MMORPG publisher Acclaim Games announced Rockfree, a free-to-play, browser-based music game scheduled to release in the first quarter of 2009.

The company partnered with Warner Music, Sony, and EMI to include songs from those record labels, and also teamed up with WaveGroup, the production company behind the song covers in the Guitar Hero series and other music titles.

Rockfree allows players to create custom avatars, open a rock club, upload new tracks, and battle against up to eight players online. Acclaim launched its closed beta for the game and a public preview on Saturday, November 29th.

There are currently over 40 new songs being produced for Rockfree, but Acclaim revealed three licensed tracks with its preview -- Black Sabbath's Iron Man, Sum 41's Fat Lip, and Wolfmother's Woman. The company doesn't intend to charge users for downloading extra tracks.

"Acclaim Games is excited about offering an online rock game that connects people through music and a multiplayer experience," says Acclaim Games CEO Howard Marks. "People don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to play Rockfree, and because it’s free-to-play the entire world can now enjoy a music based game."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

China-based game developer NetDragon Websoft has announced that it has reached an agreement with Electronic Arts to license the company's Dungeon Keeper IP for a 3D MMORPG. The agreement includes all themes, characters and game content seen in the classic PC strategy game released in 1997.

As part of this agreement, NetDragon are develop the game and obtains the exclusive license to operate and distribute Dungeon Keeper Online throughout the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

Originally developed by Bullfrog Productions (led by Peter Molyneux) the original Dungeon Keeper was a real-time strategy title in which the player took the titular role of a "dungeon keeper" – creating dungeons and populating them with monsters in order to defeat invading heroes. The game received a sequel in 1999, and a third Dungeon Keeper game was in development at Bullfrog before the studio/brand was discontinued by owner EA.

Jon Niermann, President of EA Asia Pacific said, "The partnership marks a significant milestone for EA as it will enhance our intellectual property and extend our product reach throughout the Greater China region. It will also further enhance our intellectual property with differentiated, high-quality games, particularly in the field of MMORPGs."

/>"The time has come for the first MMO online game in Arabic to be published in the Middle East and North Africa region," declared the press release announcing the fact that Dubai-based publisher Game Power 7 has launched a closed beta of an Arabic version of Korean MMO Rappelz in the region, and hey, we completely agree—though it's a shame that it's simply a translation rather than a whole new game.

The title is a free-to-play MMO very much in the style of something like Lineage, and it has previously been released in over ten other regions including the the US, France, Germany and Russia.

The commercial launch of Rappelz from Game Power 7 is expected by the end of January 2009.

"The launch was highly welcomed by Arab gamers who had been looking for an Arabic MMO game for a long time," concluded the release.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

It's been a while since we've taken a look at a Korean MMO in our Online World Atlas, despite their position as one of the most talked about segments of the MMO market. So let's take a look at one of the most famous of them – Audition, Nexon's "dance battle" MMO.

Name: Audition

Developer: T3 Entertainment and Yedang Online (published by Nexon in North America)

Established: April 2007 (in North America)

How it Works: Audition requires the download of the client (a hefty 1.6gb) which runs as an application and requires Dirext X. Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: Audition is largely an online "MMO" version of dancing games like Dance Dance Revolution. In the title, players create rooms or join other players, select music and then "dance" along with it using directional keyboard commands. Players compete with each other to be the best dancer to receive rewards, and can otherwise socialize with other players.

Payment Method: Audition is free to play; players support the title through microtransactions at the cash shop.

Key Features:
- "Casual" dancing-based MMO
- Multiple modes of play
- Customizable avatars

German-based developer Acony has integrated ProFX, Allegorithmic's procedural texturing middleware for real-time 3D content, into Parabellum, a free-to-play first-person shooter and massively multiplayer online game.

Powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 3, Parabellum is scheduled to release for PC in the first quarter of 2009. Set in 2018, the game enables players to join two fictional covert reconnaissance organizations as they attempt to complete contract missions pitting them against each other.

ProFX generates procedural textures for 3D games through a non-linear authoring process, greatly reducing both asset creation time as well as volume of game data. With these optimizations, Allegorithmic believes that ProFX is ideal for use in MMOs, virtual communities, casual titles, and downloadable games.

Allegorithmic's client list includes Ready At Dawn, Stray Bullet Games, and City of Heroes-developer NCsoft.

