San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) April 7, 2010 – SecretBuilders, a virtual world and casual MMO with an emphasis on creativity and historical adventure for children 6 to 14 years old, announces the launch of the Virtual Lounge and $2.3 million in funding to boost growth and secure long-term success. The Virtual Lounge is a customized and branded mini virtual world for game portals, blogs, schools and companies seeking to provide their users with a cool virtual place to hang out and have live events. You can read more about SecretBuilders’ Virtual Lounge and funding announcements inVentureBeat’s coverage as well as in Dow Jones VentureWire and San Francisco Business Times.

SecretBuilders’ Virtual Lounges has drawn a lot of interest from around the world. Instead of spending millions of dollars on developing a virtual world, companies can simply adopt a virtual world from SecretBuilders. “The Virtual Lounge allows you to turn visitors into community members/repeat users, increases time spent on your site, immerses users in your brand and messaging, lets you communicate directly with users, provides a platform to hold online events with live interaction, obtain feedback and suggestions though polls, and monetize visitors via virtual goods,” says Umair Khan, CEO of SecretBuilders.

“Webmasters are always looking to grow their community of users and providing them with an interactive web experience that keeps users coming back. Users are looking for sites the offer a cool, interactive place to hang out where they can socialize, chat and play casual games,” said Ian Young, Product Manger at SecretBuilders. “The SecretBuilders Virtual Lounge delivers both what webmasters and users want in a single Flash application.”

SecretBuilders raised has raised more than $4 million, including the latest round of $2.3 million from leading tech investors. Investors include The Entrepreneurs Fund; Launch Capital; Michael Tanne, CEO of Adforce; Sheila Marcelo, CEO of Care.com; John Welch, CEO of Making Fun; Carlos Cashman, founder and CEO of CourseAdvisors, and Ken Morse, a professor at the MIT Sloan School and co-founder of 3Com.

About SecretBuilders

SecretBuilders is a virtual world and casual MMO game with an emphasis on creativity and historical adventure for children 6 to 14 years old. Children live and play among fictional and historical characters such as Shakespeare, Galileo, Mozart, Oliver Twist, Plato, Van Gogh and Amelia Earhart, learn concepts from the arts and humanities. They take quests, publish artwork and writings, play scores of casual games, enter contests and participate in an extensive virtual economy and social life. SecretBuilders also provides web communities with their own mini virtual worlds helping them turn visitors into community members and monetize their traffic. SecretBuilders is funded by The Entrepreneurs Fund III, Launch Capital, and prominent angel investors from Silicon Valley and the East Coast. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, CA. For more information, visitwww.secretbuilders.com.

“Consumers have an increasing appetite for authentic gaming experiences online and EA SPORTS is driving innovation and growth in the online gaming category, from consoles to mobile devices and the web,” said EA SPORTS President Peter Moore. “The launch of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online signals a shift in the traditional distribution model and will change the way that people will be able to access and enjoy their favorite video games for years to come.”

Since Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online first debuted in May 2009, EA SPORTS has invited players to participate in a series of closed and open beta sessions and consumers have showed overwhelming interest and support for the offering. During open beta, players from nearly 200 countries have played more than two million rounds of golf.

The community will continue to play an integral role in driving the game’s evolution by influencing new course releases, tournament enhancements and key game features. The server architecture allows for easy feature additions driven by player feedback, creating a continuously fresh and challenging experience for on-the-go golf enthusiasts.

Beginning today, new players will also be able to enjoy the following highlighted features:

* Pro Shop – Players have access to a robust Pro Shop allowing them to customize their golfer’s apparel, gear and clubs. Items in the Pro Shop will positively affect the players’ in-game experience, allowing them to earn more in-game currency and experience with certain items and improve their performance with better clubs. Pro Shop items can be purchased with in-game currency earned through regular on course play. Additional Pro Shop items can be attained with points purchased using real-world money.
* Group Tournaments – Group tournaments will help players connect with golf buddies across the globe, as players will be able to challenge their friends in customized, private Group Tournaments. These tournaments are customizable allowing group leaders to set personalized criteria for their tournaments such as selecting the course and playing conditions.
* Friend to Friend Messaging – Leveraging the growing social aspect of golf, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online allows players to connect with and message friends in the world’s fastest-growing online golf community.
* World Championship Courses – At launch, two new courses will be released for Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online – Harbour Town Golf Links and Oakmont CC. Upon launch, the game will feature an initial roster of ten world-class golf courses including Torrey Pines GC, Pebble Beach Golf Links, TPC Sawgrass, Sheshan Golf & CC, St Andrews (Old Course), Wolf Creek GC, Wentworth (West Course), Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Oakmont CC® and Harbour Town Golf Links. New courses will continue to be released in the future.

