GamesBeat weekly roundup: Disney shutters LucasArts, Zynga tries to reinvigorate OMGPOP, and more

If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

Zynga board member (and reality) causes markets to cool on Yahoo acquisition rumors

Rumors that Yahoo might buy Zynga are fading as Bing Gordon talks about the magic of independence.

SimCity not working for you? 5 alternative city-building games

If you're done with SimCity, we have some city-building alternatives that might have what it takes to fulfill your needs.

PopRox Entertainment’s social game might let you pay off your mortgage

Race 4 My Place allows fans to compete with others to create a simulated city and win prizes, including $200,000 that a winner can use to pay off a mortgage.

Zynga goes philanthropic for Toys for Tots

Zynga is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of some in-game items to charity.

Kixeye: Zynga is ‘desperate’ to get hands on its secrets

Kixeye claims that it is actually Zynga that is attempting to steal trade secrets.

In midst of employee theft lawsuit, Kixeye CEO takes a blast at Zynga

Kixeye chief exec Will Harbin says, "Zynga is burning to the ground and bleeding top talent, and instead of trying to fix the problems -- better work environment and better products -- they are resorting to the only profit center that has ever really worked for them: their legal department."

Zynga suing former employee for stealing trade secrets

Zynga's former CityVille general manager allegedly used Dropbox to back up hundreds of privileged documents. The social-games developer is suing him for taking that data.

Kixeye steals a general manager from Zynga, rescuing him from the ‘dark side’

Kixeye recruits a general manager away from Zynga so he can make "real" games.

Funium’s Family Village game brings your family history into a social game (exclusive)

Funium is launching Family Village in the hope of putting more people in touch with their family history.

Build your own SimCity on Mac this February

The new SimCity will launch for Mac as well as PC in February 2013.

GamesBeat weekly roundup: Blizzard hacked, Nividia earnings rise, and more bad news for Zynga

If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best games stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

Zynga sees FarmVille and CityVille user spikes [UPDATE: Maybe not]

A report from brokerage firm Sterne Agee reveals that the social game company's daily active users saw massive peaks over the past week.

Investors eagerly await Zynga’s Unleashed event today

Today, all eyes will be on Mark Pincus, chief executive of Zynga, to see whether he can keep his developers churning out games that can continue to capture the hearts of hundreds of millions of social gamers.

Draw Something goes global with 12 new languages and celebrity endorsements

Musical artists Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez will team up with Zynga as the company promotes 12 new languages coming to the hit mobile game Draw Something.

Gaming art for your Facebook Timeline (Part 5: Social and Mobile)

Shiny Timeline cover images of mobile and social games like Angry Birds Space, CityVille, and Bejeweled Blitz for your Facebook profile.

Plant a money tree in Farmville as Zynga and American Express launch new rewards program

Social gaming giant Zynga has connected with credit company American Express to provide a rewards program where users can receive virtual game rewards for using their real-life American Express card.

Zynga earnings preview: what the analysts think

Zynga’s stock price has been falling in recent days in advance of the company’s first quarter earnings report today. The shares are trading at $9.15 each right now — up slightly but down significantly from a recent high of $15.91 …