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DMW Vlog: Emmi Kuusikko on Habbo and Advertising in Virtual Worlds

Authored by Jay Baage on May 23, 2008 - 2:02pm.

From LA Games Conference - DMW's Jay Baage interviews Emmi Kuusikko, Director, User & Market Insight for Sulake, the Finland-based company behind the popular virtual world Habbo Hotel. She came all the way from Helsinki to the conference to present The 2008 Global Habbo Youth Survey, a rare look under the hood of one of the world's largest youth communities online. In this interview, Emmi Kuusikko talks about Habbo users spending habits, how to measure ROI on advertising campaigns in virtual worlds and the importance of having real as well as virtual friends.
tags: Video | Marketing | Advertising | Sulake | Habbo Hotel | Virtual Worlds | LA Games Conference | Emmi Kuusikko |

Analysis: Habbo, Music and the Record Labels

Authored by Jay Baage on November 6, 2007 - 7:10am.
It is not just file-sharing kids and single moms that the record labels have to worry about if they continue their head-in-the-sand approach to the digital world. The artists themselves are increasingly losing faith in the labels. Prince freed himself from record labels years ago. Paul McCartney, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have followed. Even the Material Girl, Madonna, appears to be splitting with her major record label. And still the labels are choosing to leave what could potentially be a lucrative new revenue streams from Virtual Worlds such as Habbo Hotel on the table.
tags: Deals | Social Networking | Music | UGC | Sulake | Millennials | Habbo Hotel | Virtual Worlds |

Habbo Virtual World for Teens Debuts "SnowStorm" Multiplayer Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2007 - 3:48pm.

Los Angeles - Finland's Sulake Corporation, parent company of the Habbo online virtual world for teens, on Monday announced the launch of a snowball fight multiplayer game across its 29 Habbo communities around the world. To promote "SnowStorm," Habbo is also offering a range of snow-themed stickers, gadgets and furniture for Habbo users' personal pages. Habbo currently counts a total of over 7.5 million unique monthly users, including 2 million at its North American sites.

tags: Games | Social Networking | Multiplayer | Sulake | Habbo | Virtual Worlds | SnowStorm |

The Future of Social Networking According to Second Life and Habbo Hotel

Authored by Jay Baage on December 21, 2006 - 11:36am.
Social networking has been one of the hottest areas of interest since Web 2.0 took off as a concept and media buzzword. In one of the most high profile media deals of 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation bought MySpace for $580 million, a staggering amount at the time. This year, viral video has become the latest hot category with the defining Internet deal of 2006 being the sale of YouTube to Google for $1.76 billion, when the startup was less than 2-years old. So what is ahead in social networking in 2007? One of the hottest areas will most certainly be Virtual Worlds and Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs or MMOs).
tags: Social Networking | Linden Lab | Interviews | Second Life | Sulake | Habbo Hotel | Virtual Communities |

Five Questions with Teemu Huuhtanen, President, North America, Sulake, Creator of Habbo Hotel

Authored by Jay Baage on December 21, 2006 - 11:17am.
Teemu Huuhtanen - SulakeAs the newly appointed President, North America for Sulake Corporation, Teemu Huuhtanen will be instrumental in leading the continued growth of one of world’s most popular online social networking and gaming communities for teens, Habbo.com, Sulake’s top property. Since its launch in 2000, Habbo has grown to over 7 million users worldwide, and has been launched in 29 countries on five continents. Its highly-trafficked North American sites, headed by Huuhtanen, receive over 2 million unique active users per month.
tags: Internet | Advertising | Social Networking | Interviews | Sulake | Habbo Hotel | Virtual Communities |

Career Moves: November 20, 2006

Authored by dmw on November 20, 2006 - 10:10am.
Career Moves is made possible by @HIRE.
Teemu Huuhtanen - SulakeSulake, an interactive entertainment company and creator of Habbo Hotel, announced today that Teemu Huuhtanen has been promoted to the position of President, North America and Executive Vice President, Business Development for Sulake Corporation. Previously Huuhtanen held the position of SVP of Sales and Business Development and had served as VP, Sales & Marketing, for Sulake at its headquarters in Finland since January of 2003.
tags: NTN Buzztime | Career | Moves | Sulake | Habbo |

Sulake Gets $7.6 Million for Habbo Hotel Online Teen Community

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 10, 2006 - 1:22pm.
Helsinki, Finland - Sulake Corporation, operator of the Habbo Hotel online community for teenagers, announced on Monday that it has received a $7.6 million equity investment from Movida Group, a joint venture between Japan's Softbank and interactive entertainment firm Asian Groove.
tags: Deals | Internet | Teens | Online Communities | Sulake | Investments | Movida Group | Habbo Hotel |

Nokia and Sulake Announce Habbo Islands for N-Gage Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 13, 2005 - 4:20am.
Barcelona, Spain -- Nokia and Sulake, a Finnish interactive entertainment company and creator of Habbo Hotel, today announced Habbo Islands, a mobile game created to connect to the Habbo Hotel community. "Habbo Islands is another example of how Nokia is widening its title portfolio into new, innovative and exciting areas. Habbo Hotel is an extremely successful on-line community and therefore we believe this collaboration will attract new fans to the N-Gage platform", said Gregg Sauter, Director, Games Publishing, Nokia. Habbo Islands will be exclusive to the N-Gage platform and is expected to be available for consumers during the second half of 2006.
tags: Nokia | Sulake | N-Gage Platform | Habbo Islands |

Finnish Game Developer Sulake Raises $23.4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 19, 2005 - 8:03am.
Helsinki -- Sulake Corp., a Finland-based interactive entertainment company specializing in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $23.4 million in venture capital financing. Benchmark Capital led the round, in which Sulake's current owners -- U.K.-based private equity firm 3i Group Plc and Finnish telecommunications company Elisa Group -- also participated. Sulake's top brand franchise, Habbo Hotel, is an online game environment that has become one of the most popular and fastest-growing teen websites in the world, boasting more than 3 million unique users each month. "During this year, we will focus in the further development of the Habbo Hotel concept and its launch in the promising markets in Asia, particularly China and Korea," said Sulake CEO Timo Soininen. "Habbo brand will also extend to include mobile games and content, animation series and merchandising products."
tags: VC | Sulake | Finnish Game Developer |