In addition to a free-to-play experience that allows unlimited access to featured courses, players will be able to choose from a monthly or yearly membership, offered at $9.99 and $59.99 respectively (pricing for North America). Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online will also utilize a points-based transaction system allowing players to purchase packages of points at $9.99, $19.99 and $39.99 that can be used on in-game transactions, such as rounds of golf and Pro Shop items. Consumers who purchase the annual membership receive unlimited rounds on all available courses, and will be provided with a package of points that can be spent on Pro Shop items.

To celebrate the games full launch the War of Legends community team has planned a week of in-game celebrations and Jagex will additionally be rewarding all the beta testers by giving away free item packs to all the players who helped to make War of Legends such a success.

We have been overwhelmed by the popularity of the War of Legends beta and we are extremely grateful to the fantastic community of beta testers who have made the game such a triumph said Rob Smith, COO at Jagex Games Studio. We have seen hundreds of thousands of players joining the game during the beta phase and we are delighted to see the community growing so quickly. With such a rich backstory, depth of content and unbeatable community support we are certain that War of Legends will continue to entice players to join the battle.

War of Legends is a flash-based strategy game where players build vast empires, appoint legendary leaders and form multi-player alliances to reach eternal glory. The games rich back-story, based on ancient Chinese mythology, paired with the highest levels of development quality, depth of content, graphics and community support has positioned War of Legends as the leading free to play real-time strategy game.

Create your free account by visiting http://waroflegends.jagex.com/.

About War of Legends
War of Legends is a real-time strategy game based on ancient Chinese mythology where players rule empires, manage resources, and command armies to conquer their enemies. The game is free-to-play and is playable directly in the internet browser without any downloads. War of Legends is the first third-party title published by Jagex Games Studio and is available to play for free today by visiting http://www.waroflegends.com.

About Jagex Publishing
Jagex Publishing is a division of Jagex Games Studio, the largest independent games developer and publisher in the UK.

Jagex has developed and self-published over 40 online titles including the worlds most popular free multiplayer online game, RuneScape.com. Jagexs latest release, War of Legends, is the studios first third-part title and the studio has ambitious plans to release multiple titles from third-party developers throughout the year alongside the studios own in-house titles.

Jagex Just About the Game Experience

Jagex Games Studio is a leading independent computer games developer and publisher specializing in the development of high quality online games.

The studio has a long standing reputation for creating the worlds best online games by developing hugely popular, high quality, assessable, free-to-play games and for providing an unbeatable community experience for millions of players around the globe.

Jagex is best known for RuneScape, the three times Guinness World record holder for the worlds largest free-to-play MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), and Jagex.com, the studios captivate games portal. Jagex currently employs almost 400 people across two Cambridge studios.

http://www.WarofLegends.com
http://www.Jagex.com
http://www.RuneScape.com

As a famous simulation browser game, Business Tycoon Online always had its servers name with profound meanings. From Wall Street to Fort Knox, every name of the servers is surrounded by strong commercial wind, including this new server Silicon Valley. Under the name of the famous electronic industrial city of America, the new server is offering a brand new Liberty City for all players to establish their own business empire.

The 7 activities will be kept in the new server as a way for players to get their start-up funds. All players will probably get VIP Card (30 days), Company Upgrade Package and up to 1,000 Gold in “Silicon Valley”

More information, please follow the link below:

http://bto.dovogame.com/special/s07

Business Tycoon Online official site: http://bto.dovogame.com/

Business Tycoon Online forum http://btobbs.dovogame.com/

BigWorld Technology fully satisfies the highest requirements of the intensive development process providing a set of tools necessary to produce an ace-high MMOG with fast-paced battles featuring various modes, historic mini-campaigns, tourneys and epic Clan Wars on a global map.

“We had been considering several technologies before starting developing our new team-based Panzer MMO game”, says Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net. “However, it turned out that BigWorld is the only ready-to-use and complete solution for the specific needs of this project.”

