IDG Ventures and Bodhi Investment LLC (managed by SoftBank China and India Holdings) announced a joint Series A investment in Kreeda Games, an Indian online multiplayer games company who recently launched their online game portal in beta. Their first offering, a Bollywood-themed dance game called Dance Mela, is set to release this August.

Manik Arora from IDG Ventures India and Anil Viakara from SoftBank’s Bodhi will join Kreeda's Board of Directors as part of the investment. Kreeda's CEO, Quentin Staes-Polet, said that the company considered several offers, but chose IDG and Softbank for their experience in building internet gaming globally-- Softbank previously acquired Gravity Corp, creators of Asian MMO Ragnarok Online, and also established Movida Investment, a fund specifically geared to promote development of MMOs in Asia.

Initially, Kreeda will license titles from around the world and localize them, tailoring media and cultural elements to the preferences of the Indian game market. The company aims to release three games by year's end, with more to follow when the market is "ready". Subscriptions, hourly charges, in-game advertising and in-game item sales are all planned revenue sources; Dance Mela, however, will at least initially be free to play.

"The online game industry, though nascent in India, is on the edge of becoming one of the largest markets globally," Staes-Polet said.

Earlier this year, Trion World Network, Inc. announced a partnership with Hewlett Packard to develop the technology infrastructure for a dynamic, multi-platform content delivery system. Now, the broadband games and entertainment publisher and developer announced it has raised hefty dollars in investments from some very big players. Time Warner, GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity, and Bertelsmann AG's BDMI all pitched in their vote of confidence-- to the tune of 30 million dollars.

The latest round of funding, led by Rustic Canyon Partners, is an additional boost to a previous fundraising effort in an undisclosed amount supported by DCM and Trinity Ventures, who also joined in this time.

Worlds in Motion spoke to Trion CEO Lars Buttler about Trion's ambitious vision. "Imagine Amazon, or Google, or Yahoo in large-scale gameworlds," he said. "And the platform also allows you to tap into the same experience from any connected device. We're taking the game experience out of the client and putting it into a sophisticated infrastructure."

Buttler's ideas on the evolution of media delivery might explain why heavyweight broadcasting companies are taking notice of Trion's work. "A dynamic platform allows you to build constantly," Buttler explained. "If traditional games are made like movies, you launch and keep your fingers crossed—we built it more like TV shows. It’s a very fundamental shift in the risk and reward profile."

So what's next? "We have built this technology, and now we are building channels," says Buttler. "Every channel is a large-scale gameworld. Some of the channels we built completely in-house, and others, we just publish what third parties have built. It's the classic Electronic Arts or Activision model applied to a completely different experience."

Buttler should know-- he's the former Global VP of Online at EA. And he's not the only member of the team to come from a game industry background-- other EA professionals came along, and NCSoft former lead architect Robert "Jay" Lee joined up to apply his 20 years experience in large-scale game design. Also on board is game designer Jon Van Caneghem, known for Might & Magic. Buttler says the highly experienced team helped inspire investor confidence. "It's a group of people that in this quality and this diversity nobody else has ever brought together," he says. "If we hadn’t this team people wouldn’t have believed we could pull it off, and whoever we show it to 'gets it' right away."

Even so-- 30 million dollars? "As a publisher and developer, we really have to do a lot," Buttler explains. "We build the tech base, we build content, we co-develop with other parties and we also publish-- that means you go to the consumer any way possible on a global scale. Whenever a market is so disruptive and new, you can't stick to only one piece of the value chain."

"We're creating a whole package with a 20-year vision from the beginning to the end of the chain," Buttler adds.

How will it work? "Every channel is accessible across a number of devices," Buttler says. "And that's web, PC client-- that's even mobile phones. But the point is, it will not be the same experience. It will tap into the same gameworld, but it will be tailored to the capabilities of the device. On a mobile phone you wouldn’t want to play a large scale game, but you want to be in touch with your game—alerts, info, et cetera."

Buttler says the product on the very first channel-- what he likens to a television pilot-- is already built, will be announced by the end of this year, and available to the consumer by next year. He's hesitant to provide too many early details, but allows that, "at its core, it will be a large-scale game. But it will be a large-scale game that has a tremendous amount of elements of social networks, and it will be a game that will evolve almost like a TV show evolves."

Looking over recent developments in connected entertainment, Buttler says that both social networks trying to be more game-like and games trying to incorporate elements of social networking are a step in the right direction. "But all of them have downsides, or are missing certain elements. But they are the first ones, so it’s logical. What we try to do is just take the next step. And we won't be perfect either—but if you build it dynamically, you can learn from the users, and change, and continue moving forward."

"We're all gamers and entertainment junkies at the core," Buttler stresses. "First and foremost, what people love is great entertainment—great games. That’s what we are passionate about-- at end of the day, what is the greatest experience that you can get now where users are all connected to each other? The most powerful, most fun, challenging [experience] that you can give people?"

Hit the jump for the press release.

Our sister site, Gamasutra, ran an announcement Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami made at this week's Casual Connect conference in Seattle. According to Nickelodeon, it's committed to invest $100 million over the next two years in development, distribution and creation of casual gaming titles, sites and platforms.

According to the company, the investment is a part of MTV's strategy to secure a leading role in the gaming space -- including casual, console and handheld games, as well as related media, which includes virtual worlds. Of the initiatives announced, Nickelodeon also says it'll use some of the money to add new multiplayer games and tournaments to Nicktropolis.

The investment will also support the expansion of AddictingGames to include casual MMOGs with the introduction of AddictingWorlds. AddictingGames recently partnered with Habbo, adding another virtual world to its existing partnership with sister site Neopets. According to the article, increased emphasis will be placed on user-submitted games on the site, including more prominent upload capabilities and game-making engines.

Also announced was the upcoming transformation of Neopets into Neostudios, which will focus on developing new virtual world gaming experiences online while continuing to grow and evolve the existing ones. The first of these will launch at the end of 2008 with the goal of launching a new game every other year.

