GamesBeat weekly roundup: Don Mattrick leaves Microsoft for Zynga, Ubisoft’s uPlay service hacked

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.

This week, Xbox boss Don Mattrick leaves Microsoft for Zynga, Ubisoft’s uPlay service is hacked, and Irrational Games releases the first piece of downloadable content for BioShock Infinite but disappoints many players as it is not the highly anticipated story expansion.

You’ll also find reviews for The Last of Us and Company of Heroes 2, as well as a preview for Saints Row IV. And you’ll see the debut of Tanya Takahashi, the daughter of GamesBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi, and her review of Diner Dash Rush.

News

• The DeanBeat: How Zynga snared Xbox boss Don Mattrick as its CEO
• MechWarrior Online crosses 1 million registered players — version 1.0 coming in September
• Xbox Live Gold subscribers get Assassin’s Creed II for free starting July 16
• Report says fitness video games are proliferating as gamers get off the couch
• New PlayStation 3 update available — this one shouldn’t brick systems
• Microsoft demonstrates how DIY game Project Spark integrates Xbox One, PC, and tablet
• Irrational releases downloadable content for BioShock Infinite
• Mark of the Ninja developer working on turn-based espionage game: Incognita
• Respawn’s Titanfall scores big as the critics’ favorite at E3
• Grand Theft Auto V will come on two discs for Xbox 360
• Telltale releases new episode of The Walking Dead
• Infinity Ward reveals dynamically collapsing bonus map for Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Rise of the Triad blazes to PC later this month

Mobile news

• Hi-Yo Silver! Disney releases The Lone Ranger mobile game
• Player-aquisition costs fall for mobile developers in May
• Kabam lays off a ‘small number’ of employees as it moves to mobile game growth
• Applifier introduces Everyplay FaceCam replays for mobile games
• How game publishers like Kabam and Zynga use mobile ads to get on app store leaderboards
• Developers are dissatisfied with app marketing and advertising
• PopCap delays Plants vs. Zombies 2

Tech

• Register now to beta test the Xbox Live 2013 update
• 4 ways Ouya lets consumers down
• Nvidia delays Android-based Shield gaming handheld
• This is what Dragon Age: Inquisition looks like running Frostbite 3
• Microsoft reveals how it’s improving visual detail on Xbox One and Windows 8.1
• With 200 games available, Ouya reveals its most popular titles
• Why Sony believes the PlayStation 4 needs PC chips

Serious business starring Don Mattrick

• Wall Street analysts view Zynga’s choice of ex-Xbox boss Don Mattrick as both puzzling and positive
• What Xbox boss Don Mattrick’s exit means for Xbox One
• Confirmed: Xbox chief Don Mattrick to leave Microsoft for Zynga’s top job
• Wall Street loves the rumor that Xbox chief Don Mattrick might take over at Zynga
• Report: Zynga to hire Microsoft’s game chief Don Mattrick as CEO
• Zynga cofounder joins social casino game maker as investor and adviser

Oh, no

• Hacker exploits Ubisoft website to swipe user data
• Parent company of publisher Atlus files for government-assisted reorganization

All this money

• SOCOM creator crowdsources his next team-shooter game with H-Hour: World’s Elite
• Gree helps IUGO’s Knights and Dragons game hit $1M in monthly revenue

Reviews

• Company of Heroes 2 reestablishes the series as one of the best strategy experiences (review)
• Threeview: The Last of Us reviewed by a critic, an analyst, and an academic
• Diner Dash Rush is simple and fast, but it’s also monotonous (review)

Previews

• Why I will spend more hours playing Saints Row IV than any other 2013 release (preview)

Interviews

• Mark Cerny frankly recounts Sony’s mistakes with the PlayStation 3
• How Sony applied the lessons of the past in designing the PlayStation 4
• How Sony entrusted the design of the PlayStation 4 to an American consultant

Pieces of flair

• ROUNDTABLE’D! Game characters say AMERICA! F***, YEAH!
• Forget World War Z. Bring back World War II games
• How Xbox One’s reputation system is better than Xbox 360′s
• Princess Peach’s castle is worth nearly $1 billion (if it were real)
• Conan O’Brien visits E3 to pick his favorite console
• Google: Gaming community growing faster than YouTube itself
• Jane Jensen’s Moebius: After eight years, she ‘just wanted to f***ing make an adventure game!’
• The world’s most realistic gaming gun upsets the hosts of ‘The View’
• How Puzzle & Dragons coerces players to pay big bucks
• Read+Watch+Listen: Bonus material for The Last of Us fans
• New Super Luigi U is a terrible idea spread across an entire game (opinion)