“World of Tanks breaks new ground”, said John De Margheriti, CEO of BigWorld. “It is a fantastic example of great team-based MMO gameplay, featuring authentic tank models, strong RTS elements and tremendously fun action gameplay. We are very excited by how much fun playing World of Tanks will be”.

To find out more about the new Tank MMO community, please visit the official Forum of the game.

For more information on WORLD OF TANKS, visit www.worldoftanks.com.

About World of Tanks
World of Tanks is the first and only team-based massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored warfare. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes more than 150 armored vehicles from America, Germany, and the Soviet Union, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.

A flexible system of authentic vehicle upgrade and development allows you to try any of the vehicles and weapons in the game. Whether you prefer to exhaust your foes with fast and maneuverable light tanks, make deep breaches in enemy lines with all-purpose medium tanks, use the force of giant tanks to eliminate opposing armored forces, or become a heavy sniper with long-range howitzers, each unit type has its own advantages and can be extremely effective when operated by a true tank ace.

But being a great tank commander alone isn’t enough to win! In World of Tanks, it’s all about teamwork. Victory is achieved by combining your combat skills with those of the other members of your team, each playing their own role on the battlefield. Just add your favorite strategy to build your own iron empire and manifest the indisputable authority of the tank! Feel the TANK POWER!

Key Features:

* Action-packed 30-vs-30 PvP Tank battles

* Mixture of Action, Strategy, Simulation and MMORPG genres

* 150 Vehicles, thousands of upgrades

* Unprecedented global Clan Wars

About Wargaming.net
Wargaming.net is a UK-based strategy game specialist. Its 140-strong development team is located in Belarus. Starting from 1998, the company has shipped 13 titles, including acclaimed Massive Assault series, Order of War RTS published by Square Enix and three add-ons for Blitzkrieg II. Wargaming.net’s Operation Bagration RTS was awarded the Best Strategy Game of 2008 at Russian Game Developers Conference (KRI). At KRI 2009 Wargaming.net was named The Best Developer Company from ex-USSR. Currently the company is finalizing World of Tanks MMO action game and is working on unannounced MMO strategy project. Visit www.wargaming.net for more information.

About BigWorld Pty Ltd
BigWorld Pty Ltd was formed in 2002 to commercialize years of intense R&D, which started in 1999 and continues to this day. With a direct local presence in the USA, China, Japan and Europe, BigWorld licenses its middleware platform to game studios and publishers around the world to build successful next generation MMOGs and Virtual Worlds. For more information and links to currently released or in production titles, visit www.bigworldtech.com

“It is great to see so many players flock to War of Legends so soon after its launch and it is especially encouraging to see entire alliances independently migrate from other RTS games to War of Legends” said Mark Gerhard, CEO at Jagex Games Studio.“Jagex has a long standing reputation for offering unparalleled browser-based game play, and War of Legends is no exception to this commitment. With the game’s extensive content, high quality graphics and ease of levelling it is clear to see why so many players have been enticed to the game and we are confident that as the game evolves War of Legends will cement its position as the must play RTS game.”

War of Legends is a flash-based RTS game based on ancient Chinese mythology, which immerses players in a world where they can build vast empires, appoint legendary leaders and form multi-player alliances to reach eternal glory. This rich back-story is a drastic contrast to traditional RTS games that typically have very fragmented or non-existent storylines. The development quality far exceeds that of similar titles currently in the market, and parallels Jagex’s high standard for game excellence, depth of content, graphics and community support.

“The response from the War of Legends community has been overwhelmingly positive” said Mark Gregson, War of Legends’ Community Manager at Jagex.“Players are really enjoying the depth of game play, which is missing from other browser-based RTS games, and our reputation for integrity, community support and high quality gaming has positioned War of Legends as the leading free to play RTS. It has been fascinating to watch as players build up their cities, create alliances and command their armies into battle. Our dedicated community team are planning an ongoing series of in-game events to challenge and test our players and we can’t wait to welcoming more players as they join the War of Legends community.”

War of Legends is available to play for free by visiting www.waroflegends.com.

About War of Legends

War of Legends is a real-time strategy game based on ancient Chinese mythology where players rule empires, manage resources, and command armies to conquer their enemies. The game is free-to-play and is playable directly in the internet browser without any downloads. War of Legends is the first third-party title published by Jagex Games Studio and is available to play for free today by visiting www.WarOfLegends.com .

About Jagex Publishing

Jagex Publishing is a division of Jagex Games Studio, the largest independent games developer and publisher in the UK.

