In The News
Sales news:
VentureBeat’s Stephanie Chan reports that “The video game industry in December was up 10 percent year-over-year, generating $3.29 billion thanks mainly due to hardware sales.”
GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports Chinese mobile gaming grew $8 billion in 3 years. “The value of the Chinese mobile gaming market has grown by 250% in two years.”
The Entertainment Software Association released game industry revenue figures for 2017 that hit $36 billion. “The US video game industry generated a record $36 billion in revenue in 2017, up 18 percent from 2016.”
Polygon’s Michael McWhertor writes that “the 3DS family of systems just had its best month of sales since December 2014.”
The 10 best selling games of 2017 were revealed, and Battlefront II didn’t fair very well, VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb writes. PC and digital sales were not included. However, Game Informer’s Imran Khan reports Battlefront II had a good December for U.S. sales.
Both Sony and Activision saw executives departing this week. VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports Sony’s head of third-party developer relations, Florian Hunziker, is out. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg is also leaving.
Twitch launched its Video Producer feature yesterday, Chan reports. “This new tool designs Twitch broadcasts around prerecorded videos, enabling streamers to essentially hold viewing parties for their followers.”
Nintendo’s stock bounced up thanks to cardboard. “Nintendo’s share have risen more 4.2%,” GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring writes, “and hit an almost ten-year high following the reveal of its Labo concept.”
Additionally, Genesis 5 tweeted yesterday it’s partnering with Nintendo.
Ubisoft’s got a new PC-centric ad out.
City State Entertainment has $7.5 million more to put toward Camelot Unchained, Gamasutra’s Emma Kidwell reports. “The investor group includes the principals of GF Capital Management & Advisors, LLC, a New York City-based private equity firm which were one of the original investors in Mark Jacobs’ last studio Mythic Entertainment, which was shut down by EA in 2014.”
Global Franchise Lead for Hearthstone Esports, Che Chou, spoke with IGN’s Cam Shea about the ongoing Hearthstone World Championship Finals. Here’s a snippet: “Regionally, HGG was very popular. For instance, there are many countries where they don’t have a star player in the HCT or at seasonal championships there’s no representation for that country, but…”
One hundred thousand PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds cheaters are about to feel the ban hammer, PC Gamer’s Joe Donnelly reports.
Rocket League is showcasing its new esports website. Check it out here.
FaZe Clan and footballer JuJu Smith-Schuster are releasing “a limited edition clothing line that features both the NFL player’s name and number, and FaZe’s logo,” The Esports Observer’s Graham Ashton writes.