2008 was a good year for Habbo. It's seen about 40 percent growth in the number of users, according to Sulake lead designer Sulka Haro -- from 89 million total signups last year to 126 million today.

The online virtual social world for teens sees about 8.5 million uniques per month, Haro adds. So the numbers seem to suggest Habbo is thriving, and although its financials aren't published, "there's probably good news coming up," Haro says.

Haro was at the Worlds in Motion Summit at GDC 2009 to discuss applying game mechanics within the context of a social game, an effort he described as "pretty successful" thus far.

Since an online product is persistent, he dubbed his presentation more of a "mid-mortem" than a post-mortem, as it was originally billed.

E-commerce solution developer Digital River has announced the signing of a joint marketing agreement with Playxpert, a provider of in-game community management tools. By working with Playxpert, Digital River is to “offer game publishers, resellers and studios a way to engage players of PC-based games in a branded in-game experience that integrates e-commerce with their online communities.”

Using Playxpert’s True Overlay technology publishers, resellers and studios are to be able to configure, brand and deploy a “full-featured, in-game toolset” that appears as a translucent window inside a PC-based game. Through the toolset and a widget gallery, players can access the Internet to watch videos, research items, chat online, and take part in other community and content-based activities all without leaving the game experience.

Digital River are to deliver this solution in combination with its global e-commerce platform, allowing players to make purchases while in-game.

“Community is one of the strongest mechanisms used in gaming to promote adoption and commerce. Early efforts to combine community with commerce have proven successful and opened the door for further innovation,” said Charles Manning, president and CEO of Playxpert. “We are thrilled to be selected by Digital River as a partner in optimizing the in-game purchase experience and delivering a new best-of-breed solution for players and publishers alike.”

We mention Mindark’s Entropia Universe every once in a while—mostly to point out the weirdest stuff it’s been doing, like partnering with Motörhead—but it’s recently announced some legitimately big news—the world now has a bank that is backed and regulated by the Swedish government.

The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) has granted a license to conduct banking activities to MindArk’s subsidiary Mind Bank AB. Mind Bank AB is to function as a central bank for all virtual worlds within the Entropia Universe.

Mind Bank is to also offer selected bank services to customers on the conventional market.

As an actual bank, it is to be operated within the real world and not have a “virtual presence” within Entropia Universe (which makes the whole announcement slightly less exciting) but is to be the “cornerstone for the entire Entropia Universe including Planet Calypso … taking the integration between real life and virtual life to a whole new level.”

Something we’ve never particularly thought about is the idea of same-sex marriages within games where “marriage” is part of the game mechanics (rather than purely a social construct overlaid by the players themselves) and Aeria Games has announced that it has added same-gender marriages to its MMORPG, Dream of Mirror Online as part of its in-game marriage system.

The marriage system asks players to embark upon a series of “fun, yet challenging” quests before they can plan and execute their in-game weidding, including the location, wedding outfits and rings. After marriage, the wedded couple can summon their partner to their location and heal each other.

According to an Aeria Games representative, same gender marriages were added as they had been a “popular topic of discussion since Dream of Mirror Online's Fall 2007 release,” and that it allowed them to “open up the fun and exciting marriage system to a larger player base.”

San Jose-based online game publisher, OnNet USA (which runs the MMO portal GamesCampus) has announced that the open beta for MLB Dugout Heroes—a fully licensed online baseball title—is now live.

The micro transaction-based title features Major League Baseball players, stadiums, leagues and logos from “past and present,” and features a leveling system and awards points for players who complete “baseball missions” given daily and weekly, which allows them to purchase new players, uniforms and items.

The title is to be launched officially in April.

“MLB Dugout Heroes is sure to be a smash hit for all baseball fans young and old,” said a GamesCampus representative.

NHN USA—the North American subsidiary of the Korean Internet company—has announced that it has chosen publisher-supporter marketplace Live Gamer to facilitate virtual goods trading for its difficultly-named game portal, ijji.

According to the announcement, the trading platform is to be “tightly integrated” with the “creative design” of NHN USA’s upcoming titles.

The new marketplace is scheduled to go live on NHN USA communities in late spring.

“The new player-to-player marketplace will benefit ijji members by placing trading fully into their hands, providing a new and exciting game experience,” said Philip Yun, CEO of NHN USA.“Live Gamer has industry leading technology and expertise, as well as the long-lead collaboration the company offered. We worked together in the early stages to plan a player-to-player marketplace that is designed into the game from the ground up, making this the first time that the Live Gamer Exchange has been organically woven into game design.”

Hangout Industries has announced the appointment of Mike Goslin as Vice President Product Development.

Goslin joins Hangout from Disney Online where he most recently served as vice president of virtual world design and development, working on titles such as Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Toontown Online. During his tenure at Disney, Goslin was also vice president of Disney’s VR Studio where he managed the company’s virtual reality division.

At Hangout, Goslin is to “lead design, development and operations of the company's online entertainment products.”

“I recognized the opportunity at Hangout to build a new form of online entertainment, one that combines the viral power of existing social networks with the rich immersion of online games and virtual worlds,” said Mike Goslin. “Hangout represents a new level in brand-driven entertainment and I am thrilled to contribute to and deliver on that vision.”