In-Game Fraud Results in 11 Convictions in East China

Wow, talk about stealing online gaming login credentials. The online version of the People’s Daily, China’s official newspaper, has recently reported that 11 people in East China have been convicted of in-game fraud. They’ve been designing malware whose purpose is to steal usernames and passwords.

These 11 fraud artists were accused of stealing 5.3 million usernames and passwords. The two original authors of the malware program were reported to have made 646,000 yuan ($94,597 USD) and two distributors were reported to have made 310,000 yuan. As a result, these four conmen each received prison sentences of between two to three years. All 11 fraud artists were fined a total of 833,000 yuan ($121,980 USD).

Overall, 80 people were involved in the entire get-rich scheme and made profits totaling up to 30 million yuan. No other individuals have currently been convicted of any crimes, but we’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

Via PCMag.

Castle of Heroes Closed Beta Available for Limited Time

The closed beta version of Castle of Heroes, a free to play online strategy game by Gala Networks Europe, has just been launched today. The game is available in English, French, German, and Polish and is available to players in Europe. Players must have a valid gPotato.eu account to access the no-download browser-based game at http://heroes.gpotato.eu.

During the closed beta testing, gifts and contests will take place each week and there will be item releases as well as other surprises in the game. Beta testers for Castle of Heroes will also be able to get early access for the official game when it’s released, as well as a special forum avatar that they can use on the discussion boards.

The game’s official release is scheduled for early January 2010, to be available for both PCs and Macs, but if you’re interested in being a beta tester, check out the website. You’d better hurry too, as there are only limited spots available — and they’re on a first come, first served basis!

Via Mcvuk.

Video Game Startups Observed Decreased Profits in 2009

Just like for most all other things in the past year’s economy, video game profits have decreased from 2008 to 2009. Analysis shows that a total of 97 video game startups raised $600.5M in 2009, a decrease of 36%, compared to funds raised for 112 games equalling $936.8M in 2008.

Furthermore, the total of $600.5M was significantly inflated by funding that Zynga, creator of the oh-so-popular farming simulation browser-based game Farmville, was able to secure from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies. DST supplied Zynga with a whopping $180M in 2009. Without it, the year’s profits would have decreased 55% from 2008 instead of only 36%.

Here are some more details about the top three video game startup companies that were able to secure the most funds in 2009:

1. Zynga mainly hosts social games on Facebook. Some of their investors for the year include Digital Sky Technologies, Institutional Venture Partners, Andreessen Horovitz, and Tiger Global. In 2009, they received $180M in funding — amazing.
2. Playdom hosts social games on Facebook and Myspace, among other platforms. Their investors include Rick Thompson, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Norwest Venture Partners. In 2009, they received a cool $43M.
3. Smith & Tinker received funding for their hybrid web-toy Nanovor game. Investors for 2009 included Alsop Louie Partners, DCM, Foundry Group, Leo Capital Holdings, and billionaire Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital and investments for 2009 totalled $29M — not bad at all.

Via GamesBeat.