In The News
Well that’s confusing. “THQ Nordic is distancing itself from a THQ Nordic statement distancing itself from the decision to release the PC version of Metro Exodus exclusively on the Epic Games store,” GI.biz’s Brendan Sinclair reports.
Earnings:
Nintendo “reported strong third fiscal quarter earnings for the three months ended December 31 …But Nintendo still cut its forecast for the Switch in the fiscal year, saying it will now sell only 17 million Switch units by March 31, 2019, rather than 20 million,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate “has sold 12.08 million copies on Switch since its December 7 launch,” VentureBeat’s Mike Minotti writes.
Microsoft “reported earnings for its second fiscal quarter of 2019, including revenue of $32.5 billion, net income of $8.4 billion, and earnings per share of $1.08,” VentureBeat’s Emil Protalinski reports. It also touted “that game revenues are up 8 percent compared to the same period last year … [in] its earnings for the second quarter of financial year 2019,” Minotti reports. “Xbox software sales revenues and services were up 31 percent.” What’s more, Xbox Live now has 64 million monthly active users.
Keywords reported that “full year revenues are once again on the rise … Revenues will be at least €250 million — almost €100 million more than the €151.4 million reported last year,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor writes.
Metacritic ratings are here! Capcom, Sega and EA came in 1st-3rd for major publishers. Activision Blizzard, Paradox Interactive and 505 Games came in 1st-3rd for mid-size publishers.
Sony increased PlayStation Plus’s cloud storage to 100 GB.
AIXR is a newly-founded organization “that aims to share knowledge and insight across all forms of virtual, augmented and mixed reality,” Batchelor writes.
Certain Affinity opened “a second development studio in Toronto,” Variety’s Liz Lanier reports.
Dauntless accounts are being converted into Epic accounts, PC Gamer’s Fraser Brown reports. “Developer Phoenix Labs has posted an FAQ that covers the migration.”
Battlestate Games is being accused of abusing DMCA takedowns to stop Escape from Tarkov videos, Polygon’s Charlie Hall reports.
Extra Esports News:
Hong Kong’s “25,000 square foot integrated esports complex” is now open, Esports Insider’s Oliver Ring reports. “The CEO of the arena, Carrie Lam Cheung Yuet-ngor opened the doors to Asia’s largest esports complex on Monday. The arena will also be called the Cyber Games Arena.”
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
DreamHack and Allsvenskan are partnering, TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports. “Twelve Allsvenskan teams will field FIFA 19 teams for the eAllsvenskan league.”
Intel and ESL have extended their sponsorship, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch writes.
EveryMatrix added “OddsMatrix, its sportsbook software solution which includes data feeds, a fully managed sportsbook and feed aggregation technology” for esports, Ring reports.
Happy birthday Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross Jr.!