In The News
Kuznicki Law PLLC wants folks who purchased Activision Blizzard shares “between August 2, 2018 and January 10, 2019 to submit their losses” for a lawsuit against the company. The firm is accusing ATVI of “misleading them over the end of its partnership with Bungie,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports.
THQ Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors issued an apology for the company’s 8chan AMA, saying in part, “I condemn all unethical content this website stands for. Even if no one within the THQ Nordic Group would ever endorse such content, I realize simply appearing there gave an implicit impression that we did.”
Valve’s taking criticism for allowing a visual novel called Rape Day on Steam. According to Eurogamer’s Matt Wales, it has “‘500 images’ and ‘over 7,000 words’ that, according to its Steam page, enables players to ‘verbally harass, kill, and rape women as [they] choose to progress the story.’”
Is Nexon selling because of strict Korean gaming regulations? “Its founder and largest shareholder, Nexon parent company NXC CEO Kim Jung-ju, was ‘tired of regulatory clampdowns’ and wanted to pursue a different line of business, according to reports,” The Korea Herald’s Lim Jeong-yeo writes. “It’s a common complaint in a country where concerns over game addiction have sparked draconian regulations in response.”
The Entertainment Retailers Association “found that paying for subscription services instead of owning an individual product accounted for 58.3% of total games revenue in 2018 [in the UK],” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports. “Comparatively, consumers spent £1.46 billion on accessing video, and £829 million on accessing music. Ownership spending however was just £868 million and £505 million respectively.”
Anthem is reportedly crashing PS4. EA put out a tweet acknowledging the issue and said “We are currently in process of gathering information about the PS4 issues so we can determine the root cause.”
Rovio may be looking to sell Hatch, Bloomberg’s Kati Pohjanpalo writes. “Rovio Entertainment Oyj is in talks with ‘several’ investors to take a stake in its subsidiary Hatch — a ‘Netflix for games’ platform.”
Reworks, a new studio, raised “$1.5 million in pre-seed funding to develop customization games for mobile,” GI.biz’s Rebekah Valentine writes.
Meet The Glory Society, “a worker cooperative game development studio. The new outfit opens its doors with three developers on board: Wren Farren and two of the three minds behind Night in the Woods, Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry,” Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports.
The Economist is out with a piece looking at gamers titled “Video gamers v couch potatoes.”
Interviews: Create Studios’ Seth Rosen (GI.biz), 343 Industries’ Bonnie Ross (CBS), Capcom’s Hideaki Itsuno (Eurogamer).
Extra Esports News:
Congratulations to Cranium Apparel on debuting possibly the most hideous female esports apparel ever.
G-Loot secured “$25 million £18,695,883.50) from both new investors and current investors such as Swedbank Robur and asset management company Norron,” Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch writes. G-Loot is a “Swedish esports company.”
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Grow uP eSports and Adidas are partnering, Fitch writes. “The sportswear manufacturer will supply hoodies, training suits, coats, t-shirts, and hoodies for the organisation’s players.”
The English Football Association and ESL are partnering “to host FIFA qualifiers. The country’s governing body for international soccer is looking for a team to play in the FIFA eNations Cup,” TEO’s Max Miceli writes.
Singapore Sports Hub and Team Flash are partnering “to launch esports training facilities. The facility will host regular esports workshops and community activations,” TEO’s Dane Weeden writes.
Allied Esports and HyperX expanded their deal “to give it the naming rights to two European properties,” Fitch writes.
AT&T is sponsoring Cloud9, TEO’s Ben Fischer reports. The deal “includes presenting rights to ‘The Nines,’ a new weekly digital video series about the organization’s 12 teams in 10 games.”
Audeze is sponsoring Echo Fox, TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports. “Audeze entered the gaming market late last year with the launch of its Mobius headset.”
Finnish Esports League joined Challengermode’s “National Esports Leagues initiative,” Fitch reports.
H4X is selling “a collection listed at Macy’s online and in nearly 50 retail locations. This marks the largest retail distribution of an esports-specific apparel brand to date,” Murray reports.
Interviews: G2 Esports’ Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen (ESPN).