"Particularly in the kids' space, with more than 86% of kids 8 to 14 gaming online, we see great momentum for online casual gaming," said Zarghami. "This investment will not only benefit our audiences, but also our marketing and distribution partners."

Montreal-based Weblo.com announced that it's secured $3.2 million in VC funding from VantagePoint Venture Partners. VantagePoint managing director Geoff Mott will also join Weblo's Board of Directors.

Weblo's virtual world puts up virtual duplicates of real-world properties, real estate and digital domains for sale. Asset websites within Weblo are member-owned and developed, earning revenue through advertising and property sales.

Weblo says it'll use the new funding for global marketing and continued technology development.

"The Company is addressing a unique opportunity in the rapidly growing
virtual world market by creating the only parallel universe based on the real
world," said Mott. "The Company has already achieved significant momentum and we believe it
will continue to appeal to a wide range of internet users providing them with
an innovative new way to have fun, create value and earn money online," he added.

Chichen Itza Ventures, the lead investor in There.com producer Makena Technologies, has announced a "significant investment" in next-gen console game and virtual world developer Trilogy Studios. There.com and Trilogy have enjoyed a long-running partnership, building Virtual Pimp My Ride for MTV, and recently reaffirming their mutual commitment to that project.

Michael Wilson, There.com CEO, said in a press release received by Worlds in Motion that the investment, in addition to strengthening There's partnership with Trilogy, "marries Trilogy's gaming expertise with There.com's leadership in social virtual worlds."

The companies plan to expand virtual worlds' entertainment value by adding game-like play elements to social networking and established entertainment brands. In addition to Virtual Pimp My Ride, the companies say they're working with other major media companies on the development of new, soon-to-be-announced brand-extension virtual world properties that will be announced shortly.

"We see a wealth of opportunity in new financial and distribution models for interactive entertainment, and There.com and Trilogy are building the infrastructure to support these new efforts," Wilson said.

Charles River Ventures is a firm with keen eyes on the virtual worlds, social gaming and social networking spaces -- in particular, with an eye on entrepreneurs seeking to bridge gaps and coordinate elements from all of these kinds of ventures into a single integrated product. One such company in which CRV has invested is Raph Koster's Areae, and successful real-time networking tool Twitter is another. Worlds in Motion recently spoke with Nabeel Hyatt on his Conduit Labs project, the latest startup to receive CRV's vote of confidence. We chatted with CRV's Susan Wu, who focuses specifically on working with these products (she also was special advisor to the first Virtual Goods Summit), and got further comment from her on bridging the gaps in the space that Hyatt mentioned earlier.

"The distinction between what Facebook and an MMO looks like is going to disappear," Wu says. "All social interaction online will be driven by game mechanics. My goal in doing these conferences and blogging about this subject and trying to find companies to invest in is, how do I bring these two segregated universes together? There are all these Web 2.0 conferences, and Web entrepreneurs basically talking amongst themselves in this insular environment, and I see the same thing in the gaming industry, which has always been a cottage industry and very segregated. I see so many different parallels going on in these two communities, and my goal is to bring them more closely together."

Wu elaborated on where these two key industries are failing to connect. "There're a lot of virtual gifting apps and lightweight casual games developing on Facebook. And I spoke with a lot of these Facebook developers and they're all trying to reinvent the virtual economy," she explains. "And there’s a limitless body of empirical data out there – it doesn’t make sense for Web 2.0 folks to invent it from scratch. It results in an inferior customer experience. There’s been virtual economies and mass market since Ultima Online; that’s 12 years of learning that these guys just aren’t picking up on. That sort of frustrates me."

So she zeroes in on those ventures she feels "get it." "I try to bridge this gap -- Raph gets it, and Conduit does too—I've seen 100 or so startups in the space in the last year or so, and as Nabeel said, there’s such a dichotomy in the two communities, and there are very few teams that have been able to merge both disciplines in immersive gaming environments."

How to start bringing these teams from different sides of the field together? "When I put together the Virtual Goods Summit, it would have been easy to populate all of the speakers and attendees from the gaming industry," she recalls. "There's a lot of established success in virtual goods there. But I made sure there was a panel around mainstream virtual gifting -- companies like SixApart and Dogster and all of the folks who are experimenting with virtual goods, and I wanted to put them in an environment with folks from places like Neopets and Nexon so they could have a real dialog about what's going on on both sides of the fence."

She continues: "One of the hallmarks of a successful Web company is -- if you look at the track record of the most successful companies that have stayed independent and sustainable, like eBay, Google or Amazon -- they have built platforms [which can] foster entrepreneurs. There are ecosystems that spawn innovation from the community members themselves, and Facebook is falling in with that too, with the new platform launch. Few gaming people understand this intuitively -- though, Xbox Live Arcade really fosters an entrepreneurial ecosystem, too. That's something Areae is trying to focus on – how to build an actual ecosystem and a real web platform for people to work in."

Wu elaborates further on the Conduit and Twitter investments on her blog, reality.org.

Next-gen console game and virtual world development company Trilogy Studios has announced it has raised $3.2 million in its latest round of independent equity funding. This new round comes on the heels of a "significant" investment in its virtual worlds endeavors from Chichen Itza Ventures, the lead investor in There.com producer Makena Technologies.

Trilogy and There.com have enjoyed a long-term working relationship, partnering up to build MTVN's Virtual Pimp My Ride (a collaboration it recently reaffirmed) on There.com's technology, and now Makena CEO and There.com producer Michael Wilson will join Trilogy's board of directors.

The partnership aims to merge the spheres of online social worlds with gaming, in large part to enable media companies to monetize their brands in online worlds through avenues like microtransactions, sponsorship and advertising. Trilogy says it will allocate the funds to expand the company's virtual world and casual MMO business.

