Funtactix and Lionsgate have launched the latest chapter in The Hunger Games Adventures. Fans can now journey to the Capitol, taking players outside of District 12 as the universe of the game expands in the first step toward unveiling the rest of Panem. Effie serves as a guide through this first major expansion to the casual social game. Actor Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark in the blockbuster movie opposite Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Evergeen.

Zynga has acquired New York-based social game developer OMGPOP, makers of the popular cultural hit mobile game, Draw Something, and over 35 additional social games. As a part of the Zynga family, OMGPOP will focus on building new mobile IP and strengthening its existing portfolio of fun and creative social games.

PlaySpan, a Visa company, has explored the online purchasing decisions of gamers in a new study on virtual goods.  Overall, the study showed more than $2.3 billion of virtual goods were purchased in 2011 in the U.S., with gamers spending an average of $64 each over the course of the year. The dollar amount per individual was up 28 percent over 2009, thanks in part to the influx of new social games from companies like Zynga, Electronic Arts and Rovio Entertainment.

(Reuters) - Although, technically speaking, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley never left small screens thanks to 60 years of "I Love Lucy," in TV reruns, the gang is back for their first interactive adventure in "Retro World."

Rovio continues to cut deals for its Angry Birds games. On the heels of working with Wonderful Pistachios, the Finnish game maker has partnered with Elfster, a free online Secret Santa organizer and social networking platform. For this Christmas season, users of the Elfster App for Chrome can unlock codes to find three hidden levels in Angry Birds.

Created by Zynga Dallas, CastleVille is the next game in Zynga’s “Ville” franchise which includesFarmVille, FrontierVille, and CityVille. CastleVille is set in a medieval world, with an engaging story, a touch of fantasy and memorable, playful characters. A true manifestation of Zynga’s social magic, the game improves upon the best social and emotional elements from each of the “Ville” games that came before it. In CastleVille players will be able build and manage the kingdom of their dreams, explore the rich world and setting, and share it with their friends.

Social games company RockYou enlisted market research firm Interpret to conduct a Social Gamer Thought Leadership study to explore who’s playing games in the booming marketplace that Facebook has created. Key findings provide valuable insights for advertisers and marketers, game developers, and industry thought leaders looking to understand the rapidly-evolving social game space. The study explores attitudes, behaviors, motivations, psychographics, and purchase intent among the current US social gaming population. It also categorizes social gamers—based on their gaming behaviors and attitudes—into four consumer segments. The results both confirm existing assumptions and provide unexpected, surprising information about players.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has launched The Big Bang Theory: Mystic Warlords of Ka’a. The new free-to-play Facebook game is based on the fictional fantasy card game that characters the hit CBS TV show have played over the past four seasons. The fifth season of the Warner Bros. Television comedy kicked off on its new Thursday night and the series has also entered into syndication. Now, there’s also the first video game, which fits nicely within the gamer mentality of the show’s characters.

Zynga is pushing social games forward with its latest Facebook game, which draws inspiration from Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. Set during the golden age of exploration, Adventure World unlocks a new universe of exploration and puzzle-solving fun, where players battle nasty critters and trace clues to discover the lost secrets of El Dorado. In Adventure World, players explore a vast universe of five worlds – Deep Jungle, Mountain, Cavern, Volcano and El Dorado – including more than 30dynamic environments. The first game to be developed by the company’s Zynga Boston studio, Adventure World is the most feature-rich game Zynga has ever released at launch.

Two of the largest players in the online social gaming market have signed an agreement which will see Bigpoint’s ZooMumba and other games appear on Spil Games’ social-gaming platforms starting later this month. Bigpoint, a successful browser-based games company, creates and publishes content for many different gaming groups. ZooMumba, the virtual zoo that combines fun-filled gameplay with cute and exotic animals and compelling social features, will appear across Spil Games’ platforms, giving it a new audience in excess of 130 unique monthly visitors.

Zynga had a very good year last year, and now the company is offering you the opportunity to get in on the action. Zynga filed for a $1 billion IPO today with Morgan Stanley & Co. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. serving as book running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering. The game maker that has lured hundreds of millions of gamers with titles like Farmville, Cityville and Empires & Allies is going public.

AT&T has signed a deal with social games developer Zynga, designed to bring the very latest in mobile social gaming to AT&T’s millions of wireless customers. Popular games such as Words with Friends and Zynga Poker, plus customized content, will be featured for download on AT&T’s shelf in Android Market later this year. The agreement is the first of its kind between Zynga and a U.S. wireless carrier.