In The News
Tencent has raised “a bond sale worth almost $6 billion,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports. “Tencent has roughly $20 billion cash on hand and has raised this money in order to retire old debts and general corporate purposes.”
The European Commission “charged Valve, the owner of a video distribution platform, and five game publishers on Friday with preventing EU consumers from shopping around within the European Union to find the best deal for the games they offer,” Reuters reports. “The case is the latest move by EU antitrust regulators against cross-border curbs on online trade, key to what is seen as a major part of economic growth in the 28-country bloc.”
QC Games is shutting down, PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports. “Breach Starter Packs and QC Points will no longer be available for purchase as of today, but the servers will remain online for now.”
Snapchat “will begin rolling out a series of games made exclusively for Snapchat, including one it developed itself called Bitmoji Party,” Engadget’s Edgar Alvarez reports.
Jam City acquired “a studio in Germany, giving the company its first European operation. Berlin-based 231 Play will now be rebranded Jam City Germany, with founders Matthias and Thomas Hoechsmann still managing development and operations,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports.
The Elder Scrolls: Blades surpassed “one million iOS users in its first seven days, despite being playable by invitation only,” Sensor Tower writes. “Invite or not, the single largest portion of those who have rushed the Elder Scrolls: Blades’ early access gates have been from the United States.”
Minecraft on PC “has sold over 30 million units since its 2009 launch,” GI.biz’s Rebekah Valentine writes. “Across all platforms, Microsoft revealed last October that the game had sold over 154 million copies and was seeing 91 million monthly active users.”
Extra Esports News:
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
ELEAGUE and AXE are partnering, TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports. “AXE will sponsor this weekend’s ELEAGUE x Rocket League Game Zone at the Final Four Fan Fest in Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
Font Vella is sponsoring “Team Queso, X6tence, Mad Lions, and Vodafone Giants,” Hayward writes. “The brand, which is owned by Danone, will release special edition water bottles for each team featuring their logo.”
Porsche is partnering “with subscription-based racing simulator iRacing. iRacing will host the manufacturer’s official world championship, which commences on April 13 at the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama, U.S.A,” Esports Insider’s Thomas Lace writes.
Allied Esports is rebranding “the ELC Gaming brand, instead rebranding its European arm as Allied Esports. ELC Gaming was fully acquired in September when Allied Esports obtained the remaining minority shares to join its majority holding,” Hayward writes.
IN: FC Barcelona picked up a Rocket League team.
Interviews: Freaks 4U Gaming’s Jens Enders (TEO).
Happy birthday Johnnie “Ratsmah” Lee!