Trilogy was originally founded in late 2005 by former Electronic Arts Los Angeles executives Rick Giolito and Mark Skaggs, along with former Vivendi Universal executive vice president Michael Pole. Worlds in Motion talked with Michael Wilson about the partnership and what There.com can learn from gaming vets.

"Virtual worlds are amazing social platforms; that’s what we built our virtual world about. The things we're known for -- PG-13, IP protection, and how all PCs can run There -- were all things designed to make the platform available socially to more people," he explains. "The thing is that in virtual worlds, just as in real life, people look for entertainment. Just standing around socializing -- there’s more to life than that. You go to movies, watch TV, entertain, play games, go to school, et cetera. We’ve been trying to bring a lot of that to our platform, because we think that’s important. It's the reason we partnered with MTV – they certainly know how to get a lot of people to spend time in front of the TV!"

So how will Trilogy help? "We look at their sensibilities, and ask how we can bring that to our platform. We're coming out and saying that the skills that the game industry has been honing for 20 years, we need them in these social virtual worlds. The fact we’re embracing it so much is important," Wilson says.

Wilson said that the first project the partnership will tackle is improving the worlds There.com has built for MTV. "We’re going to look at bringing “player compulsion loops” to the table," Wilson said.

Compulsion loops? "I’m going to point at World of Warcraft, because everybody knows they're really good at this," Wilson explains. "We study them all the time, because they do such a good job. There is something in their platform that compels you to go and do stuff; you want to do it, and keep doing it. Eight million people do that for World of Warcraft. So this whole compulsion element with the whole design of gameplay is part of a 'secret sauce' to make these worlds successful."

He elaborates: "Giving people interesting things to do, achieving status, being able to display that status, whether that's with exclusive merchandise or, say, a dog that nobody else can get. These are the sorts of things you can engineer to make the world more interesting and get people interested in spending time there; that’s where compulsion comes from.It's a great adjunct to the social nature of the world; you’ve got people meeting each other and now 'how good am I' at various parts of this game, at making clothes or holding events, becomes a way to have your own status to start conversation."

Since many people have historically seen the world of game design and internet socialization as being related but disparate, what's it like to work together now? "It’s great because they come from a completely different side of the world; they focus very much on art and gameplay and it’s really a lot of fun," Wilson says. "The cool thing is that, when we started getting art assets from them for Pimp My Ride, they were so tight, and good, because they know that the gameworld is very demanding. So it’s a great thing, and for them, I think they like hanging out with us because we’re MMO-plus-user-generated content."

He adds: "We take our partners very seriously. We try to do fewer quality relationships than many non-quality relationships."

Media Machines, a San Francisco-based company that develops tools and content for online 3D virtual worlds, has received $9.4 million in its first round of funding, according to PaidContent, citing SEC filings from PEHub. The round was led by Mohr, Davidow Ventures.

The company was founded in 2003 by Tony Parisi, co-inventor of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) standard back in 1994. Former Electronic Arts VP Keith McCurdy is CEO.

The company's free 3D virtual world Web browser plug-in, the Flux Player, lets users manipulate virtual scenes, worlds, avatars, gadgets and games in a standard browser, in addition to other 3D Web authoring products and services.

Virtual Worlds Management has just released a list of accountable transactions it culled from the boom of venture capital, tech and media firm investment news around virtual worlds in the past twelve months. Notably, the report assumes a total of $1 billion in investments spread across 33 companies, and of those, Disney's acquisition of Club Penguin accounted for $700 million, if you recall.

Oddly, however, the report includes Intel's recent $110 million acquisition of Havok, styling the company as a "3D virtual worlds graphics technology" company. It's a bit of a stretch to call Havok a virtual worlds company, since the Ireland-based company's modular run-time tech and artists' middleware has been used for console and PC video game physics and behavior for almost a decade, most recently on big sellers BioShock, Stranglehold and Crackdown, to name only a few.

Even more misleading is the inclusion of independent gaming pioneer GarageGames, who is best known for its proprietary Torque game engine. Same with Emergent Technologies ($12 million from Jerusalem Venture Partners), whose cross-platform C++ game engine, Gamebryo, launched in 2003 and has since been used in PC games like Civilization IV and, notably, critically-acclaimed single-player hit The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Others included in the report fall into somewhat of a gray area -- for example, PlaySpan, who received $6.5 million in Series A funding from Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures and Asian investors, could apply its technology equally to gaming networks as to multipurpose virtual worlds. The taxonomy of virtual worlds is a bit tricky to define and will continue to be under discussion for some time, to be sure; similarly, it can be anticipated that many video game companies may broaden their involvement into the virtual worlds space (such as Entropia Universe's graphics upgrade to Crytek's CryEngine).

But it's less useful, and more misleading, to use such arbitrary delineation when trying to quantify an industry by investment numbers -- certainly virtual worlds are enormously attractive to investors, with large dollar amounts involved, but it would seem $1 billion is somewhat an inflated number.

Hidden City Games, whose online world based on the Bella Sara trading cards we recently discovered, has raised $15 million in strategic venture capital from Rustic Canyon Partners and Trinity Ventures. Hidden City says it'll use the funds to expand the Bella Sara website and for marketing and new product development -- but judging by the investors, who also paired up to support Trion and PlayFirst, it's likely that we can look for more expansions to the horse-themed Bella Sara online presence, possibly even in the virtual world or microtransactions arena.

“With more than 30 million trading cards sold worldwide and more than 1 million registered website users, Bella Sara is the first trading card game to capture the hearts and minds of girls,” said Michael Song, a partner at Rustic Canyon Partners who's also joined the Hidden City board of directors.

Gus Tai, general partner at Trinity Ventures who also joins Hidden City's board, added “[Hidden City CEO] Peter Adkison understands how to build a global retail footprint, and we are bullish on his plans to leverage Bella Sara’s in-store presence to grow its registered-user base." Tai also noted that Hidden City has some 65,000 retail points that drive traffic to the Bella Sara site.

Adkison is also the founder of Wizards of the Coast (Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering), which was sold to Hasbro in 1999.

