In The News
Sales & Growth:
Game sales topped out at a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, according to an ESA/NPD Group press release. That’s up 18% from 2017. “Both hardware revenue, which includes peripherals, and software revenue across all platforms (console, PC, portable, and mobile), from physical and digital sales, including in-game purchases and subscriptions, experienced record growth in 2018.”
Mobile gaming “was responsible for 78% of consumer spending across mobile storefronts, and was also the fastest-growing sector of the gaming market in 2018,” GI.biz’s Rebekah Valentine reports. “App Annie predicts that mobile gaming will reach 60% of the market share for consumer gaming spending in 2019.”
The Switch “was the top-selling system in the US both in terms of dollars and raw unit count,” Engadget’s Jon Fingas reports. In December, “the Switch had the best unit sales of any console for that month since 2010.”
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate broke records for sales in December, Game Informer’s Imran Khan reports. “The Switch exclusive debuted as the highest-selling exclusive, a game only released on one console, in NPD history.”
Best-selling games (not including digital sales)? That’ll see Red Dead Redemption 2 in 1st, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2nd, NBA 2K19 in 3rd and Madden NFL 19 in 4th.
Are your thumbs ready? Over a billion tweets were sent about gaming in 2018, according to Twitter. By tweety-ness, Japan came in 1st, followed by ‘Murica, United Kingdom and then Le France.
Bethesda denied rumors Fallout 76 could go free to play.
Gameye raised “$1.6 million for its business of creating matchmaking services for multiplayer online games,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports.
Gaming charity Stack Up received a grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a press release. “This grant allows Stack Up to further fund professional training and mental health certifications for Stack Up Overwatch Program (StOP) members, a program which focuses on suicide prevention for veterans.”
Hothead Games opened “a new division to focus on using its analytical, marketing, and development resources to publish mobile games from other developers,” Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports.
Crytek and Improbable are partnering “on helping developers to build games with both the latter’s SpatialOS and CryEngine,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor writes.
Star Citizen has almost reached $200 million in costs, PC Gamer’s Fraser Brown reports. “A lot of that money has been spent between 2012 and 2017. In that time, Cloud Imperium has spent over $193 million, and almost $50 million just in 2017.”
Extra Esports News:
Oh, God.
How did you get your start? For Ben “FishStix” Goldhaber, “it was Live On Three (@LiveOnThree), the best esports talk show to ever exist.” Check out his op-ed and get some insight on where esports stalwarts come from.
Twitter Stats:
Most-mentioned esports franchises in 2018: FaZe Clan in 1st, OpTic Gaming in 2nd, Cloud9 in 3rd and Fnatic in 4th.
Most-tweeted about pro players: Seth “Scump” Abner in 1st, Félix “xQc” Lengyel in 2nd, Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma in 3rd and Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng in 4th.
Capcom “is ramping up its esports plans in the US with the announcement of a new Street Fighter Pro League,” Batchelor writes.
SXSW is hosting “a Halo invitational tournament this March. The top six teams from the Halo Classic have been invited to the $100K USD prize pool event,” TEO’s Max Miceli writes.
The NHL is planning “a gamer house-style event during its upcoming All-Star weekend with active players and gamers streaming on Twitch and creating content,” TEO’s Ian Thomas reports.
Misfits Gaming opened their “Misfits Gaming Arena in Berlin. Besides five gaming stations, the arena also features a merchandise shop and the possibility for fans to engage with Misfits Gaming,” The Shotcaller’s Alexander Hugo reports.
Method will stream its “world first race in the newest World of Warcraft raid Battle of Dazar’alor, live from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere, London starting January 30th,” Esports Insider’s David Hollingsworth writes.
Partnerships:
Splyce and Globatalent are partnering, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “The partnership includes logo placement for Globatalent on Splyce’s Call of Duty, SMITE, StarCraft II, and Rocket League team jerseys.”
Arkadium and Sportradar are partnering, Takahashi writes. “Arkadium has teamed up with Sportradar to make it easy to bet on sports trivia questions in an attempt to make web-based content more interactive and engaging for fans.”
Sport1 and ESL are partnering for a two-year German Esports Channel deal, TEO’s Jack Stewart reports. “The new channel will be broadcast across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.”
OUT: Jacob “Apxvoid” Coen was disqualified from the Hearthstone Championship Tour Winter Finals.
Interviews: Giants Software CEO Christian Ammann (TEO).