Hasbro and Zynga brands. First products should be available in the fall.

Article by Marc Grazer in ‘Variety’ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118050022

by Tom Curtis

Social game company 6waves Lolapps has acquired mobile developer and recent publishing partner, Escalation Studios, giving the company its first fully-owned mobile development branch.

This acquisition gives 6waves Lolapps (Ravensky City, Ravenwood Fair) an established foothold in the mobile space, and positions the company to further expand beyond social gaming.

“Basically, what we did in social from a publishing and development capacity, we want to do for mobile,” said Arjun Sethi, 6waves Lolapps chief product officer, in an interview with Gamasutra.

6waves Lolapps hopes to mirror its social strategy by establishing an internal mobile team that can both develop new products for the company, and provide additional resources to the its other mobile publishing partners.

“The way we saw it, if we work together, we’ll be able to hit the market faster and make decisions better, since we have a lot more data distribution,” said Sethi. “We also want to have a better understanding of the mobile space, and we want to have a better understanding of what other developers will need.”

Sethi added that while Escalation is based in Dallas, Texas, 6waves Lolapps plans to use the team to create games for international markets, spanning platforms such as iOS, Android, and Tencent’s QQ.

In the wake of this acquisition, 6waves Lolapps CEO Rex Ng said that the company hopes to double its business in 2012, with mobile games playing “a significant role in our growth on both the publishing and development sides of our business.”

Prior to working with 6waves Lolapps, Escalation Studios worked on a number of commissioned projects based on existing IP, including mobile games like Doom Resurrection and Where the Wild Things Are, as well as console-based titles like Samba de Amigo for Wii.

• Related news:
• 6waves Lolapps Makes Mobile Debut
• 6waves Lolapps Acquires Beijing Developer Smartron5

169  11th St,  San Francisco, CA  94103   Thursday, December 15, 2011 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (PT)

Teams from the hottest startups will be pitching the next groundbreaking games and providing demos and Q&A sessions. From iOS fanboys to Android aficionados to console freaks, all platforms will be represented. Join us and indulge in some drinks, a night of gaming, and enjoy some great networking opportunities at the beautiful pariSoma Innovation Loft!

More info and sign up:  http://gamingmixerparisoma-demoers.eventbrite.com

i-Phone apps and games

Facebook Social Game in Beta!

A survey of more than 2,000 mothers over the age of 40 found that a majority have more Facebook friends than their children, and that they know how to better take advantage of their presence on the site.

The U.K.’s Daily Telegraph reported the study, without including key like which journal published the findings and exactly how many mothers over 40 have more Facebook friends than their children. But the overall claims make sense nonetheless. Women with children younger than college age might not only have their own friends, but also their coworkers, their children’s friends, and their children friends’ parents among their contacts. Kids, on the other hand, generally have a much more limited social circle until they go to college. They also tend to stick with their own age group. It would be interesting to know, however, which group has more friends they have never met in real life, or that they met online. And who uses it as a dating outlet the most?

Tammi Williams, who conducted the study, told the Telegraph that she created six categories to explain how mothers generally use Facebook. The two most popular groups might surprise you:

• The Feel-Gooders: These are the kind of mothers who actively play games on the social network, and interact with their contacts in a purely social way. They genuinely enjoy the community spirit of Facebook and like to see what their friends are doing. “They get involved in games like Farmville and like sending virtual gifts to their neighbors,” the researcher explained.
• The Do-Gooders: These women use Facebook as a tool to raise awareness on causes and safety issues, and not as a way to reveal or share personal information. An important follow-up survey on this group would be to know how often they share links on news items, and from what kind of sites, as well as what their political or religious backgrounds are. Certainly it seems that they are the ones who would support, for example, safety Amber Alerts becoming standard on Facebook.

Less popular than these two are ones that you’d expect to have the most friends on the site:

• All about me: They use Facebook to show the best pics of themselves, or to boast about their latest achievements.
• Business bodies: They are the most Internet savvy and use social media to network or promote their work.