Japanese mobile-social gaming mammoth DeNA today announced two more games — G.I. Joe: Battleground and Dungeons & Dragons Arena of War — from its existing partnership with toy and board game company Hasbro.

After landing a three-year licensing deal with Hasbro for the Transformers franchise, the first game from DeNA and Hasbro was Transforms Legends (originally announced as Transformers Battle) for iOS and Android, a card battle game developed ngmoco (review).

Starting with G.I. Joe: Battleground for iOS and Android, producer of the game David Phan describes the title to Inside Mobile Apps as an adventure RPG where players build a team with Joe heroes, Cobra villans, or both. Users are tasked with completing missions, collecting new members (in the form of cards with an action figure as the visual), and upgrading characters’ skills. Like other DeNA games before it, G.I. Joe features special missions, raid bosses, and player vs. player events, which have been extremely successful for other DeNA titles including card battler Blood Brothers.

“We have the opportunity to make the first mobile game for G.I. Joe not based on a movie, but based on the cartoon series and comic books,” Phan says.

Gameplay unfolds in an asynchronous manner, where combat is automated either in player vs. enemy or PvP (one-on-one only), relying on the statistics and skills from a user’s team of three or five characters to determine the outcome. (more…)

Editor’s Note: Doug Scott is vice president of marketing and revenue at Japanese mobile-social gaming company DeNA. For a taste of what will be discussed at the “Platform Opportunities for Social Apps” session at Inside Network’s Inside Social Apps conference June 6 to 7, Doug answered a couple questions regarding the prospects of current mobile app platforms.

Inside Mobile Apps: Now that Google I/O just concluded, where do you see the Android platform for mobile development in the future?

Doug Scott: We have found Android to be a great development platform for several years now but the announcements at Google I/O take it to another level. By focusing on features to enhance gameplay and support game developers further, I look at this as a watershed moment for mobile gaming. This will certainly encourage more game developers to embrace Android and will allow developers of platforms such as Mobage to focus on even deeper, richer tools and communities for developers on top of these features. It is a testament to the power of gaming as the most engaging activity on these platforms.

IMA: Is there a difference between the iOS and Android platforms in terms of monetization for DeNA?

Scott: There can be differences between the platforms depending on the product but we have found that it’s possible to monetize extremely well on both Android and iOS. Without question, great businesses can be built on both platforms.

After nabbing high spots on the top free iOS apps charts earlier this week, Kabam’s movie tie-in game Fast & Furious 6: The Game drove into the highly competitive top 25 of the top grossing iPhone apps chart at the No. 15 spot. Internet radio service Pandora made a return to the top 25 of the top grossing iPad apps chart, moving into the No. 18 position as of today.

Video game company GungHo Online, which recently saw its market cap goes as high as $15.1 billon, is starting to see more and more success with its title Puzzle & Dragons in the states. The puzzle and RPG hybrid made it into the top 25 on the top grossing Android apps chart this week, landing at the No. 21 spot. The remainder of the Android chart was same as last week, with the healthy showing from casino games and DeNA games.

This week’s top grossing iPhone apps

This week’s top grossing iPad apps

This week’s top grossing Android apps

All data in this post comes from our traffic tracking service AppData.

Ever since Apple instituted clause 2.25 in October 2012 to its App Review Guidelines, the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation has been cracking down on app discovery services violating the clause like AppGratis, which was removed from the Apple App Store in an effort to stop third-party tools that directly compete with the store. Clause 2.25 states that “Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.” Another relevant clause is 5.6, which states that “Apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind.”

Inside Mobile Apps first heard of AppGratis when we spoke with CEO Simon Dawlat back in January about the company’s raising of $13.5 million in Series A funding and that its service was delivering up to 700,000 installs for app developers. Essentially, AppGratis offered developers burst campaigns by getting their app featured by AppGratis for a certain amount of money. Now that the app is removed from the Apple App Store, for those who still have the app installed on their devices, the app just prompts users that daily deals will be delivered to their email instead of through the app via push notifications. App discovery remains one of the largest hurdles for app developers, so when engines like AppGratis get taken down, developers need to start looking at other avenues for discovery. In a guest post from Side-Kick Games marketing director Noya Polliack, she adds that it’s clear Apple wants to remain “hands on” with picking the “right” apps for its users.

This wasn’t the first time Apple cracked down on limiting outside influencers from its app ecosystem. Apple shook down incentivized install practices back in April 2011, where developers offer their apps in other games and pay for downloads when users install their titles for virtual current.