Jagex has developed and self-published over 40 online titles including the world’s most popular free multiplayer online game, RuneScape.com. Jagex’s latest release, War of Legends, is the studio’s first third-part title and the studio has ambitious plans to release multiple titles from third-party developers throughout the year alongside the studio’s own in-house titles.

Jagex– Just About the Game Experience

Jagex Games Studio is a leading independent computer games developer and publisher specialising in the development of high quality online games.

The studio has a long standing reputation for creating the world’s best online games by developing hugely popular, high quality, assessable, free-to-play games and for providing an unbeatable community experience for millions of players around the globe.

Jagex is best known for RuneScape, the three times Guinness World record holder for the world’s largest free-to-play MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), and Jagex.com, the studio’s captivate games portal. Jagex currently employs almost 400 people across two Cambridge studios.

www.WarOfLegends.com www.Jagex.com www.RuneScape.com

“Need for Speed World is the world’s first MMO racer — a completely new entertainment experience for speed junkies all over the world,” said John Doyle, Need for Speed World Senior Producer. “We have expanded Need for Speed’s classic adrenaline fueled racing with an all-new power up system and deep RPG style progression to create a truly massive, socially-connected white-knuckle Need for Speed experience.”

Need for Speed World brings together best in class action racing with an unparalleled social experience. For the first time in a racing game, players will be able to compete against any one of their friends, family or pick from thousands of top ranked players to challenge in intense online battles and police pursuits across 150 miles of sprawling open world. Need for Speed World takes the well known and popular cities from Need for Speed Most Wanted and Need for Speed Carbon to create the biggest, most exciting race world ever released in the Need for Speed universe.

Need for Speed World will be available this summer on the PC. More information and details on the beta test can be found at world.needforspeed.com or follow us on Twitter at NeedforSpeed. Press can download assets at http://info.ea.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA Mobile (TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile, POGO and Need for Speed are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. The names, designs, and logos of all products are the property of their respective owners and used by permission. Microsoft, Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. “PlayStation” and “PSP” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Luna Online is a free to play Fantasy MMO Online Role-Playing game, developed by EYA Interactive and published by gPotato, which was released in May of 2009. Luna Online is a fast paced, free anime-styled casual mmo game focused on social network and user community. In luna Online, you could customize your character and embark on a journey to the magical floating isles of the Blue Land, Join the armies of humans, elves, and dwarves as they band together to harness the power of the Goddess Luna and turn back the tide of evil demons threatening to destroy their world forever!

Luna Online has 40 dynamic job classes, allowing to make new friends and allies to become Luna Online’s super hero! Featuring hundreds of quests, a robust farming system, and innovative matchmaking, instances, Luna Online could also give you a chance to find your true love!

Luna Online is a game that tries to focus on character development rather than the story or development of game characters through quest. This is something that some people might like while many who are not use to it might dislike it. The skill system is something that is rare, but it lacks a more free mix and match system that might be preferred over this semi-free system. Grinding can get a bit heavy later on but its very light in the beginning. For those who want to get deeply involved in the game, they can while those who don’t want to can stay away from those features and still enjoy the game.

Here are the entire release note below:

1. Mount system
The rebirth players can go to visit NPC Tristone Taoist in Echo Dale to claim the quest of legend of beast, and they get a mount after they finish the quest. Players with mount can go on claim quests from Tristone Taoist to get more mount skills. (Players can also obtain mounts from Nobility Chest)

2. Pet Understanding Skill system.
Players can use item named Tear of Wisdom Guardian to help pets comprehend pet skills. Players in guild can claim a Tear of Wisdom Guardian from Guild Messenger everyday.

3. Pet Inside Elixir system
Pet can get stronger with the help of Inside Elixir. Players of level 50+ can enter Ground of the Nihility (elite) through Foot of Evermountain, and they can claim quest from NPC Nihil the Sage to make their pets stronger.

4. New map Underwater World and related new quests.
The rebirth players can accept the quest of Water Orb from Katherine in World End, and player who wears Water Orb can enter Underwater World through Mirage.(Please preserve Water Orb, or you cannot enter the Underwater World)

5. Add new bosses in the lv25-lv95 wild map, and adjust the drop of Millennium White Snake. Players can obtain Area Currency by killing bosses, which can exchange gifts.

