In The News
Looking to treat yourself or a friend/family member this holiday season? Enter now for a chance to win a $50 Steam gift card! Don’t forget to check the “Secret Unlocked” section for the daily entry code to increase your chances of winning!
Microtransaction kerfuffle:
Hawaii Rep. Sean Quinlan told Glixel’s Brian Crecente, “‘Ultimately, it’s best for the industry to self-police’” because “‘The fear when you introduce government legislation into private enterprise is that we are going to overreach.’” Quinlan went on to say “‘The ideal solution would be for the game industry to stop having gambling or gambling-like mechanics in games that are marketed to kids.’”
GamesIndustry.biz’s Rob Fahey has an op-ed out going through the industry shift toward microtransactions. Here’s a snippet: “Every major publisher is undertaking a strategic shift in a direction they know perfectly well is going to annoy many of their core customers.”
Industry names like Richard Lewis and Duncan “Thorin” Shields are not enthused with an article written by PCGamesN’s Hannah Dwan titled “The esports industry has a problem with who it is choosing to represent it.”
It is highly critical of the pair and names multiple other people and companies. Here’s a snippet: “Esports are being represented by people whose histories include racist, misogynist, homophobic, and/or transphobic views, as well as those with violent or deceptive pasts.”
Lewis fired back on Twitter, saying, “I told you the hitpieces were coming last night. They focus on two incidents in a career that has spanned 13 years, ignoring everything positive I’ve done, ignoring testimonials and even who I live with. Let’s see if @PCGamesN give me a right to reply as they should.” He received support from people like Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, OpTic Gaming owner Hector Rodriguez, League of Legends player Maria “Sakuya” Creveling and many more.
It’s unclear why the piece was not labelled opinion or commentary. TheDW reached out to both PCGamesN and Dwan but has not heard back.
Today is World AIDS day. Twitch and Coca-Cola RED are partnering “on the Arena of Valor channel for the (Coca-Cola)RED Game-A-Thon. Eight of your favorite streamers will square off in an Arena of Valor tournament to raise money for the fight against AIDS,” the press release reads.
The Nintendo Switch took the top spot for Thanksgiving weekend sales, Gamasutra’s Alex Wawro reports. “the Switch was the top-selling item across all (surveyed) online retailers on the 23rd (U.S. Thanksgiving), the 24th (Black Friday), and the 27th (Cyber Monday).”
Nintendo is also putting an amiibo in a cereal box. Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips reports that “Nintendo and Kellogg’s are launching a Super Mario breakfast cereal whose box is also an amiibo.”
“Digital video game spending was 15 percent up year-over-year in October,” VentureBeat’s Stephanie Chan reports. “Sales on PC, consoles, and mobile totaled $8.5 billion, as compared to $7.4 billion in October 2016.”
Persona 5 tipped over the two million copies sold threshold, GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor writes.
ESP Gaming is a new “production company for esports and competitive gaming events,” according to VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi. “The focus in the events is on making the esports athletes more interesting to follow by telling stories about them with video interviews, [Jeff] Liboon said.”
HyperX is partnering with the Dallas Mavericks, Dot Esports’ Nicole Carpenter reports. “HyperX will sponsor the future Dallas NBA 2K League team, as well as the rest of the organization. The partnership includes in-arena activities at the American Airlines Arena.”
You may notice Pittsburgh Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell wearing some Call of Duty cleats. They “represent the Call of Duty Endowment, which is a non-profit organization that works to help veterans find careers after they’ve completed their military service,” Dot Esports’ Justin Binkowski reports.
Brendan Greene touted some of the specs for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Xbox One X, Engadget’s Richard Lawler reports. “Developers are expecting to have it running at 60 fps on Microsoft’s just-released Xbox One X, however it may be lower on Xbox One.”
HP’s global marketing manager Josh Kocurek is optimistic about Blizzard and Riot’s franchising for Overwatch and League of Legends. “‘With relegations and not having a solid infrastructure inside these leagues, you never knew who was going to be around tomorrow, and it was difficult to place bets and form strong relationships with everyone involved,’” he told AListDaily’s John Gaudiosi.
What’s going on with Fortnite? “Epic talked about how they plan to improve things like teaming up with friends, team killing, and improvements to the game’s visual fidelity,” according to Game Informer’s Imran Khan. “Epic wants to revamp the way players can play together, trying to fix the current system of Duos and Squads.”