In The News
PSA: There will be no newsletter starting next Wednesday through Monday while I travel to CWL London.
Sony:
PlayStation 4 sales are slowing down, Sony reported in its “earnings report for the quarter and the year,” Engadget’s Mat Smith reports. The company warns it “expects to make even less profit in the next year, as PlayStation 4 sales slow down and it invests in its replacement. In the last year, 17.8 million consoles were sold, less than the 19 million sold in 2017 … Sales and operating revenue for the 2018 financial year stood at $78.14 billion, a one-percent increase on the year before. Narrowing down on the quarter, the company almost quadrupled its profits for the last three months, to 82.7 billion yen ($740.55 million).”
Don’t expect a new PlayStation console before April 2020, Smith writes. “Wall Street Journal reporter Takashi Mochizuki tweeted the comments, which came from a SIE spokesperson following Sony’s investor call earlier today.”
Nintendo shares dropped “as much as 5 percent in early Tokyo trading, a day after the gaming company offered conservative earnings guidance and urged caution on the roll-out of its Switch console in China,” Reuters reports.
Starbreeze sold back the publishing rights for 10 Crowns back to Mohawk Games, GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor writes.
Freaks 4U Gaming “has established a new France subsidiary and acquired office space near Paris to seek new business in the region. The company has appointed the former Managing Director of ESL’s French division, Samy Ouerfelli, as head of new business,” TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports.
David Grutman has invested in OverActive Media, Esports Insider’s Laura Byrne reports.
Extra Esports News:
Rick Fox is set to leave Echo Fox, Richard Lewis has reported. “The decision comes amid an exchange from a partner within Vision Esports, the investment group that put money into Echo Fox, seemingly using racist language towards a high profile representative of their business interests.”
Part of Fox’s email to “major stakeholders” reads, in part, “This is an official notification of my intention to exit the Echo Fox organization as a shareholder and participant as soon as I am able to facilitate a transaction to do so. The recent outrageous and abhorrent display of pure racism made by a significant Echo Fox shareholder as well as threats to my family have made it impossible for me to continue to remain associated with the company.”
TEO’s H.B. Duran confirmed Lewis’s report with a statement from Echo Fox, which says, in part, “There have been incidents in recent weeks in which a limited partner of the Echo Fox organization, who is not an employee, officer or director of Echo Fox, used a racial epithet towards individuals both verbally and via email.”
Riot Games has released a statement in 2 tweets (1, 2): “The LCS believes in creating a fair and inclusive environment for everyone and the alleged comments are contrary to our values and have no place in our league…”
Hi-Rez Studios is implementing “a revenue sharing program for its Paladins Premier League (PPL) teams streaming on Mixer. Beginning April 26, viewers can purchase a virtual currency called Mixer Embers and redeem them during livestreams to activate animated stickers and promoted chat messages,” Duran reports.
Puerto Rico wants to get involved with esports. Governor Jesus Manuel Ortiz “has tweeted his support for esports to come to Puerto Rico, along with looking into initiatives to open the island territory to the ‘economic and development impact’ that it represents,” Unikrn’s Dustin Steiner reports.