Online voice services provider Vivox has announced that it has secured $7.8 million in a second round of equity financing led by Benchmark Capital and supported by the company's existing investors, Canaan Partners and GrandBanks Capital.

Benchmark Capital general partner Mitch Lasky, who also took a position on Vivox's board as part of the funding agreement, cited the proliferation of online games and virtual worlds as a clear draw, calling it a "tremendous opportunity" for Vivox. Lasky's background includes roles with Disney, Activision, Jamdat and Electronic Arts.

Proceeds from the round will fund product development, sales support and marketing for the company's offering, which also includes an integrated platform and service management. It also builds custom-branded desktop communications clients for its partner games and worlds, allowing users of those products to IM, chat and stay connected even when not logged in to the online world.

Vivox customers and partners include online game and virtual world companies 1GPN, Inc., Alpha Innovation, BigWorld Technology, CCP Games, The Electric Sheep Company, FWD International, IBM, Icarus Studios, Illusion Factory, K2 Network, LanguageLab.com, Linden Lab, Monumental Games, Pixel Mine and Wizards of the Coast.

GrandBanks Capital general partner and Vivo board member Ryan Moore commented, "Vivox’s technology and operational expertise have established them as a unique service in the market. We see first-hand the positive impact Vivox has on online games and virtual worlds with operational excellence and innovative functionality and have no doubt they will continue to play a major role in shaping online communities.”

South Korea-based developer and social networking operator Nurien Software has announced that it has secured $15 million in Series A funding to be used for accelerating the launch of its 3D social networking service platform and online game offerings.

Nurien plans to launch its platform and online offerings in China and Korea at the end of 2008, with its U.S. launch following early 2009. Using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 game engine, the service platform allows users to create one-of-a-kind, lifelike avatars and 3D content.

Users can also interact with Nurien's social applications, including Mstar, a virtual dancing game; Runway, a fashion show application; and QuizStar, an online trivia game.

"Having the backing of first-tier marquee investors greatly validates the progress we have made over the last few years," said Taehoon Kim, co-founder of Nurien Software. "We are excited to partner with world class venture capital firms to build upon our vision of creating a revolutionary new way for people to express themselves, interact with friends, and play online."

Former Turbine Entertainment (Asheron’s Call, Lords of the Rings Online) president and CEO Jeff Anderson has raised $5 million in venture capital from New Enterprise Associates for his new company, Play Hard Sports.

Based in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Play Hard Sports will utilize its newfound funding to produce online sports games for casual fans, such as football, for release this fall.

Players will be able to create teams with persistent players who improve over time the more that they play. The games will be shorter than average football video games, and players will be able to fit one or two games into a lunch hour.

Play Hard Sports’ football games will feature ads, including video ads similar to the time-out, quarter-break, and half-time ads played for televised games.

"Play Hard is an exciting opportunity for sports fans of every age who are looking for something new to play," said Jeffrey Anderson. "Online games continue to change the way that people interact, and Play Hard is the newest evolution in sports. Our online games will free players from the couch, allowing them to play nearly whenever and wherever they want."

Shanghai-based online game operator The9 Limited has acquired a minority stake in Korean game developer G10 Entertainment with a cash investment of approximately $38 million.

G10 Entertainment specializes in community-based online games in South Korea with a heavy emphasis on social interaction. Its titles include Audition, a series of online casual dance games for the PC, currently played by over 300 million people in Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

The9 manages the operation and distribution for several popular MMORPG titles, including Ragnarok Online 2 and World of Warcraft and its expansions, in mainland China. The9 will also be operating G10's Audition 2 in China.

Said G10 CEO Mr. Kee Young Kim: "We are very excited that The9 [is becoming] one of our key investors as we see this equity infusion as a recognition of G10's achievements in developing games and creating entertainment content. The9's outstanding game operation expertise will be a huge advantage in bringing G10's products to the growing Chinese online game market.”

He continued: “We also look forward to learning from The9's valuable experience gleaned from the day-to-day operation in the local market, and integrating the ideas and suggestions from The9 into our game development process. Our people and teams at G10 are empowered to continue delivering high-quality game products and providing our best support to Audition 2, our prize product to be operated by The9 in mainland China."

Montreal-based Akoha, developer for an as-yet unannounced social game, has received $1.9 million in financing from angel investors delivered in early 2007 and early 2008.

Akoha’s social game is reportedly inspired by elements of “social entrepreneurship, massively multiplayer and reality-based games.” Development began on the project after a conversation between Akoha founders Austin Hill and Alex Eberts at a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference in Monterey. The two discussed game design, social change, and internet trends before asking aloud, “What if playing a game could make the world a better place?”

Akoha CEO and co-founder Austin Hill was previously president of Zero-Knowledge Systems (Now Radialpoint), a privacy service provider where Hill helped raise $70 million in venture capital. Alex Eberts served as product manager and vice president of development at Zero Knowledge Systems before founding Redwing Technology, a software design and consulting company, and working as a video game producer at Ubisoft.

Said Austin Hill: “We’re delighted that our investors share our belief in this opportunity to bring fresh ideas to the gaming world. This investment and the support of our incredible angels has allowed us to do some innovative product development and will support the company while we launch and build our community of players into 2009.”

Specific details on Akoha’s project will not be disclosed until the game is available to the public in fall 2008. Akoha is accepting requests to join beta testing at its website.

Westwood-based MMO game developer Turbine has secured $40 million in Series C financing, according to a regulatory filing discovered and reported by Private Equity Hub. Turbine has raised over $90 million in VC funding to date.

Granite Global Ventures led the round, with managing partner Hani Nada taking a seat on Turbine’s board. Previous investors also joined in, including Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures, and Columbia Capital.

Turbine’s catalog of subscription-based PC MMO titles include Asheron’s Call, Lord of the Rings Online, and Dungeons & Dragons Online. The company appointed former m-Qube COO Jim Crowley as its new CEO in a round of new executive hires in late 2007.

