In The News
Employee moves:
Jen MacLean is The Independent Game Developers Association’s new executive director.
“Emily Greer, CEO of Kongregate, and Zoe Bell, lead producer at Big Huge Games joined the IGDA’s board of directors, and Vesa Raudasoja moved to the group’s vice-chair position,” Glixel’s Blake Hester reports.
GamesIndustry.biz’s Brendan Sinclair writes that Fredrik Wester is moving from Paradox’s CEO to executive chairman of the board. Ebba Ljungerud will take his place.
ESPN’s Jacob Wolf reports “HyperX have signed Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid as a brand ambassador.”
Four bills related to loot boxes were introduced in Hawaii’s state legislature, Hawaii Tribune Herald’s Michael Brestovansky reports. “A quartet of proposed bills introduced last month target exploitative monetization techniques in video games that some fear might psychologically condition players to become addicted to gambling.”
Congratulations to Horizon Zero Dawn on winning “the Writers Guild Award for best video game writing,” GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
Partnerships:
Dell and McLaren are partnering, with Dell providing “all the necessary equipment for the development of McLaren’s esports project,” The Esports Observer’s Angelos Anastasopoulos writes.
Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports Team Vitality and Renault are coming together to form a Rocket League team. “Creating Renault Sport Team Vitality, the team will compete in titles such as Rocket League and potentially Formula 1.”
Texas Wesleyan and Ashland University announced esports programs, according to ESPN’s Sean Morrison and WMFD’s Sartaj Singh.
Ubisoft news:
Ubisoft’s taking a bit of a break for future releases, VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb reports. “Instead of a bunch of annualized franchises, Ubisoft is embracing live-services.” The full annual report document can be found here.
VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports Assassin’s Creed: Origins nabbed Ubisoft “$889.4 million (€725.0 million) in sales for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31.”
Sea of Thieves’ Mike Chapman insisted loot boxes have no place in the upcoming game. “‘What I will confirm is there are no microtransactions for launch. At all,’” PC Gamer’s Joe Donnelly reports Chapman saying.
The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists introduced “new rules and codes of conduct to protect its members from sexual harassment,” Hester writes.
We all loved Toby, so why not bring Five Nights at Freddy’s to the big screen! Love jump scares, creepy Chuck E. Cheese-style psychotic robots and a never-ending sense of impending doom? This movie will be for you (and probably me, sans a night of sleep). Engadget’s David Lumb writes that “Chris Columbus, best known for directing Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Mrs. Doubtfire and the first two Harry Potter films,” will direct the movie.
Congratulations to FaZe Clan on winning the CWL Pro League Challenge. They defeated Epsilon Esports.
William “Amnesiac” Barton and Keaton “Chakki” Gill joined Tempo Storm for the upcoming Hearthstone Championship Tour, Dot Esports’ Callum Leslie reports.