GamesBeat weekly roundup: Activision buys out Vivendi for $8.17B, Zynga lays out recovery plan

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, Activision buys out parent company Vivendi’s shares for $8.17 billion after Vivendi asked for a $3 billion dividend, new Zynga chief executive officer Don Mattrick lays out his 90-day plan to get the company back on its feet, and Electronic Arts loses in a lawsuit brought by a former Madden programmer.

You’ll also find a review for Shadowrun Returns and a two-part interview with EA exec Frank Gibeau about next-gen consoles and digital ecosystems.

News

• The DeanBeat: At Siggraph, dipping into gaming’s frontiers — like a bathtub liquid display
• DICE shows off the expanded Battlelog features for Battlefield 4
• Aeria Games bringing free-to-play F.E.A.R. Online to U.S. gamers
• Minecraft-like shooter Guncraft blasts its way to Steam on Aug. 9
• SwapMob raises $1M for in-game virtual goods marketplace (exclusive)
• Microsoft may soon have a more indie-friendly console than Sony or Nintendo (UPDATED)
• Saints Row IV officially enters the world as Volition finishes development
• Battlefield 3 Premium surpasses 4 million members
• Oculus planning VR game jam with IndieCade
• Bundle Dragon brings the pay-what-you-want model to everyone
• Madden, FIFA players can carry over Ultimate Team items from current gen to PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Saints Row IV almost ended with a Bollywood dance number
• Ouya success Towerfall coming to PC — online multiplayer not likely

Mobile news

• Square Enix’s Bloodmasque rises from its coffin on iOS
• Machine Zone launches ambitious iOS title Game of War: Fire Age after huge investment
• New Google Play Games app centralizes multiplayer and more on Android
• After 100M downloads, JoyBits readies an ambitious Doodle God sequel for tablets
• EA made more money on Apple’s App Store than through Origin
• Spaceteam crosses space-time to debut on Android
• Family develops iPad game to inspire young girls to love math
• BlackBerry attempts to boost game support with Unity partnership

Tech

• Nvidia aims to blow away mobile graphics competitors with Project Logan
• PlayStation 4 is less likely to turn your entertainment center into a sauna
• Kinect-like Leap Motion 3D camera launches with over 75 applications

Bad news

• Sweepstakes startup Kizzang loses two top executives (exclusive)
• Jury sides with Madden programmer in EA lawsuit
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution studio head resigns because Square Enix lacks ‘courage’

Earnings

• EA says 76 percent of its revenue comes from digital publishing

Acquisitions incorporated

• Curse moves into console game community news with acquisition of FutHead.com (exclusive)
• World of Tanks developer acquires Master of Orion and Total Annihilation franchises

All this funding

• Shadow of the Eternals returns to Kickstarter with PS4 support, new talent, and a new price
• NCSoft invests big in new studio from Blizzard, Relic, and Sony Online veterans
• How movie makers, game makers are using pre-visualization to get funded
• Japan’s KLab raises $9.3M for mobile games

Activision

• Activision Blizzard preannounces earnings that beat Wall Street estimates
• Activision buys out Vivendi in a deal worth $8.17 billion
• Vivendi may shake down Activision for a special $3B dividend
• Activision releasing new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles side-scrolling brawler in October

House of Zynga

• New Zynga CEO Don Mattrick lays out his 90-day plan
• Zynga exec explains why it’s abandoning online gambling in the U.S.
• Zynga will not ‘pursue a license for real-money [gambling] in the U.S.’
• Zynga slightly beats Wall Street expectations for Q2, but stock falls after-hours

Reviews

• Shadowrun Returns needs to curtail its nostalgia (review)

Interviews

• Microsoft wants everyone to make games (or apps) for Xbox One (interview)
• Entrepreneurship educator Carl Rosendahl tells us how game studios go awry (interview)
• Frank Gibeau on EA’s digital ecosystems, Star Wars games, and Titanfall (interview part two)
• EA exec Frank Gibeau: Betting on next-gen consoles, mobile, and doing right by consumers (interview)
• How curiosity keeps Pong creator Al Alcorn on the innovation path (interview)

Pieces of flair

• Players kill over 2,000 cows per minute in RuneScape 3
• Going indie: Why 5 devs left their day jobs for creative independence (part two)