In The News
Reminder: The newsletter will resume Tuesday next week once I return from CWL London.
YouTuber Desmond “Etika” Amofah was arrested by the NYPD live on Instragram, Rod “Slasher” Breslau tweeted. A rundown from Newsweek’s Steven Asarch explains Amofah “is back on Twitter, this time to share a series of cryptic and, at times, anti-semitic messages … He has posted hundreds of times, sharing that he is a ‘god’, saying ‘he fears nothing’ and sharing a photoshopped image of him holding up a gun. In a quickly deleted tweet, Etika wrote ‘fuck the jews’ angering his already confused fan base.”
Microsoft is erasing Minecraft creator Marcus “Notch” Persson from any Minecraft anniversary plans, citing his “comments and opinions,” a spokesperson told Variety’s Brian Crecente. “The spokesperson also noted that Persson hasn’t been involved with ‘Minecraft’ since he sold the studio and rights to the game in 2014 … An update to the game last month removed loading screen text on ‘Minecraft’ that referenced Persson. Microsoft didn’t comment about the decision to remove the reference last month.”
Jagex had a great 2018. It reported “higher revenues than at any point in the company’s history,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports. “The RuneScape developer generated £92.8 million in the 12 months ended March 31, 2019, a year-on-year rise of 9.3%. It also grew profits before tax by 3.8%, now at £46.8 million.”
Nintendo removed A Dark Room from “the eShop after its creator sneaked in an ‘Easter egg’ that let people create basic apps,” Eurogamer’s Wesley Yin-Poole reports. “This secret code editor involves a programming language called Ruby.”
Internet provider Cox is selling “Cox Elite Gamer,” a $15-a-month service Cox claims will “reduce latency, disconnections, and ‘lag spikes’ by ‘finding the fastest path to your game server across the internet.’” Motherboard’s Karl Bode reports that reception has been mixed at best, with Reddit doing what Reddit does best: tearing it apart.
The transcript of Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s comments on Stadia from Alphabet Inc’s earnings calls can be found here.
Square Enix “said that it’s opening up more than 100 jobs at Square Enix Montreal and Eidos-Montréal,” VentureBeat’s Giancarlo Valdes writes. “Square Enix also plans on renovating and expanding Eidos-Montreal’s 55,000 square-foot office, adding in a new motion-capture studio, a photogrammetry studio, and a user research lab.”
The most-watched Twitch channels in the last week can be found courtesy of TEO.
Extra Esports News:
OGN announced its OGN Super League. “The company plans to host multiple esports events in the coming months, featuring eight different game titles,” TEO’s Hongyu Chen reports.
Partnerships:
Caesars Entertainment and UNLV are partnering, TEO’s Andrew Hayward writes. “The facility will replicate casino and resort elements—including an esports arena—for students and industry partners to use for testing and innovation purposes.”
CompLexity Gaming and MSI are partnering, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “As part of the deal, the organisation will exclusively use MSI’s desktops, video cards, motherboards, laptops, and monitors. The partnership will also include activations at trade shows and events.”
ORDER and Monash University are partnering “to form a team that will compete in League of Legends tournament Oceanic Challenger Series,” Fitch reports.
Rainbow Six HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas Minor information can be found here.
OUT: CoD pro Steven “Diabolic” Rivero retired.