In The News
Six companies have joined the Entertainment Software Association as members, according to a press release. They include “Intellivision Entertainment, Natsume Inc., Riot Games, SEGA of America, THQ Nordic, and Wizards of the Coast.”
Earnings:
Pokémon GO brought in “$68.1 million in total from iOS and Android players worldwide” in January, Sensor Tower reports. “That was up from the $37 million we estimate the game grossed during the same month last year and bring’s Pokémon GO’s global player spending since launch to more than $2.3 billion.”http://bit.ly/2DheZzb
Zynga “reported a slight $559,000 profit on revenue of $249 million for the fourth quarter that ended December 31, surpassing its own targets,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. It “reported flat earnings per share on revenue of $249 million, up 7 percent from the same period a year ago.”
Take-Two Interactive:
The NBA 2K series’ lifetime sales are almost at 90 million, according to Take-Two Interactive. Despite that news and Red Dead Redemption II’s success, “Take-Two’s stock price has fallen 13 percent today ($93.72 a share at this writing) because the company warned the current quarter could be weak,” Takahashi writes.
Jhonny Perez “has been found guilty of copyright infringement after developing and distributing a cheat program for Grand Theft Auto Online. He has been ordered to pay $150,000 as well as legal costs,” PC Gamer’s Sarah James writes.
Studios:
The developers behind Warface are forming a studio called Blackwood Games.
New World Interactive is opening “a second studio in Calgary, Canada,” GI.biz’s Christopher Dring reports. It will be called New World North.
EA has plans for “another [subscription] service for a yet-unnamed platform set to launch later this year,” Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports.
Epic Games’ Support-A-Creator program is becoming permanent, according to a tweet. It’s “extending it beyond Fortnite to cover all games on the Epic Games Store.”
Extra Esports News:
Blizzard posted about “StarCraft II Esports in 2019” and “Welcome to the Hearthstone Collegiate Championship 2019 sponsored by Republic of Gamers.”
Quartz is up with a profile video on esports titled “Esports players are training like professional athletes.”
HSEL is rebranding to META High School Esports, TEO’s Seamus Byrne reports. “The name change coincides with the organizations new control of all League of Legends high school esports across Australia and New Zealand.”
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Copenhagen Municipality and Copenhagen Games are expanding their partnership, Esports Insider’s Oliver Ring reports.
OPSEAT is sponsoring Echo Fox, TEO’s Andrew Hayward writes. “OPSEAT will supply gaming chairs to Echo Fox’s players and training facilities as the team’s new sponsor.”