"One of the biggest challenges of this game was keeping the game size as small as possible," says Acony founding partner Frank Trigub. "By using ProFX, we could increase the amount of high-quality content and optimize the download size by factor 10. This technology is paving the way for F2P developers and gamers."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Berlin-based developer Metaversum has recently made a couple of announcements concerning their 3D MMO Twinity.

They've partnered with browser game developer Bigpoint, with a focus on a presence for the developer within the Twinity world, to "give members a new meeting place in which to find out more about the latest browser games from Bigpoint and take part in exclusive competitions and events."

They've also partnered with Zitty, a Berlin-local city listings guide, which includes opening a interactive Zitty "editorial office" and a monthly live broadcast of the guide's "Reader's Lounge" events.

“We have gained another top-class partner for our virtual world Twinity in the form of Bigpoint. This cooperation will enable us to add another facet to the strong spectrum of entertainment we already offer in Twinity”, said Mirko Caspar, CMO of Metaversum.

Another hiring announcement from Linden Lab—this time they've appointed Howard Look as Senior Vice President of Customer Applications.

Look is to report to Linden Lab’s CEO, Mark Kingdon, overseeing "improvements to the Second Life experience and the development of new products and features that enhance the usability and overall customer experience of the Second Life Grid."

Prior to joining Linden Lab, Look served as Vice President of Software at Pixar Animation Studios, and was a founding member at TiVo serving as Vice President of Application Software and User Experience.

"Very early on in my career I recognized the transformative power that 3D technologies can have on human interaction and communication. Linden Lab is taking the power of 3D technologies much further than I had originally thought possible," said Look. "The Linden Lab team, the Second Life Grid and the incredible opportunities ahead are exactly what I was looking for in the next stage of my career."

MMO publisher Outspark (Fiesta, Secret of the Solstice) has announced that it has appointed Habbo veteran Paul Thind as the company’s chief business officer.

Thind is to oversee Outspark’s game publishing business, its portal community initiative and "help the company continue to expand and enhance its immersive online social community."

Before joining Outspark, Thind was general manager of North America of Sulake and virtual world Habbo. During Thind's time as Sulake, the North American Habbo community grew to 20 million registered characters. Outspark currently has just over 3.3 million registered users.

“Despite current market conditions, Outspark is at the forefront of the video game and online virtual world industry and I’m excited to join the company at such an exhilarating period of corporate growth,” said Paul Thind, newly appointed CBO of Outspark. “During my time at Habbo I focused on growing partnerships and bringing more value to the community and I recognize an even bigger opportunity for growth here at Outspark.”

Unfortunately, we've had to disable comments on all our blogs for the short-term, due to spam-related issues affecting the efficacy of the server we're hosting Think Services' game blogs on. We're hoping to switch to a new commenting system in the very near future - in the meantime, posts will lack commenting capabilities.

- The Management.

[UPDATE: And we're back up with comments on this blog. We think we've fixed the problem but will continue to work to improve comment posting speed - you may notice it's a little slow over the next few days.]

EA has acquired South Korean PC developer J2MSoft (aka J2M), known for its free-to-play online games such as RayCity, TAAN and Debut.

The purchase appears to have been made to advance EA’s position in Asia, where it has previously launched versions of existing Western franchises such as FIFA Online and NBA Street Online. The former debuted in 2006, and is still one of South Korea’s top-ten most played games.

EA plans to announce additional "popular franchises" in development for online play in Asia in the coming months, expanding its presence beyond the previously-announced Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Need for Speed and Battlefield Heroes.

The acquisition closed yesterday, but terms of the agreement have not been made public. EA has not yet completed valuations of the company, but the acquisition is not expected to have a noticeable impact on the company's full year results.

"This is a significant step in EA’s strategic plan for developing and publishing online games in Asia," says Jon Niermann, president of EA Asia. "J2M is an experienced team of developers and we can’t wait to have them start creating online games based on new properties and powerful EA franchises.”

"Korean developers have created a unique style of online games that is growing in popularity all over Asia," said J2M founder and CEO KyungMin Bang. "We are excited that EA is aligning with our vision for online games."

"Joining EA presents our team with an opportunity to significantly expand our based with players throughout Asia and around the world as well as to be at the forefront of online gaming."

[The preceding article by David Jenkins originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Educational game developer Knowledge Adventure has announced that its "JumpStart" brand has launched a 3D, browser-based virtual world.

The world is subscription-supported, with a monthly fee of $7.99, and includes a "family membership" model, allowing all parents and children in one family access to the virtual world. Parents can get involved in the game by writing personalized messages, customizing rewards and observe their child’s in-game progress.

