In The News
The gaming industry “is on course to generate just shy of $135 billion in 2018,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports. It’s a “10.9% increase over 2017” with mobile bringing in 63.2 billion, console $38.3 billion and PC $33.4 billion.
Sony accidentally allowed folks who are good with math (not me) to calculate game player counts, Gamasutra’s Emma Kidwell writes. “Sony’s personalized videos showcasing the games played and trophies earned by PlayStation users have inadvertently revealed how many people have played each game, thanks to calculations made from trophy stats.”
Sources tell Windows Central Xbox has two codenamed consoles “currently being prepped, aiming for a 2020 holiday debut”: Anaconda and Lockhart.
Nintendo:
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold 3 million copies in the U.S. in its first 11 days. “The Nintendo Switch has become the fastest-selling video game system of this hardware generation, accounting for the first 21 months of sales in the United States,” Variety’s Brian Crecente reports.
German Consumer Protection Authority is taking Nintendo to court over “its no-cancellation eShop pre-order policy,” Eurogamer’s Robert Purchese writes. “It’s all expected to begin in three-to-four weeks, but could take more than a year to reach any kind of verdict.”
NES Classic and SNES Classic will be out of production after the holidays.
Atari and Animoca Brands are partnering, with Atari acquiring “a $250,000 stake in the company in exchange for the game rights,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
Insomniac Games hired Mary Kenney, formerly of Telltale Games.
Radeon Technologies Group is losing Mike Rayfield, its senior vice president and general manager, AnandTech’s Anton Shilov reports. “David Wang will head the business unit while the company is looking for a new GM for RTG, which is left without a formal leader for the second time in one year.”
PlayStation 4 Spider-Man debuts in Marvel comics in March of 2019.
Ninja’s Twitch channel came in 1st for most hours watched in the last week at 2.03 million, TEO reports. Yogscast came in 2nd with 1.80 million, zero in 3rd with 1.28 million and nickmercs in 4th with 1.24 million.
Interviews: JP Games’ Hajime Tabata (Gamestalk).
Players’ Lounge – Sponsored News:
Players’ Lounge redesigned its product, resulting in a 25% increase in week-over-week matches played for four weeks running.
Investors continue to assault our inboxes. Including a few billionaires. We’re holding strong.
Players’ Lounge is hiring a Senior Vice President of Engineering! Know a brilliant, competitive senior developer with PHP and AAA/F2P development experience? Slide into our DMs.
Extra Esports News:
Congratulations J Team on winning Arena of Valor International Championship 2018! They defeated Team Flash to take home $250,000. Ahq e-Sports Club came in 3rd and ALPHA Red in 4th.
Correction incoming? That’s what some are speculating, according to TEO’s Ben Fischer. “Esports insiders are increasingly convinced that many team organizations are overvalued and a market correction is coming … All of this will lead to some shaking out in the coming months, experts predict, likely in the form of layoffs at less popular game titles and organizations’ ancillary businesses.”
Allied Esports formed “the Allied Esports Property Network, the program will give members access to the company’s events and content platform,” Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports.
Porsche and iRacing are partnering for “the Porsche iRacing World Championship Series,” Fitch reports.
MLB’s Chris Park is leaving to join Gen.G as their new CEO, TEO’s Max Miceli reports.
Miles Parks McCollum, better known as rapper Lil Yachty, joined FaZe Clan.