Though representatives were unavailable to comment on the funding this morning, Turbine is expected to announce future plans for its direction in two weeks.

Officials for online golf gaming environment World Golf Tour have announced that they have secured venture capital firm Panorama Capital as its lead investor in its Series B funding round, with Battery Ventures also returning to participate. VC news weblog VentureBeat estimates the round in “the double-digit millions of dollars.”

Due for a beta release this summer, World Golf Tour offers an online community in which players can compete on recreated courses and sponsored tournaments for an “authentic golf experience.” Since the demo’s launch in May 2007, World Golf Tour has attracted more than 500,000 players from over 150 different countries.

World Golf Tour will offer monetization and charitable opportunities for both partners and sponsors, with PGA.com, TaylorMade, and Adidas Golf already featuring their products in the game. In-depth information and direct links to reservation systems and resort booking sites will also accompany each recreated course.

Said Panorama Capital principal Michael Jung, who took a seat on World Golf Tour’s board as part of the financing: “World Golf Tour is leading the creation of compelling new media experiences on the Web. The technology behind the product is like nothing else on the market and enables a very compelling proposition.”

Social game distribution platform Social Gaming Network has secured $15 Million in Series A Funding, reportedly the largest first round for any social gaming or application company. The round was led by Greylock Partners, Founders Fund, Columbia Capital and Novak Biddle Venture Partners.

Based in Palo Alto, CA, the Social Gaming Network specializes in publishing and providing a development platform for social games, such as Warbook and Jetman. Since the company's inception, its games have attracted over 1 billion page views, 54 million installs, and nearly 1.1 milion daily active users across social networks Facebook, Bebo, hi5, and MySpace.

Continuing its mission to offer game developers a way to monetize the popularity of these social gaming hubs, the Social Gaming Network intends to use its new funding to add more features, functionality, and depth to its platform.

Said Social Gaming Network CEO Shervin Pishevar: "We could not be more pleased with the announcement we are making today. This funding is indicative of how SGN is poised to dramatically impact the future of gaming platforms on the social web. Our focus and drive is to develop a dynamic and flourishing ecosystem for gaming on the web and continue to be the obvious choice for game developers who want to create social games that engage millions of users on the social networks and beyond."

Following earlier rumors, Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has officially announced that it has raised $40 million led by GGV Capital and media company Time Warner, who made special note of "opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP."

Turbine's release also noted that GGV Capital is "a leader in expansion-stage venture capital investments in the U.S. and China." Additional investments came from existing Turbine investors Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures and Columbia Capital.

Time Warner Investments managing director and senior VP Rachel Lam said, "Our investment in Turbine is an important addition to Time Warner's entertainment initiatives. Online interactive entertainment is a huge growth market and we are very excited about Turbine, its unique capabilities and the obvious opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP."

Turbine’s catalog of subscription-based PC MMO titles include Asheron’s Call, Lord of the Rings Online, and Dungeons & Dragons Online. The company appointed former m-Qube COO Jim Crowley as its new CEO in a round of new executive hires in late 2007.

Said Turbine CEO Jim Crowley, "Turbine has an extraordinary team, incredible technology and a growing portfolio of games based on some of the most popular brands ever created. With this funding we are uniquely positioned to change the future of online entertainment as we bring new titles to market, expand the platforms we support and introduce new technologies to sustain self-evolving game worlds."

Social gaming site Playfish has raised $1 million in bridge financing from venture capital firm Accel Partners, according to VC news weblog VentureBeat.

Headquartered in London - with offices in Beijing and Tromso, Norway - Playfish has produced titles such as "Who Has The Biggest Brain?" and "Word Challenge," both featured in Facebook with in-game advertisements. The company boasts that its games are played 100 million times each month and have picked up over six million players.

PlayFish intends to use its new funding from Accel Partners to "make contacts while continuing to develop new games." The studio launched in October 2007 with $4 million in funding and backing from Accel Partners.

China-based online game developer and operator Giant Interactive has announced that it has acquired a 25% stake in Chinese social networking service provider Five One Network Development Co., for approximately $51 million.

Founded in 2005, 51.com claims approximately 120 million registered users, with 31.4 million monthly unique visitors logging in 18 times per month on average. Its average daily page views are as high as 350 million, while its average monthly page views exceed 10 billion.

Giant Interactive's catalog of titles include free-to-play MMORPG ZT Online, which was voted the most popular online game in China in 2006, according to International Data Corporation. The company has three other forthcoming titles, King of Kings III, Empire Sports, and Giant Online, the last of which began open beta testing in March 2008. Giant maintains a nationwide distribution network to sell prepaid cards and game points for its games.

Said Giant Interactive chairman and CEO Yuzhu Shi: "With this strategic investment in the largest independent social network service provider in China, we are positioning Giant at the forefront of the trend towards increasing convergence between online games and social networking communities. Enhancing the community-building and social networking aspects of our online games has been one of our key strategic initiatives."

He continued: "The combination of Giant's online game platform and expertise at free-to-play game monetization with 51.com's social networking business provides a unique opportunity to broaden our player base, expand our community-building opportunities, reinforce user stickiness, and extend the lifecycles of our games. The 51.com management is a well-known team of industry pioneers with strong operating capabilities and a deep understanding of their customers. We believe this investment has the potential to create significant long-term value for both Giant and 51.com shareholders, and will help us to remain at the vanguard of the online game industry in the coming years."

San Jose-based Gaia Interactive, the company behind teen-targeted social network and MMO Gaia Online, has picked up an $11 million Series C round of venture funding from VC firm Institutional Venture Partners.

According to Gaia Interactive, over five million users participate in the community every month, with 350,000 logging into Gaia Online each day. Research group Hitwise also claimed in an April 2008 report that the service had the highest average visit time among social networking websites.

Previously, the company raised $12 million in Series B in March 2007 to finance the free-to-play MMO. According to CEO Craig Sherman, Gaia Interactive intends to use its new capital to grow and develop new site elements for Gaia Online.

