Online gaming fights server piracy

Server-based online gaming piracy is emerging as a new trend that could cost the video game industry billions of dollars in revenues, according to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, states The Wire Report.

“It is a new and emerging form of piracy that has particularly emerged in Asia, but is actually now migrating to the western markets,” Jason Kee, ESAC's director of policy and legal affairs, said in an interview.

Kee says industry estimates put the physical piracy of game discs in North America at about $3 billion each year. It is more difficult to determine the impact of online piracy, but Kee estimates it's in the billions of dollars.

Crytek has released Warface, a CryEngine 3 FPS targeting Korean and Asian gamers, says Bit-Tech.

Crytek, the developer behind the original Far Cry and the Crysis series, has announced a new game today, titled Warface, the publication says. Warface will use Crytek's proprietary graphics engine CryEngine 3 and will be a PC exclusive multiplayer shooter. Co-op missions will also be a key feature, though there's no mention of any single player content, it adds.

Interestingly, Crytek will release Warface as a free-to-play shooter and is looking to target the Korean and Asian markets specifically, it points out.

Online bookmaker Sportingbet has received a boost from an increase in the use of its popular smartphone applications, the Channel Islands-based, reports Online Casino Report.

Sportingbet now boasts some 10 000 mobile gaming customers, a 10-fold increase since it debuted its iPhone application just six months ago and constituting some 7% of its total customer base, the publication says.

The growth was also noticed in overall live sports betting, which rose 27% in the quarter ending October.