News Corp moving into Gaming

News Corp through its subsidiary company Shine has bought Bossa Studios for an un-disclosed amount.

Ms Murdoch said: “We have long identified social gaming as a critical component to this strategy, and in Bossa Studios we discovered an entrepreneurial, creative team that shared our passion for creative excellence.

“They have bold ideas for this space.”

Shine TV

Shine is the television production company founded by Mr Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth and acquired by News Corp for £415m

Bossa Studios

Bossa will develop standalone social games, as well as ideas around Shine’s television shows, such as Masterchef or Biggest Loser.

A beta version of its debut game, Monstermind, launched on Facebook today, pitting users against each other in a battle to ‘save’ imaginary cities from B-movie era monsters.

Users are charged with building and protecting the cities from monsters, which can be unleashed by their Facebook friends in real time.

Shine will monetise the game by charging for monsters, artillery and city infrastructure, using Facebook credits.

Ms Murdoch, who has previously spoken of her admiration of Farmville, the Facebook game created by Zynga, added: “We are committed to producing exceptional experiences across multiple platforms and developing direct to consumer models.”