BRIGHTON, UK: Announcing today, Echo Peak is a specialist games developer focusing on collaborative projects with top creative talent from the music industry and beyond. Led by the creative duo behind the critically acclaimed “Chime” – Game Director Ciaran Walsh and Creative Director Ste Curran – in partnership with Tenshi Ventures and former Zoe Mode Studio Head Ed Daly, the team brings together talent from doublesix, EA and Freestyle Games to create games for consoles and emerging digital platforms.”We are passionate about working with talent outside our industry in ways that are smarter, more interesting and more audience-focused than just plugging songs into well-worn templates”, says Ciaran Walsh. “Our experience in music games led us to this point, and music seems a natural place to start — bringing these two worlds closer makes so much sense — which is why we’re working with leading artists and labels to develop a number of concepts.”Echo Peak’s first title, a collaboration with a major global music star, is in development now. Interested parties– whether they’re in the music industry, games industry or just people who want to know more about how Echo Peak plans to build something new — can get in touch via ep@echo-peak.com or @echospeaks on twitter.
Via games.premierpr.com

MXP4 & Mobile Roadie integrate MXP4’s Bopler’s games into Mobile Roadie artist apps starting with a David Guetta version of the Pump It!
Via www.brand-m.biz

The US social gaming market will blow past $5.5 billion in 2015, according to a new report by BI Intelligence.
The social games market, including smartphones, will more than double from last year, where we estimate it was $2 billion.
Highlights:1- Social games will disrupt the traditional gaming industry2- Social games will break into the mainstream,3- Monetization will improve

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Via www.businessinsider.com

Shazam revenues up 47% as its mobile discovery apps find new usersFebruary 21st, 2012 by stuartdredgeBritish startup Shazam has published its financial results for the year ending 30 June 2011, revealing a year-on-year revenue growth of 47.3%.Shazam posted revenues of £15.6m for the year, up from £10.59m in the year ending 30 June 2010, according to its filing with Companies House in the UK. The company didn’t turn a profit for the year, although its net losses narrowed from £0.35m to £0.28m in the same period.Shazam’s cost of sales for the year ending 30 June 2011 were just over £932k, up from £517k the year before. The company’s ‘recurring administrative expenses’ also increased from £10.5m to £14.83m in that time period.
Via musically.com