In The News
United Kingdom schools are dealing with a rash of bomb threats due to a Minecraft dispute, GameSpot’s Steve Watts reports. “It was all a failed attempt to force a rival server to be shut down for abuse.”
Facebook and Amazon “both announced new software packages each with distinct gaming and esports applications,” The Esports Observer’s Graham Ashton writes.
Fortnite news:
Fortnite’s mobile success has pushed it to become the second-highest grossing game on iOS. VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb reports “Sensor Tower estimates it has made $1.5 million worldwide on Apple’s devices since turning on in-app purchases.”
PC Gamer’s Joe Donnelly reports popular streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins makes “roughly $500,000 per month” streaming Fortnite.
Partnership news:
The Esports Observer’s Ben Palmer-Wilson reports eNgage and LGD are partnering in China.
Esports Insider’s Sam Cooke writes that “DHL has become the first official partner of F1’s new esports series.”
Goodbye Ataribox, hello Atari VCS. “Atari noted that its ‘objective’ is to announce the pre-order date sometime in April,” Engadget’s Jon Fingas reports.
Magic Leap said at the Game Developers Conference “it’s giving devs a preview of its creator portal and software development kit,” Glixel’s Stefanie Fogel writes.
Sigh. Cortland, Ohio’s Lakeview High School cancelled its esports program because it deemed CS:GO to be too violent, CSL’s Nathan Chartrand writes. This, despite the fact that there’s no causal link between violent video games and real-life behavior.
Good luck contestants. “The Universal GameDev Challenge is kicking off with co-sponsorship from Unity Technologies, Universal, Intel, and Microsoft.” Finalists are chosen May 19, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. You can apply here.
Intel’s Jeffrey Clark did an interview with Ashton. Here’s a snippet: “‘Our position is first and foremost about our technology, that’s our ethos. We want to be at the very core of delivering the very best, high…’”
Congratulations to Luminosity Gaming on beating FaZe Clan to win “the fourth Call of Duty World League Pro League Challenge,” Dot Esports’ Justin Binkowski reports.
GamesIndustry.biz, your server error breaks my heart.
Happy birthday to StarCraft 2 players Maru “MaSa” Kim and Yoan “ToD” Merlo and Heroes of the Storm player Mike “Glaurung” Fisk.