Said Institutional Venture Partners General Partner Norm Fogelsong: "Gaia Online is one of the most exciting companies that we have seen in the online social community space. The breadth of activity available on the site and the level of engagement of the users are truly extraordinary.  It is a privilege to be involved with such a strong management team, one that is leading the way in virtual goods transactions.  We feel that Gaia Online is poised for explosive growth."

MMO game publisher OGPlanet has announced that it has received funding from venture capital firm DFJ Athena. The company, which is expected to reach profitability shortly, intends to use the funding to support its growth and bring additional games to the US market.

Founded in 2005, OGPlanet licenses titles from Korea and markets them in the US. Its MMOG portfolio includes Cabal Online, Rumble Fighter, Albatross18 and La Tale (due Q3 2008), all of which are operated under a free-to-play model with in-game item purchases available through a microtransaction system.

Said DFJ Athena managing director Perry Ha: "OGPlanet has proven itself as a leading publisher of online games and has distinguished itself from others with its operational excellence. We are impressed by their strong growth and we are pleased to support their further growth."

Social gaming service Zynga has announced that it has completed a $29 million Series B round of financing lead by venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Institutional Venture Partners. In addition, the San Francisco-based company has acquired virtual world and Facebook application YoVille.

Founded in October 2007, Zynga provides a variety of casual online games with social and multiplayer features, such as Texas Hold'em Poker and Word Twist. The games are available on social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Hi5 and Friendster.

KPCB partner and former chief creative officer and founder of Electronic Arts, Bing Gordon, will join Zynga's board of directors, which also includes LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman, Foundry Group managing director and co-founder Brad Feld, and Zynga CEO Mark Pincus.

Said Pincus: "We are excited that Kleiner Perkins and IVP are joining our terrific investor group. With this new investment, we are doubling down on social gaming, raising the production quality and scaling the infrastructure. We're also excited to have Bing, who has been an amazing contributor even before becoming formally involved, join in an even more significant way."

Dizzywood-developer Rocket Paper Scissors has picked up $1 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory finding reported by private equity news outlet PEHub.

Though the only listed shareholder is European Founders Fund, earlier reports point to Charles River Ventures as an investor.

The San Francisco-based studio was founded in November 2007. Its educational virtual world Dizzywood is targeted at kids aged 8-12 and allows players to create, customize, and name a character to explore an enchanted wood.

Players can chat with each other, cooperate with others to solve the wood's mysteries, and earn rewards, such as items, achievement badges, e-motes, and powers for successful completion of events.

Online game developer and publisher Webcarrz secured $4 million in Series A equity financing led by VC firm Meakem Becker Venture Capital.

The funds will go towards supporting the studio's development, deployment, and marketing of its upcoming multiplayer online game. Though little has been revealed about the casual title, other than it offers a social play area without requiring fixed play patterns, the company will announce further details in the coming months.

Based in California and founded in 2007, Webcarzz has partnered with development studio MCS Games, whose client list includes Disney Interactive, Sun Microsystems, Hasbro, and Sony Online Entertainment.

Said Webcarzz CEO Chris Bergstresser: "With over 300 million online gamers today, the time is ripe for virtual worlds and multiplayer online games. Competitive play, multiplayer activity, and exploration make up the foundation for Webcarzz."

He continued: "Together with MCS Games, we are creating a very unique and highly engaging online destination aimed at a very specific and underserved market segment. With MBVC and MCS Games as our partners, we will be able to execute on our vision and deliver a truly innovative consumer experience."

MMO gaming community Aeria Games has announced that it has acquired the rights to distribute Japanese PC MMO Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online -- based on the celebrated line of Japanese RPGs – in the European and North American online PC gaming markets in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

The Shin Megami Tensei series is the intellectual property of Japanese developer and publisher, Atlus, and began in 1992 with the release of the original Shin Megami Tensei on the Super Famicom. The MMO has been developed by Japanese developer Cave and was originally released at the beginning of last year in Japan, and is set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo where survivors attempt to restore the city by defeating (or forming an alliance with) demons and solving puzzles.

In the announcement, Aeria Games highlighted "unique features" of Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online, such as a strategic real-time fighting system, diverse weaponry and devil "partnership", plus private dungeons for players to experience with friends.

"Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online has become a huge success with a large fan following," said an Aeria Games representative. "Aeria Games plans on bringing that success to the European and North American markets as it has done with its titles Last Chaos and Shaiya."

Developers of the "interactive retail experience" RobotGalaxy has announced the raising of $5 million in private investment which is to fuel the company’s expansion, including the launch of a new virtual world.

RobotGalaxy's site currently allows young “explorers” to assemble, program and activate their own robots from thousands of combinations, with two retail stores opened – one in the Freehold Raceway Mall, NJ and one in the Palisades Center, NY.

The RobotGalaxy "online galaxy" is to be a virtual world directly connected to a physical Robot Galaxy robot, making the world somewhat similar in concept to Webkinz or Build-A-Bearville. The world is to utilize a patented robot design to allow the connection of a user’s personalized robot in the virtual world via a “Supersonic Fuel Cell” and USB cable. Once connected to the virtual world, users will enter a “Space Station” where they will be able to go on quests with their robot and battle other players.

“Over the past two years we’ve established a model based on three pillars: retail, entertainment, and online. As we add technology to our product, we will continue to invest in our retail operations as we develop our online Galaxy and build upon our comic book series,” said Ken Pilot, Chief Galaxy Officer.

Hollywood Interactive Group has announced that it has raised $5 million in Series A equity, with investment led by BlueRun Ventures. This funding is to be used to develop the company’s "slate of multi-platform content initiatives," with the first project MyHollywood.com; a women’s web destination for "celebrity and entertainment news, casual games, fashion and community."

