In The News
The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski is demanding an additional royalties payment from CD Projekt Red, Eurogamer’s Robert Purchese writes. Sapkowski originally took an upfront, lump-sum payment from CD instead of a percentage. CD posted the request here. “Sapkowski’s lawyer(s) claims the original Witcher video game contract ‘concerned only the first in a series of games, and therefore distribution of all other games, including their expansions, add-ons etc., is, simply speaking, unlawful.’”
YER A WIZARD! Allegedly leaked footage seems to show a rather polished Harry Potter RPG, Engadget’s Saqib Shah reports. “Filmed in third-person, the clip shows a wand-waving protagonist battling goblins and walking through a town square scattered with NPCs.”
Minecraft boasts an impressive monthly active user numbers, Business Insider’s Ben Gilbert writes. “Nearly 100 million people are playing “Minecraft” every month, and over 150 million copies of the game have been sold … Many of its 91 million-plus monthly players are playing together, exploring mines and crafting in groups.”
Google and Ubisoft are partnering “to stream their soon-to-be released Assassin’s Creed Odyssey® to your Chrome browser on a laptop or desktop,” the press release reads. “Starting on October 5, a limited number of participants will get to play the latest in this best-selling franchise at no charge for the duration of the Project Stream test.”
Hugo Games acquired 5th Planet Games for $737,000, GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports.
Dragalia Lost pulled in $3 million in its first 5 days, but that still trails Nintendo’s other mobile releases, Sensor Tower reports. Fire Emblem Heroes came in 1st at $13 million in its first 5 days, Super Mario Run in 2nd at $8.3 million and Animal Crossing in 3rd at $4.6 million.
“Atlus USA president and CEO Naoto Hiraoka is changing positions within the company after six years,” GI.biz’s Brendan Sinclair reports. “Hiraoka’s duties will be split between” Sega of America’s Ian Curran and Sega West’s Tatsuyuki Miyazaki.
Golden Joystick Awards 2018 voting is open through Oct. 25.
Gameumentary is up with an hour-long documentary called “Divinity: Original Sin Documentary | Gameumentary.”
Extra Esports News:
Modern Times Groups “has increased its stake in Turtle Entertainment, the owners of the ESL brand to 82.48%,” TEO’s Brandon Brathwaite writes.
Katowice, Poland is looking to “support Intel Extreme Masters events for the next five years,” TEO’s Trent Murray reports. “The city council approved a promotional fund of 12.5M PLN ($3.38M) for the tournament.”
Partnerships:
Team Flash and Futbolita are partnering for Futbolita to be a brand ambassador, Esports Insider’s Melany Moncav reports.
GINX Esports TV and Waikato United Gaming Society are partnering “to host an online NBA 2K tournament for competitors in New Zealand,” Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports.
Other:
Counter Logic Gaming updated their SMITE roster.
Interviews: NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue (VentureBeat).
Happy birthday Radovan “BlueCheese” Viselka and Hwang “KeeN” Kyu Seok!