Sony Online Acquires Worlds Apart

By the Betanews Staff | Published August 10, 2006, 2:31 PM

Sony Online Entertainment said Thursday it had acquired the assets of Worlds Apart Productions, the maker of various online trading card games. Employees of the company would remain at Worlds Apart’s former headquarters in Denver, and the move is expected to strengthen Sony’s position in the online gaming space.

Sony said it may integrate Worlds Apart’s technogies into its existing games, and it signaled it planned to create all-new games as well. Some of the games the company has created include 2005’s “Star Chamber: The Harbinger Saga,” 2004’s “The Lord Of The Rings Online Trading Card Game,” and 2001’s “The Eternal City.” Sony said it would send teams to Worlds Apart to begin studying its online trading card game technology, and how it could be integrated into SOE’s games.

View comments by with a score of at least

Microsoft's Ray Ozzie: 'Nobody's going to be 100% open'

The mobile apps ecosystems of the world may converge over time, led by apps being ported over across platforms, according to the Chief Software Architect.

Will Firefox beat IE9 to Direct2D rendering?

Just days after Microsoft executives gave conference attendees a peek at a new rendering technology, a Mozilla contributor revealed he's working on the same thing.

Where there's smoke: Apple warranty stance raises troubling questions

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: Smoking can be dangerous not only for your lungs, it appears, but for your Apple hardware warranty.

The fallacy of Facebook privacy

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: If an insurance company learns something interesting about its client through the Internet, is that snooping?

Microsoft 'worked with Apple' for Silverlight on iPhone, says Goldfarb

By not making such a big deal out of trying to stream video to the iPhone, Microsoft got a big deal out of it, revealed the Silverlight product manager.

Clicker.com cuts through the Web video chaos

In a world where homemade video and Hollywood movies travel the same pipeline, it's good to have a real search engine to cut through the clutter.

A case study in improving software: What Office 2010 can learn from Notion 3

A music composition product gambles with a complete overhaul, in an effort to make headway against two well-known competitors in a tough market.

Kindle 2 update adds battery life, native PDF reader

Amazon has pushed out an update to the Kindle 2 e-reader that lengthens battery life and adds a native PDF viewer.

Safari on iPhone gets competition from a $1 browser app

Apple likes to say it gives iPhone users a full browsing experience, but a new competitor tries to incorporate more desktop browser features.

Action Replay maker sues Microsoft for Xbox 360 'predatory technological barriers'

Third-party video game accessory maker Datel has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft over the Xbox 360's recent Dashboard update.