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Rami Ismail on attracting press, players, and platforms, Zynga dismisses disappointing quarter, and Infinity Blade gets 3D printing

The past 7 days in bite-size portions

Rami Ismail on attracting press, players, and platforms, Zynga dismisses disappointing quarter, and Infinity Blade gets 3D printing
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With Gamescom 2014 still in full swing, it's not surprising that most of this week's big hitters come from Cologne.

Industry speakers were once again on fine form, with Vlambeer's Rami Ismail serving up some advice on how to attract the press, players, and platform holders, while Adriel Wallick - a.k.a. Ms Minotaur - told us what she learned from making 38 games in 38 weeks.

Outside of Germany, everyone else did their best to throw a few surprises our way.

Zynga CEO Don Mattrick turned heads by revealing that the firm is well on track to meet internal expectations, despite having a disappointing quarter.

Infinity Blade developer ChAIR also made headlines by becoming the first studio to give its players the chance to purchase personalised 3D-printed collectables in-game.

As always, that's just the tip of the iceberg, so sit down, relax, pour yourself a refreshing glass of cranberry juice, and chow down on another nutritious Week That Was.

Industry Voices
Monetisation
User acquisition, retention, and discovery
  • iQU and HoneyTracks joined forces to deliver next generation marketing.
  • Micromon and Crazy Taxi keep their crowns on this week's UK App Store charts.
Tools & Platforms
  • NetEase saw its FY14 Q2 game revenue rise by 8 percent to $377 million
  • The GameMaker: Marketplace opened its doors, giving developers the chance to purchase assets for their projects.
  • Dead Trigger dev Madfinger got all crafty with its Monzo virtual model kits.
  • GameMaker: Studio beefed up support for Microsoft hardware, adding Xbox One.
Funding, acquisitions, personnel and shutterings
  • With FY14 sales down by 27 percent to $1.2 billion, GREE switched 700 staff to native games.
  • Following its recent $4.75 million funding round, German performance marketing outfit Crobo opened an office in San Francisco.
Chris Kerr
Chris Kerr
What do you call someone who has an unhealthy obsession with video games and Sean Bean? That'd be a 'Chris Kerr'. Chris is one of those deluded souls who actually believes that one day Sean Bean will survive a movie. Poor guy.