The site is currently in public beta, and specifically targets women 18- 34 who enjoy casual gaming – intending to offer games that gives them a "more tangible connection to Hollywood than tabloids and television shows" by offering experiences is "rooted in real-world news and events" (content and game play is to be updated to reflect breaking news.)

The "centerpiece" of MyHollywood.com is to be an MMOG, Red Carpet, in which players are to try and achieve progressive levels of celebrity via celebrity-themed mini-games, answering quizzes about breaking news and headlines, and referring new players to the game. Successful accumulation of points is to allow players to collect branded virtual items, establish a place to live and gain access to VIP areas.

The site is slated to be officially launched in early 2009.

“This funding represents a tremendous vote of confidence in MyHollywood.com and recognizes the incredible revenue opportunities driven by our audience on the Internet,” said Joey Carson, Chief Executive Officer, Hollywood Interactive Group. “BlueRun Ventures has been a great strategic partner and ally for our business and we look forward to their continued support as we develop the first MMO experience designed specifically for the millions of women who love celebrity news, casual games and shopping.”

Server-based game publisher and developer Trion World Network closed a $70 million Series C funding round co-led by Act II Capital and previous investors, including Trinity Ventures, DCM, Time Warner, Rustic Canyon, and Peacock Equity.

This latest round of funding brings the company's total capital raised since its inception to $100 million. Trion was founded in 2006 by former Electronic Arts veteran Lars Buttler and Might and Magic series creator Jon Van Caneghem, and has established offices in Redwood City, San Diego, and Austin.

Delivering what Trion calls "server-based games," which will be compatible with broadband-enabled PCs and PlayStation 3 systems, the company's Trion Platform will provide users with a client that handles I/O and rendering, while dynamic content is stored on servers and fed to the clients as needed.

Trion's games will initially be delivered via download, retail, and other distribution methods. Different "channels," which are essentially different game titles, will be maintained on Trion's server, and deliver that dynamic content to users depending on which "channel" they engage with.

The company has so far announced two titles currently in development and set to be published by Trion in North America and Europe -- a fantasy MMORPG helmed by chief creative officer Canegham and an MMO co-developed in partnership with NBC Universal’s Sci-Fi Channel.

Buttler, who serves as Trion's CEO, says that this latest funding represents a continued vote of confidence in the company's technology and approach to interactive entertainment. He added, "This signifies a shift away from static retail products and towards games as dynamic services, which will be simulated increasingly 'in the cloud.'"

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

Developer of online virtual worlds MindFuse has announced that they have secured $1 million in funding from Keiretsu Forum angel investors for the development of massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds.

Funds are to be used for working capital, expanding the team based in Berkeley, and the development of customer service and marketing.

The company has raised a total of 1.75 million since inception in 2006, and was founded by Joseph Walters, formerly of Shockwave and Skunk Studios, Matthew Le Merle and Ira Rothken.

Though the press release announcing the investment claims "the first game developed by MindFuse is to be announced, with a public beta in the spring of 2009," visitors to MindFuseGames.com are greeted by a detailed website for Gatheryn, "an interactive massive multi-player world of adventure, mystery and romance," where players "assume the role of a Victorian themed character as [they] explore, socialize and quest [their] way through the world."

“The richest massively multiplayer universes have been largely violent fantasy worlds,” said Joseph Walters, Chief Executive of MindFuse. “Casual, friendly games on the other hand feel more like a snack than a feast. MindFuse is going to bring the two types of gameplay and players together – simple, compelling games embedded in a deep three dimensional world.”

Casual games developer Playfish secured $17 million in a Series B round of funding led by Accel Partners and Index Ventures. The studio also announced that Accel Partners' Kevin Comolli and Index Ventures' Ben Holmes will both join its board of directors.

Based in London and founded in October 2007, Playfish releases "social games," such as Who Has The Biggest Brain? and Bowling Buddies, on social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

The company intends to use the new financing to further establish itself in the social gaming sector. So far, the studio's games have picked up over 10 million monthly active users, with players spending two billion monthly minutes on its titles.

Playfish's funding comes not long after rival Social Gaming Network (Warbook) raised $15 million for its own social network games, which was followed by Zynga (YoVille) picking up $29 million in VC funding for the same shortly afterwards.

"This has proven to be an outstanding year for the Playfish team," says Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale, CEO of Playfish. "We've opened offices in San Francisco, Beijing and Norway and have now closed a round of funding with two great investors, Accel Partners and Index Ventures. We look forward to expanding our studios, growing our user base and continuing to develop new ways for people to play games together."

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

Monumental, the UK-based developer of upcoming football MMO Football Superstars has announced the opening of a new studio in Pune, India. The studio has been established in conjunction with offshoring company Quickstart Global.

In the announcement, it was explained that while Monumental have previously used staff in a traditional outsourcing model, they chose to work with Quickstart Global as "each employee is specifically selected by Monumental and lives up to the quality and productivity standards set by them."

The studio currently houses a core team with plans to increase this in the near future.

"We were highly impressed by the quality of applicants. Prior to interview we viewed show-reels from candidates and were able to select those who met our criteria, both on a technical and personal level," said Gylan Hunter, Art Director for Monumental. "This process helps us maintain the exceptionally high quality standards we demand. The facilities in Pune are excellent, and our staff there have everything they need to deliver first-class work".

Online game microtransaction/virtual trading platform PlaySpan picked up $16.8 million in a new investment round, and the company plans to use the funds to expand into Europe and Asia, with a view to signing new deals.

PlaySpan provides publishers and developers with a platform for managing secure micro-transactions, virtual goods sales, global alternative payments, and peer-to-peer trading. Its platform is currently live in games such as K2's Global Mu Online and Gala-Net's UpshiftStrike Racer.

With its PayByCash subsidiary, the company offers over 70 payment solutions, including its prepaid Ultimate Game Cards, in more than 180 countries. The platform currently supports over 200 games from publishers such as Gala-Net, Ntreev, Outspark, and CCP.