In the world, users create a "Jumpee"—a custom avatar—and can explore "StoryLand" a collection of five areas, Neighborhood, Town Square, Petland Beach and Jungle, each of which features "games, learning activities and missions.

To celebrate the launch, Knowledge Adventure is hosting a avatar contest for three months starting mid-December where children can create their own avatars and submit them online at JumpStart.com for a chance to win daily prizes. One grand prize winner will be chosen to receive a college scholarship.

“The all-new JumpStart virtual world provides us the opportunity to leverage our tremendous brand and game content online where today’s kids play,” said Knowledge Adventure president & CEO David Lord. “Our commitment remains stronger than ever to creating the best adventure-based learning games available and we’re doing this by evolving the brand online to meet the needs of parents and kids in a vibrant, trusted community they can enjoy together for years to come.”

MMO publisher Outspark (Fiesta, Secret of the Solstice) announced the appointment Habbo veteran Paul Thind as the company’s chief business officer recently, and as he is notable as an instrumental member of Sulake's North American Habbo team (serving as general manager across a period where the virtual world grew to 20 million users) we thought we'd talk with him about his past and future with Outspark.

You were in command of one of the biggest names in virtual worlds today - somewhere people would consider to be at the top of its game, so why join Outspark?

Paul Thind: Outspark has been able to accomplish so much in a short time as a company and I recognize the opportunity for exponential growth. Outspark already has a loyal user base of more than 3 million and I’m excited about working with the team to help grow this base and push Outspark forward as a leader in the gaming and interactive entertainment space. On a professional level, the fact that Outspark is strong in the online game industry allows me to complement my experience as I previously was involved in community based online businesses focused around music, social networking and virtual worlds.

Outspark offers a very different service from Habbo. What are the challenges you think you're going to face?

PT: Outspark is perfectly positioned in the gaming space to become the first vertically integrated casual games platform. We are not only a publisher of games, but we also offer our audience, which happens to be predominantly North American, a playground for socializing, interacting and sharing. In addition, Outspark has the experience and resources to internally monitor and analyze our audience so that we can better serve the Outspark community. The only challenge I see will be to continue to scale the business and manage our internal growth strategy. Fortunately there’s a lot here to build on with a great team, a dynamic business model and a solid revenue stream.

MindFuse Games has announced that its upcoming steampunk casual MMOG Gatheryn is to be developed using Simutronics HeroEngine after a global licensing agreement between the companies. Gatheryn is to be the first game developed with this technology.

The decision to develop in HeroEngine was led by the engine's "collaborative, time-saving features," according to the announcement release, which will allow the development team to " develop the unique feature set" of the MMOG which is to launch in the first half of 2009.

Gatheryn is to be set in a Victorian-era steampunk fantasy world, informed by the works of Jules Verne and Arthur Conan Doyle. Players are to be able to personalize the experience with character creation to decoration of in-game apartments, and will play classic casual games to advance the story and raise gold to purchase accessories, pets, vehicles and more.

"By licensing the HeroEngine, we can focus our technology development and engineering team on the various unique social, personalization and online community features that the Gatheryn player will experience," said Joseph Walters, Lead Designer and Chief Executive Officer of MindFuse Games. "The engine enables our team to spend time creating the experience instead of recreating the already-proven type of server side MMOG technology that Simutronics has built so effectively."

MMO publisher True Games Interactive has announced their second title (following the announcement of Warrior Epic)—an "online action strategy game" Mytheon, developed by Petroglyph, the developer behind Star Wars: Empire at War and Universe at War.

Mytheon is to be Petroglyph's first online title to use micro-transactions, and is to launch in fall 2009.

Mytheon is to be set within a mythological fantasy universe, and is to feature real-time combat, customization, group, player vs. player and solo play, and an integrated social networking feature set."

In the game, players are to collect and customize a "power stones" which are used to create spells and summon minions for battles against monsters. The title is to offer three classes, each specializing in one type of power stone.

"There really isn't a game on the market today that someone could compare to Mytheon," said Jeff Lujan, Founder and Chairman of True Games Interactive. "The game truly creates an entirely new genre offering a combination of features that gamers would normally have to play several different games to get. There is no doubt it is an ambitious project, but Petroglyph has routinely delivered AAA quality, genre-defining games and Mytheon continues that pedigree."

German-based publisher and developer of multiplayer online titles Bigpoint has announced that it is to make aggressive moves into the US market, launching a variety of Bigpoint's most successful titles in partnership with USA Network and the SCI FI Channel.

