In The News
TheDW is shocked and deeply upset to report that Dennis “INTERNETHULK” Hawelka, Team Liquid’s former Overwatch team coach and current LCS head coach, has passed away. He was 30 years old.
A few days before his passing, he sent multiple tweets stating that he did not feel well and had gone to the doctor and received shots for tonsillitis. Members of the community like Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles and Dallas Fuel’s Timo “Taimou” Kettunen indicated that they were made aware of his passing Wednesday morning.
Team Liquid released a statement, saying in part, “We are in touch with his family, and are supporting them in every way we can while we all try to grasp the loss. We humbly ask everyone to respect his family’s privacy during this difficult time.”
If you would like to send letters of encouragement, words of kindness or your sympathies, Team Liquid gave this contact information: Liquid Enterprises B.V. Postbus 9777 Utrecht, 3506 GT The Netherlands.” They said the “North American address to come soon.”
Activision news:
Meet the AM General lawsuit. The reason for the suit? “Humvee Maker AM General says in the lengthy complaint that Activision Blizzard, which owns the video game series, improperly features ‘Humvee’ and ‘HMMWV’ trademarks in Call of Duty, and has licensed related content with the marks for use in toys and books,” Jalopnik’s Ryan Felton reports.
On a happier note, Activision said Call of Duty: WWII reportedly “‘set a record as the best-selling digital full game by units sold on its first day of [PlayStation 4] availability,’” Polygon’s Charlie Hall writes.
Square Enix is doing alright. It reported a “200% profit in the quarter ending September 30,” Game Informer’s Imran Khan writes. “Their total profit has exceeded ¥17 billion, a 218% increase over the same period last year. The company gave the credit to Dragon Quest XI in Japan, as well as strong download sales of games like Nier: Automata.”
Why so sneaky? Xbox’s Shannon Loftis says it has to do with games being “‘a highly experimental medium,’” GameSpot’s Eddie Makuch reports. “‘It’s a line that we have to walk between talking to gamers about the games we would like to make and knowing that we are going to be able to deliver them. The worst part of my job is when…’”
Tencent may still be sniffing around a Bluehole acquisition, GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring reports. “The firm was rumoured to have made an offer before the online game became a smash hit, but was rejected by Bluehole … Bluehole is working with Tencent in delivering its game to Chinese audiences via its WeGame platform.”
Senior VP Raja Koduri left AMD and has joined “Intel’s newly formed Core and Visual Computing Group,” PC Gamer’s Tuan Nguyen and Jarred Walton report, as “the chief architect and senior VP.”
Madden and FIFA might start skipping years, Bloomberg’s Christopher Palmeri reports. “There may soon come a time when the video-game publisher doesn’t release a new annual version of hits such as FIFA 18 and Madden NFL 18 and relies instead on online updates or subscriptions … ‘There’s a world where it gets easier and easier to move that code around — where we may not have to do an annual release,’ [CEO Andrew] Wilson told Bloomberg.”
FC Schalke 04 and Twitch entered a partnership to exclusively stream the team’s FIFA 18 and League of Legends games. “Twitch and Schalke see the agreement as “an important step in the digital future of the sports industry in Germany and abroad,” GamesWirtschaft reports.
The Game Awards are right around the corner, and host Geoff Keighley spoke with AListDaily’s Steven Wong about how “this year’s installment will allow people to vote through a live Twitter Direct Messenger and Facebook Messenger bot. The production team is also working with Google to allow fans to vote on categories through Google Search.”
Congratulations to Hitman on reaching 7 million players.
Hearthstone news:
Venture Beat’s Mike Minotti interviewed “senior game designer Peter Whalen and visual effects artist Hadidjah Chamberlin” about the game’s upcoming expansion announced at BlizzCon 2017, Kobolds & Catacombs. Here’s a snippet: “‘It’s really important for Hearthstone that we just keep changing things up, that we do different stuff every time. We sat down for this one and said…’”
Kotaku’s Nathan Grayson spoke with art director Ben Thompson about why Hearthstone sticks with 9 classes. “‘There’s a lot of complexities around introducing a new class,’ he said … ‘Ultimately, nine classes presented the right amount of complexity for what we were making at the time and continue to make today.’”
Don’t forget, Twitch Prime members, to get your free Golden Classic Hearthstone pack. It expires Jan. 9.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ competitive scene gets its own South Korean league “in early 2018,” Dot Esports’ Scott Duwe reports. “OnGameNet, a top Korean esports channel, will be launching a league for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in the early stages of next year.”