6. Silver VIP Card, players can purchase Silver VIP Card in the gold store. A Silver VIP Card members leveled 50+ can enter the Silver VIP Card instance in Line 2 Prosper Square, where they can catch pet Dora.

7. Adjust the guild application way for players who want to join in guild. Players can go to find Guild elder manager to apply for the guild they want to join.

8. Guild Lobby, players in guild can enter the Guild Lobby through Guild elder manager, and the other guild-related NPCs in the Prosper City are moved to Guild Lobby.

9. Sabre Versus Sword instance, players of lv 28+ can enter the instance in the Prosper City.

10. Monsters Valley instance, players of lv 80+ in a raid can enter Monsters Valley instance through Alone Peak.

11. Burning Village instance, players of lv 90+ in a raid can enter the instance through Skybeyond Teleport Circle

12 Rebirth equipments crafting guide，players can crafting related equipment in the craft panel.

13. Event of Rebuilding Order

Players of lv 101-109 can claim quest from
Frontline Scout(26，60) in Mountain Doom to open the teleport circle to the Black Stone Fortress during event time。(13:00-13:40)

14. Challenge quests for players of lv 100-109
Challenge quests for players of lv 100-104. NPC: Zane Wei in The Crossing
Challenge quest for players of lv105-lv109, NPC: Zane Wei in The Crossing

15. Fight against Holy Beast for players of lv101-110. NPC: Crimson Taoist in the Prosper City.
Quest items arrive at silver coin store.

16. Increase the durability of Arena equipments, and add shoulder and Cloak as Arena equipments

17. Master Book

Players of lv 50+ can apply for becoming a master in the related NPC.

18. New ladder, including glory, attainment、gear、pet, player can see the ladders of the whole server from announcement panel.

19. Adjust the image of the monsters in Golden Port, Phoenix Altar, West Marsh, Echo Dale, and Mountain Doom.

20. Surprising gift in the challenge quest, players will get a surprising gift after they finish 4 turns of challenge quest in a day.

21. Adjust the interface of chest panel.

22. Decrease the amount of required silver credit when purchasing weekly blessing.

23. Add new message board quests in the level period of 35-60.

24. New item named Heavenly Red Ribbon，players can purchase it from Honest Wu in Forbidden City to catch Butterfly Sprite as pet.

25. New items named Demon Binding Chain、Chaos Bag, players can purchase them in the instance shop of upper hallow cavern to catch the Moon Sea Sprite、Cat Sprite.

26. New items named Gold Rope、Taoist Jug, players can purchase them from Kelvin in the Wave Square to catch the Clam Sprite、Crab in the Underwater World.

27. Adjust the world map.

28. Adjust the releasing NPC of Challenge Quest.

29. Adjust the store interface

30. Decrease the amount of capital of enable guild blacksmith to 15000.

Neverland Features:

- First Full Feature Browser Based MMORPG
- Multi-player, compete against thousands of people from around the world
- Huge immersive game world with thousands of rewarding quests
- Unique pet capture and training system
- Extensive crafting and gathering systems
- Convenient and casual gameplay, ex: Auto navigation system
- Completely browser-based, no downloads required, and free to play
- Playable via Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera
- Regular major content updates

New and returning Aika fans will be able to access a regular lineup of the exciting PvP events introduced during CB. Invading nations continuously attempt to steal valuable relics from their rivals in 1000 vs. 1000 battles, while weekly Castle Sieges pit guild against guild in a bloody struggle for political dominance. A diverse range of class-specific riding mounts will be accessible to players starting from level 40, from the Warrior’s war hamster to the Dual Gunner’s hoverbike. Players will also be able to benefit from an expanded Arcan economy by buying and selling rare items across all five nations through the auction house.

For those players looking for a challenging single player adventure, Massively.com notes that Aika’s rich, in-depth lore, over 1,000 player vs. environment (PvE) quests, hundreds of unique monsters to encounter, and expansive world “give PvEers plenty to do.” Aika Online sets a new standard for quality, scale, and depth of experience in the free-to-play MMO genre, leaving players eager to unleash its potential. MMOHub declares that “the politics and lore behind Aika and how they will affect game play is yet to be fully seen and [we] can’t wait to see it, as it seems it can only get better from here.”

In addition to the praise from media and blogger alike, Aika has also been the recipient of the 2009 Best of Show: Prime Minister’s Award, Player’s Choice: Best Online Game, and Best Game Design & Scenario from the Korea Game Industry Agency (KoGIA).