In The News
Weekend in Review:
Lawsuits:
Uh, well then. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford is being accused of possessing underage pornography and hosting parties where men exposed themselves to minors, Kotaku’s Jason Schreier reports. Former Gearbox lawyer Wade Callender and Pitchford are accusing one another of “violating their legal duties to” Gearbox and Gearbox is suing Callender.
A 38 Studios lawsuit is being settled, according to a joint filing from the SEC and Wells Fargo Securities, Gamasutra’s Emma Kidwell writes. “Details of the proposed settlement have not been disclosed.”
Activision Blizzard:
Dennis Durkin is getting a hefty $15 million in awards for taking over as Activision Blizzard’s CFO. “Durkin will get $11.3 million of restricted stock tied to operating income and earnings-per-share targets, and a $3.75 million sign-on bonus,” Bloomberg’s Anders Melin reports.
Activision is under investigation over “concerns whether Activision and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices,” a MarketWatch press release reads.
Awesome Games Done Quick raised $2,394,668.
A recent survey of parents found they are pushing their kids “into traditional careers rather than the creative industries” over the economy. “43% of parents were likely to pressure their children into choosing ‘traditional’ career paths … Despite 71% of students stating a desire to work in the creative industries, 63% of those surveyed felt pressured to select a different career path to please their parents,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
PlayStation:
PlayStation accounted for “almost half of all gaming industry advertising on TV” in December, Eleanor Semeraro at VentureBeat reports. “There was a slight downshift in gaming industry spend, going from November’s estimated $102.3 million to $90.5 million in December.”
Check out the “Top Downloads of 2018,” featuring games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, God of War, NBA 2K19 and Far Cry 5.
Epic Games Store refunds are fairly in-sync with Steam now, Sergey Galyonkin tweeted. “Unlimited refunds within 14 days of purchase and under 2 hours played. The team is working on the self-service solution, but for now, you’ll have to go through player support.”
Verizon’s “game streaming service” called Verizon Gaming is in the alpha testing stage, The Verge’s Chris Welch reports. “Verizon Gaming is already up and running on the Nvidia Shield set-top box and will, according to the company’s documentation, eventually make its way to Android smartphones.”
Meta Company shut down due to insolvency, Next Reality’s Adario Strange reports. “Joe Mikhail, the company’s chief revenue officer, is no longer with Meta.”
Bo Andersson Klint, former Starbreeze CEO, has been cleared of insider trading allegations by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, Variety’s Brittany Vincent reports.
Peter Sollett will direct the Minecraft movie, Variety’s Justin Kroll reports.
Xbox Wire posted “Looking Back on a Banner Year for Xbox and a Glimpse at What’s Ahead.”
Extra Esports News:
Congratulations EHOME on winning The Bucharest Minor! They defeated Gambit Esports to take home $125,000. Keen Gaming came in 3rd and Ninjas in Pyjamas in 4th.
Creative Artists Agency signed Guy “DrDisrespect” Beahm “for representation in all areas,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Natalie Jarvey writes.
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Vexed Gaming and Runtime.GG are partnering, Esports Insider’s David Hollingsworth writes.
OnePlus is sponsoring Fnatic, TEO’s Max Miceli reports. “The deal represents Fnatic’s first playing jersey sponsor in its 14-year history.”
IN: Matthew “Drippay” Den-Kaat joined Evil Geniuses’ Rocket League team.
Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant joined Team Vitality’s Rocket League team.
OUT: compLexity Gaming’s Josh Schmidt is leaving esports.
Happy weekend birthdays Tran “MeomaikA” Hong Phuc, Lee “Rogue” Byung Ryul and Jarod “JonSnow” George and Monday birthday Wang “XiGua” Lei!