Bigpoint operates over twenty free-to-play, browser-based online games including Seafight and Dark Orbit. Bigpoint's total network includes over 40 million registered users.

The company recently had a majority stake purchased by the Peacock Equity Fund—the joint venture between GE Capital's Media, Communications & Entertainment finance business and NBC Universal—and GMT Communications Partners, which is to facilitate the incorporation of Bigpoint games on USA Network's "Character Arcade" web site and SCI FI Channel's Game Center site, "with other NBCU properties to come."

Bigpoint is to continue developing with other global media companies, however—including Viacom's MTV and Yahoo!, where Bigpoint already has games available internationally.

Bigpoint has also announced an intention to develop new titles for the US market including licensed IP, to "reflect a growing trend for a more traditionally casual online gaming style." Upcoming titles are to include Top Model, a game featuring elements from the "Next Top Model" television franchise.

"We are ready to take on the large, brand-focused US market," said Bigpoint founder and CEO Heiko Hubertz.

Sega's tossed its hat into casual gaming with the launch of an online portal called PlaySega for the U.S. and Europe.It'll feature a variety of free web games, including arcade, word, card, puzzle, quiz, Sonic-themed, and sports titles.

In addition to providing original games created exclusively for the site, like Ice Shuffle and Aquatic Word Burst, PlaySega features a port of its Sonic At The Olympic Games mobile release, as well as several games from Brain Assist, a Brain Age-styled title for the Nintendo DS.

Each game offers leaderboard achievements and an opportunity to earn PlaySega Rings, the site's virtual currency. With PlaySega Rings, users can customize their site and profile pages with decorative items and backgrounds. Users can also invite friends to view their favorite games, high scores, and achievements.

Sega plans to eventually implement a paid VIP area, where users will be able to access and play more web games, such as additional PlaySega-exclusive titles and Sega classics like Columns, Puyo Pop, Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Super Monkey Ball Tip 'n Tilt.

"Sega fans and new gamers alike can now come together in one place and enjoy some of our most exciting vintage and new titles," says Sega of Europe's network business director Nick Pili.

"There was a story out there recently that we have a locked vault full of retro Sega classics in Japan. Well, it's true -- and we've been given full access to a lot of the properties in it."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Digital goods/micropayment solution provider PlaySpan has announced the launch of the PlaySpan Virtual Goods Marketplace, a secure and publisher-approved marketplace.

Users can purchase game time, virtual currency and other items in titles including EVE Online, Gunz, Kal, Knight Online, Saga, Shaiya, Silk Road, Soldier Front, Trickster and War Rock.

Users can purchase items with credit cards, PlaySpan points, PayPal or PayByCash, and as an introductory offer, new customers are to receive 100 free PlaySpan points on registration.

“For the first time gamers have a quick and simple way to buy virtual goods, currency and in-game items,” said Karl Mehta, CEO of PlaySpan. “Many of our customers don’t have credit cards so we’ve made it super easy for them to use alternate payment methods to buy products in a safe and convenient manner.”

Earlier this week we covered the frankly bizarre news that Chinese MMO developer NetDragon Websoft are to be creating a Dungeon Keeper MMO for EA, but that’s not the only thing the company have been up to recently. They’ve also made an agreement with the Walt Disney Company’s Interactive Media group to develop an MMORPG, Disney Fantasy Online, to launch in Spring 2009.

According to the release, the title—which is likely to be for the Chinese market only—is to “immerse users in a uniquely Disney-themed world,” with players able to explore, complete quests and level up—all the usual MMORPG stuff, really—and interact with non-playable characters such as Mickey Mouse.

Though the title is in development, the release also trails that expansion packs with “new adventures and maps” will be “constantly” added to the game. No concrete details concerning payment methods have been announced, but it would be natural to assume it would be microtransaction based.

"Disney is committed to providing gamers in China with the ultimate digital entertainment destination. Our characters and stories endure across generations, platforms and now immersive online experiences," said Stanley Cheung, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Walt Disney Greater China. "We are very pleased to be cooperating with NetDragon, to create a unique, fun, and brand-new entertainment experience for gamers."

In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section, including positions from RedOctane, Backbone Entertainment, Sparkplay Media, Airtight Games, and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

It's been a while since we've taken a look at a Korean MMO in our Online World Atlas, despite their position as one of the most talked about segments of the MMO market. So let's take a look at one of the most famous of them – Audition, Nexon's "dance battle" MMO.