In The News
Bill Gates is no fan of cryptocurrency. “‘It is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way,’” PC Gamer’s Paul Lilly reports Gates as saying. “As for funneling drugs and actually killing people, Gates highlights the sale and use of fentanyl.”
A 16 year old threatened a school shooting with a Snapchat video, and now a judge has banned him from playing “violent video games,” GamesIndustry.biz’s James Batchelor writes. “The police found no weapons at the boy’s home in their search, with his parents insisting they do not keep any guns at home.”
An independent report pushes back against the World Health Organization’s desire to classify “gaming disorder.” GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring reports that “It’s being promoted by the global games industry, which rejects the WHO’s gaming disorder classification. 22 international trade bodies now oppose the proposal.”
Facebook’s Women in Gaming launched. You can find it here.
1492 Studio has been acquired by Ubisoft.
The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency is shuttering and its upcoming game was cancelled, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports.
Crytek replaced one brother with two others. Avni and Faruk Yerli are taking over in Cevat Yerli’s place as co-CEOs.
In its first year, Horizon Zero Dawn sold 7.6 million copies. As a part of the 100% completion club, I highly recommend you try it out.
Intel said in an interview with The Esports Observer’s Graham Ashton it will put more pressure on the Olympics for esports integration. Here’s a portion: “‘Being a sponsor gives a formal platform to engage in a dialogue around esports, and talk about possibilities for the future.’”
Partnership news:
Looking to learn more about “game design, community engagement and more”? Batchelor reports Space Ape Games, the University College London and the University of Greenwich are partnering to provide a “six sessions” that will be streamed online for free.
The National Association of Collegiate Esports and High School Esports League are partnering, The Esports Observer’s Ferguson Mitchell reports. “This joint partnership will ‘create a stronger path for high school esports athletes to move into the collegiate ranks as scholarship athletes.’”
In 5 years, GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports, “The number of students graduating with a video game degree has doubled … The number has leapt 116 per cent, up from 595 graduates to 1,290.”
Twas, twas not. Nintendo’s review option was yanked after being live only briefly and the site says “Customer reviews have been taken offline as we evaluate this feature and its functionality. We currently have no estimated date on when an update will be provided. We appreciate the positive response and thank the reviewers who provided such thoughtful commentary on the games.”
Hearthstone ranked for March is temporarily disabled “in Asia and Europe,” Dot Esports’ Justin Binkowski writes.
Razer will officially sponsor Chaos Theory, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “The gaming hardware, software, and systems company will provide the team with Razer gaming equipment, as well as kitting the players out in Chaos Theory apparel.”