Along with its $6.5 million raised in September 2007, PlaySpan's total funding now comes close to $24 million. This most recent round was led by Easton Capital Group, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC, and other undisclosed investors.

"Online games publishers and social media application developers are looking for new sources of revenue beyond traditional advertising and subscriptions," says PlaySpan founder and CEO Karl Mehta. "We are enabling a new business model in the form of micro-transactions for users that prefer the pay-as-you-go model."

He continues, "It is a testament to our market-leading position, demonstrated growth, and the long-term potential of virtual goods and micro-transactions that we have raised a significant round in spite of the current economic climate."

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

Online game publisher/operator IGG (Zu Online, Aurora Blade) has announced that the company has round of Series B financing with funding "in excess of $10 million" from two venture capital firms and an existing investor.

The funding was led by Vertex Group and joined by Hearst Interactive Media and IDGVC, and is intended to "bolster international capabilities" according to COO Kevin Xu. The funds are to expand sales and marketing in Asian and Europe, establish strategic partnerships with developers and publishers worldwide, explore new regions and languages, and to further the development of "more innovative and entertaining games in-house".

IGG launched its first MMORPG in May 2006, and has released and operated eight MMORPGS with eight million registered users to date.

“The global experience of Vertex will greatly bolster our international capabilities, and Hearst’s vast connection in the media world is the perfect support that we need to expand our business globally. It’s great to have our original funding partner IDG on board again as well.” said Xu.

Play Hard Sports, developer and publisher of free-to-play sports games, has announced the completion of a round of Series B funding, raising $8 million and bringing the company's total capital raised in the last nine months to $13 million.

Valhalla Partners led the round of investment and was joined by TriplePoint Capital and existing investor, New Enterprise Associates. As part of the investment, Scott Frederick of Valhalla Partners is to become a member of Play Hard’s Board.

Play Hard is currently in development of its first title, Play Hard Football, which is to launch concurrently with the 2009 NFL season, and open for beta within "a few months." The title is to be a Flash-developed, browser-based title where players take the role of a coach/general manager of a football team, competing against other player-owned franchises across the globe.

“There is a lot of innovation coming from online entertainment and games companies right now,” said Scott Frederick, General Partner, Valhalla. “We are confident that Play Hard Sports’ pioneering ‘freemium’ model will be successful. Add the team of industry veterans, who are responsible for the market’s biggest MMORPGs and sports games, including Madden 05, 06, NFL2K, NBA2K and The Lord of the Rings, and you have an unbeatable combination of strategy and execution.”

Nurien Software, a Korea-based developer and operator of social networking/online game services, has announced that it has closed a round of Series A-1 funding, raising $10 million from four U.S. and China-based venture capital firms—Northern Light Venture Capital, Globespan Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and QiMing Venture Partners.

The round was led by NLVC, and follows the initial round $15 million Series A investment announced in April 2008.

Nurien is to use the funds to "advance the development of its unique social networking platform and to expand its online gaming offerings," which include Mstar, a music and dancing game; Runway, a "fashion show" application; and QuizStar, a casual online title, all of which run within Nurien's social networking platform (a beta version of which was released in Korea in late-September of last year.) A full scale launch is planned for international markets in 2009.

“We’ve seen great responses from beta users over the past few months, longer log-in times and a perfect balance of female and male players unseen on most other platforms,” said Taehoon Kim, co-founder of Nurien Software. “We’re excited to be moving into 2009 with backing and support from such top-tier investors. With the funding, we’ll be able to perfect our platform and bring on more content, game and customization features in the next year.”

Virtual world publisher IMVU has announced the closing of a Series D round of financing, with investments led by Best Buy Capital, Best Buy's corporate venture capital group and joined by existing investors Menlo Ventures, Allegis Capital and Bridgescale Partners.

The round raised $10 million and IMVU have announced the intention to invest it in the continued development of its 3D "virtual community" of the same name.

In conjunction with its Series D funding, IMVU announced that Best Buy Capital's Kuk Yi will become a member of IMVU's board of directors.

"This $10 million investment, led by Best Buy Capital, with renewed commitment from our existing investors is a testament to IMVU's continued success," said Cary Rosenzweig, CEO of IMVU. "Raising money in the current economic climate wasn't easy. The fact that our monthly revenue was growing in the face of the economic downturn gave investors confidence in our business model."

GMG Entertainment, a publisher of digital currency cards, has announced its 2008 performance—you may remember that Vindicia has just done so too, and like Vindicia GMG are bullish about their performance, claiming "extraordinary growth" with an eightfold increase in revenue across the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, with GMG generating 40 percent of its annual sales in that quarter alone.

Across 2008 GMG launched digital currency cards with partners including Artix Entertainment, GamesCampus, IMVU, Outspark, Octopi, Three Rings and WeeWorld.

With one month of January data available, GMG also reports that its first quarter 2009 sales are "performing above expectations, and are stronger than some months in the second half of '08."

"While the nascency of the space can be credited for some of GMG's 2008 exponential growth, we really attribute the steady results to the multiplier effect of new partners going into new retailers with an increased consumer awareness of digital entertainment prepaid cards as the perfect gift or as an impulse purchase. This effect coupled with building our team out with the incisive management Jeff and Tim bring all help to service our partners, consumers and retails in a meaningful way," said Rob Goldberg, CEO of GMG Entertainment. "Even in these tough economic times, consumers will continue to turn to the online and Free-to-Play/Microtransaction gaming space as a cost effective use of entertainment dollars that need to be stretched."

Massively multiplayer online strategy game developer eRepublik Labs raised $2.8 million in funding for its first game, the free-to-play eRepublik - The New World, and other future titles.

The Dublin, Ireland-based developer said Wednesday it raised the money in a series A funding round led by Paris, France's AGF Private Equity. Last year, the game maker raised $762,000 in funding, and in 2007 raised $277,000.

eRepublik Labs said the funds would go towards further development of eRepublik, in which players engage in "local and national politics, set economic policy, start businesses and wage wars with other countries."