In The News
For today’s featured story, please see the League Land section.
Nintendo Switch Online is almost at 10 million accounts, Variety’s Liz Lanier reports. “Nintendo Switch Online has exceeded 9.8 million global accounts,” which excludes free trials. “It does include family memberships. Membership hit 8 million subscribers back in February.”
Magic Leap:
Epic Games is handing out “500 of the Magic Leap One augmented reality glasses to developers working in AR” through its partnership with Magic Leap, VentureBeat’s Giancarlo Valdes writes. “The free AR headsets are in addition to the $100 million Epic is giving away as part of its MegaGrants fund.”
Another investment has rolled in. NTT DoCoMo invested “$280 million in the augmented-reality computing company” as part of a partnership deal in Japan, Variety’s Todd Spangler reports. “Magic Leap, founded in 2010, also has exclusive partnerships with AT&T in the U.S. and SK Telecom in South Korea.”
The Elder Scrolls: Blades, Bethesda’s mobile Elder Scrolls game, has pulled in “more than $1.5 million … by intrepid players delving into the beta release,” Sensor Tower reports. It “has been installed by more than 1.3 million early adopters so far, with more than one million of those signing on during its first week in early access.”
Former employees and contractors who worked on Mortal Kombat took to Twitter to allege unsatisfactory working conditions at NetherRealm, PC Gamer’s Wes Fenlon and Andy Chalk report. “The allegations on Twitter from a former full-time employee and multiple former contractors paint an unpleasant picture of long periods of crunch throughout the development of Mortal Kombat 9, X, and the Injustice fighting games.”
That’s a lot of Gods. A Guinness World Record has been given to Emanuel Mojica Rosas for his God of War collection, Game Informer’s Elise Favis reports. “To date, his collection includes 583 God of War items, including collector’s editions, mugs, t-shirts, and more.”
Slightly Mad Studios withdrew “its filing to trademark Mad Box as the name of its upcoming console,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor writes. “An opposition was filed on March 25 by a French casual games company called Madbox.”
Extra Esports News:
Clash Royal League unveiled the 12 teams for its consolidated West Region. ‘The 12 teams include Immortals, Team Liquid, Dignitas, NRG Esports, and Tribe Gaming,” TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports.
Raynor is sponsoring Hawks Talon GC, TEO’s H.B. Duran writes. “Raynor Gaming became an official sponsor of the NBA 2K League in March.”
New Facilities:
Southeast Missouri State University is developing “a 24/7 esports venue for students, opening in their fall semester in 2019. A 1,500-square-foot space currently used as a computer lab will be renovated to feature 6 PCs to facilitate in-house tournaments,” Esports Insider’s Joe Wong writes.
Simplicity Esports opened “its first esports gaming arena in Boca Raton, Florida. The launch of the gaming facility is the first of five in a broader partner program across the country,” Esports Insider’s Thomas Lace reports.
IN: Tabzz joined Team Liquid.