PocketGamer.biz reported earlier this month that Apple apparently expanded the language in clause 2.25. PocketGamer.biz was sent an email conversation between Apple and an anonymous developer who’s developing an app “primarily focused on sharing recommendations to your friends.” In the email from Apple to the developer, Apple pointed to apps that “include filtering, bookmarking, searching, or sharing recommendations are not considered as significantly different from the App Store.” The additional language to clause 2.25 is not present in Apple’s guidelines. This expansion to the regulation 2.25 has left iOS developers confused about what is and what isn’t acceptable in terms of app promotion. (more…)

In light of the deadly tornadoes hitting Oklahoma, many weather apps rapidly moved up the top paid iPhone apps chart including NOAA Hi-Def Radar at the No. 13 spot, iMap Weather Radio at No. 18, and Storm Shield at No. 22. On the top paid iPad apps chart, Plants vs. Zombies HD moved up the charts, landing at the No. 4 positon, thanks to an update which gave all users 200,000 free coins (the game’s virtual currency).

After making an appearance at last week’s Google I/O keynote, 2D Boy’s World of Goo shot up the top paid Android apps chart by more than 40 spots after being put on sale for $0.99 recently, moving the game to the No. 19 spot as of today. The rest of the chart remained very much the same since last week.

This week’s top paid iPhone apps

This week’s top paid iPad apps

This week’s top paid Android apps

All data in this post comes from our traffic tracking service AppData.

At today’s Microsoft unveiling event for the new Xbox One game console, corporate vice president of Xbox Live Marc Whitten revealed that its second-screen companion app Xbox SmartGlass reached the 10 million downloads mark and that it integrates with the Xbox One, calling it a “native” part of the Xbox One.

Microsoft first revealed Xbox SmartGlass at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo and its currently available on smartphones, tablets, Windows 8 PCs, for use with the Redmond, Wash.-headquartered corporation’s Xbox 360 game console, displaying companion content for entertainment content like films and games.

With the Xbox One, users can now watch live TV via an HDMI pass-through, meaning a cable or satellite box or similar device can connect directly the Xbox One. An HDMI-out port acts as a middleman for the signal between the cable device and TV. Since users can now watch live TV, the SmartGlass can be turned into a remote control of sorts that will allow any other input device a user desires to use SmartGlass for. Fore example, a user can change channels with a no-look flicking motion. The Xbox One will also let multiple users connect to the console with SmartGlass for multiplayer and shared experiences.  Aside from that, not much else was mentioned about Xbox One and SmartGlass integration.

App monetization platform Burstly today announced that it has restructured the company into an end-to-end mobile app development solution for developers. Now Burstly, which was founded in 2009, will be offering its app testing platform TestFlight, app analytics tool FlightPath and app monetization service SkyRocket (formally the Burstly monetization platform) to all developers, not just for some of the largest apps in the world.

“For the first time, we are our opening up our monetization platform to all mobile developers and publishers through the launch of SkyRocket,” said Evan Rifkin, CEO of Burstly, in a statement. “With Burstly, developers now have the option of using a full suite of integrated services which are incredibly powerful when mixed together, or the flexibility to use each service on its own.”

With the opening of its products to all developers, the Santa Monica, Calif.-headquartered company, which is used by some of the top mobile publishers including Electronic Arts, Rovio, Zynga, and more, will be allowing developers to now create custom segments of users in FlightPath and then using those segments to create different monetization experiences in SkyRocket. For example, developers can choose to not display ads to valuable users, or apologize to users which have experience an app crash by giving away virtual currency in a game. Burstly is now becoming a service that can possibly compete on a level with the likes of Tapjoy, PlayHaven, Millennial Media and more.

Before today’s announcement, Burstly was last making news when it opened its TestFlight for Android private beta to all users, and in just 45 days of closed beta, 5,000 developers uploaded 4,500 apps which have seen more than 50,000 downloads. Burstly also recently announced the private beta launch of FlightPath, its mobile analytics service for mobile app developers, featuring real-time data that can be customized and segmented to the developer’s liking.

Kabam’s newly released drag racing game Fast & Furious 6: The Game, which is based off the upcoming film releasing this Friday, drove up the top free iOS apps charts to the No. 1 spot on the top free iPad apps chart and the No. 2 spot on the top free iPhone apps chart. Little Dentist, a dentist game for kids, launched last Thursday, moving up the charts quickly to the No. 2 position for iPad and No. 3 position for iPhone. Developer ZeptoLab’s puzzler Pudding Monsters, which is currently the free App of the Week in the Apple Store, moved up the charts to the No. 4 spot for iPad and No. 11 spot for iPhone due to the app store feature, proving that a featuring in the app store significantly moves apps up the top charts.

