In The News
Weekend In Review:
BlizzCon 2018 has come and gone. A new Overwatch hero and short were revealed, StarCraft 2 saw its first ever non-Korean champion in Joona “Serral” Sotala, something something mobile, South Korea took home the Overwatch World Cup once again and much more!
You can find all the major announcements and trailers courtesy of IGN’s Andrew Goldfarb.
The Diablo Immortal reveal was as painful as you’ve heard. Poor guy. Blizzard responded to the torrent of criticism with co-founder Allen Adham telling Kotaku’s Nathan Grayson: “‘We tried to get ahead of that a little bit with the blog post to let that group know that we are working on multiple things and continue to work on multiple things. But it’s pretty clear that their incredible passion for Diablo manifests in interesting ways…’” Former Blizzard employee Mark Kern posted a lengthy series on Twitter about it.
Nintendo revealed updated sales data for its games. Super Mario Odyssey dominates the Switch at 12.17 million, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in 2nd at 11.71 million, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 3rd at 10.28 million and Splatoon 2 in 4th at 7.47 million.
Ah, China. “Tencent Holdings Ltd. says it will verify the identities of all its videogame players to sharply restrict online play time for youths in China, including limiting children 12 and under to one hour of play daily,” The Wall Street Journal’s Shan Li writes.
Ubisoft is toning down Rainbow Six: Siege so it can expand the game to Asian markets, Engadget’s Jon Fingas reports. “It’s prepping a Year 3 Season 4 update to the global version of the game that removes numerous references to gambling, sex and certain violent elements.”
The Malaysian government is allocating “$2.4 million in the country’s esports scene in 2019,” GI.biz’s Matthew Handrahan reports. “The RM10 million (Malaysian Ringgit) investment is part of the government’s annual budget for next year.”
Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan matched the investment, TEO’s Max Miceli reports.
Billionaire Tej Kohli started a “€50 million fund to support the [European esports] sector,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports. “Through Rewired GG, the London-based tech billionaire intends to build ‘a world-class esports team, as well as develop individual players, games and commercial opportunities.’”
Rumors abound that YouTube may be coming to the Switch this week.
The Maid of Sker announcement is causing issues due to featuring a real person’s home, Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips reports. “An upcoming Welsh horror game has drawn fire for featuring a private home in its advertising – and its owner is now considering legal action.”
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Extra Esports News:
Congratulations Joona “Serral” Sotala on winning StarCraft 2’s the World Championship Series! He defeated Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob.
The New York Times is up with a piece titled “Video Games Are a Waste of Time? Not for Those With E-sports Scholarships.” AP Style does not approve.
Method added Kensington as a sponsor, TEO’s Ferguson Mitchell writes.
Nordavind and Lenovo Legion are partnering, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports.
Happy weekend birthday Connor “Jessie” Lansink!