In The News
Today is a sad day. Robert Guillaume, the voice that brought characters like Rafiki from “The Lion King” and Eli Vance of Half-Life 2 to life, has passed away. Guillaume, 89, had prostate cancer, Variety’s Richard Natale reports.
Using third-party apps with Destiny 2 won’t get you banned. The developer responded to multiple forum threads saying applications like OBS were causing bans. “‘Greetings fellow Guardians! How’s PC launch going for you? We hope it’s going well, and we’re terribly sorry if you’re having any issues with these likely, (for the most of you), inappropriately assigned bans,’” PC Gamer’s Joe Donnelly reports.
Kickstarter is where video games go to die. More often than not. GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor writes that “Video games on the platform have stagnated; of the 50 most funded games on the platform, 21 are video games, only five of which have been funded in the last two years … In the first half of 2017 the amount pledged for successful video game projects on Kickstarter was $9.4 million, compared to the peak of $28 million during the same period in 2013.”
How are brands connecting with gamers? AListDaily’s H.B. Duran spoke with several companies that did marketing during DreamHack Denver. Here’s a snippet:
“When you think of gaming, you might not think of mattresses, or even about getting much sleep. But since DreamHack is a three-day, round-the-clock event, having a mattress company as a sponsor made sleeping on-site a welcome option. In addition to a booth at the DreamHack Denver expo, Leesa created a Sleep Zone where special ticket holders could reserve a bed for the weekend.”
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Xbox One players will hopefully get a physical copy of the game when it launches, according to a tweet Monday. Brendan Greene hasn’t confirmed physical copies are 100% happening, but it’s something he wants to do.
Collegiate esports news:
The NCAA is back in the news. Its board of directors met yesterday to discuss collegiate esports, and ESPN’s Bryce Blum gave his take on the matter, writing, “make no mistake — the NCAA, which is meeting Tuesday to continue that conversation, is coming into esports, whether we like it or not.”
What about Title IX? ESPN’s Yifan Wu did a write up of issues schools may face, and how people like University of California-Irvine’s Mark Deppe are working to comply.
Please welcome two new studios to the party: Dimension and Fantasy Flight Interactive.
GamesIndustry.biz’s James Batchelor reports that Dimension is a video capture studio “that offers developers access to volumetric and 3D video caputre” and is “the result of a partnership between Digital Catapult and Hammerhead, and is based in South London.”
Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon says Fantasy Flight Interactive is “set to be headed up by former Human Head CEO Tim Gerritsen” and is Fantasy Flight Games’ new move to focus not just on board games, but video games as well. ”
Hearthstone fans, Blizzard is giving away a free pack along with its Battle.net updates.