Publisher Albino Blacksheep’s endless runner with a 3D-rotating twist Run, which is a port of the hit web-based Flash game, has exploded up the top free Android apps charts since it launched, landing at the No. 12 spot as of today. Minigame collection title Hardest Game Ever 2, which had already reached the top 25 on the top free iOS apps charts, moved up the top free Android chart, squeaking into the top 25 at the last and final spot.

This week’s top free iPhone apps

This week’s top free iPad apps

This week’s top free Android apps

All data in this post comes from our traffic tracking service AppData.

Japanese mobile-social gaming giant DeNA and 22cans today announced a partnership to publish Godus, a God game from game studio 22cans.

22cans, which is led by game industry veteran Peter Molyneux, chose to partner with the Tokyo-headquartered DeNA to distribute and market Godus when it launches for Android and iOS. No official release date was revealed. The game will also utilize DeNA’s mobile social-gaming platform for western territories, Japan and Korea.

“We have huge respect for DeNA’s successes in mobile gaming,” said Peter Molyneux, founder of 22cans, in a statement. “By fusing their expertise and experience with our passion and dedication, we are going to make Godus a truly groundbreaking reinvention of the god game genre. As a global leader in developing and publishing mobile games, DeNA is the ideal partner for us to collaborate with on the launch of Godus. Their breadth of expertise working with second and third-party game developers is invaluable as we prepare for the release of Godus on mobile devices.”

Godus is God game in the same vein as Black and White, where in it the user is a God, able to wield divine powers over their devoted followers. The game starts off at the beginning of civilization, and as the user advances, the people in the game will grant the user belief. With this belief, users can create entire lands and shape them in their own vision. Also, there are other worlds and rival Gods to face and challenge via multiplayer. As a God, a user can unleash earthquakes, volcanoes, or tondos upon opponents, as well as deploy armies of their followers into battle.

“One of my first jobs in the video game industry was working on the quality assurance team for Peter’s Populous 2,” said Clive Downie, CEO of DeNAWest, in a statement. “That title and its predecessor set the tone for a whole new generation of games. Fast forward to 2013, and it’s an honor to have the opportunity to work with Peter again on the launch of Godus. Our team is looking forward to working with 22cans on a game that we know will set a new standard for the mobile generation.”

Puzzle & Dragons creator GungHo reaches $15.1B market cap; higher than Nintendo – As pointed out by industry watcher Dr. Serkan Toto, GungHo Online Entertainment’s market cap, the Japanese company behind the wildly success mobile game Puzzle & Dragons, reached as high as 1.54 trillion yen ($15.1 billion) on Monday on the Osaka Stock Exchange, higher than Nintendo’s market cap of 1.53 trillion yen ($15.0 billion). It’s highly lucrative puzzle and RPG title currently has 13 million downloads in Japan, while pulling in $113 million in sales in April.

Apple clamps down on Line, users can no longer send virtual items as gifts – Japanese company Line Corp.’s removed a gift sharing feature from its iOS version of messaging app Line at the request of Apple. Prior to the removal, users could send other users stickers, a special emoji that’s been highly lucrative for the company to the tune of $58.9 million in revenue for Q1 2013, with 30 percent (approximately $17.4 million) of that revenue from stickers. Line recently surpassed the 150 million worldwide user mark.

Sonic The Hedgehog debuts on Android – Game developer and publisher Sega announced that the 16-bit Genesis classic Sonic The Hedgehog has launched on Android. The game, which was already available on iOS, is now available to download from the iTunes App Store for $2.99.

Kabam to implement Google+ Sign-In – Social game developer Kabam announced that it will be the first games company to implement Google+ Sign-In. The new integration will provide users with a simple and secure sign-in process on Kabam.com and the ability to engage users with interactive posts, which allow players to share content and prompt friends to take specific actions in their games.

Former New York Times digital and mobile products manager joins EA’s Board of Directors – Game developer and publisher Electronic Arts has appointed Denise F. Warren to its Board of Directors. Warren is executive vice president of the digital products and services group and former chief advertising officer at The New York Times Company. The announcement comes on the heels of EA’s Q4 2013 earnings report which revealed the company earned $104 million in revenue from mobile, and its increasing focus on mobile and digital products.