In The News
The US International Trade Commission is investigating Nintendo over the Switch. “Gamevice, the company behind the Wikipad and a line of snap-on controllers for mobile devices, says the Nintendo Switch violates its patents,” Engadget’s Jessica Conditt reports. “Alleging violations of the Tariff Act of 1930, Gamevice is requesting a cease and desist order against Nintendo.”
The Federal Trade Commission “has ruled that the warranty policies of six companies violate their marketing principles and practices regarding voiding warranties,” Game Informer’s Imran Khan writes. “The FTC has warned Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, ASUS, Hyundai, and HTC.”
John “Totalbiscuit” Bain announced he’s retiring as a game critic on Reddit yesterday, and touched briefly on his fight with cancer and plans for his channel moving forward.
Partnership news:
The National Association of Collegiate Esports and Hi-Rez Studios are partnering, according to a press release. NACE “signed a partnership agreement with Hi-Rez Studios to build varsity esports competition in SMITE and Paladins.”
Vivox and INAP “announced a multi-year deal between INAP and Vivox Inc., the leading provider of voice and text chat for the most popular video games, for colocation and Performance IP services at INAP’s Boston data center,” a press release states.
Unikrn’s Dustin Steiner reports Imagine Dragons became “part owners of Rogue through an investment in parent company RektGlobal.”
NBA 2K League:
Events DC and Monumental Sports & Entertainment are partnering “to make Events DC a sponsor of Wizards District Gaming, beginning with its inaugural season in 2018, as a member of the NBA 2K League,” a press release reads.
The Esports Observer’s Trent Murray reports “NBA 2K League announced a controller partnership with Scuf Gaming.”
Esports Insider’s Lydia Mitrevski reports that “Cavs Legion, owned operated by the Cleveland Cavaliers, announced Quicken Loans’ Rocket Mortgage would be joining Hot Pockets as the organisations founding partner.”
Mitrevski also writes that “Vertagear announced their full sponsorship of the Miami Heat’s HEAT Check Gaming.”
In-app Facebook purchases here we come. “Facebook is adding support for in-app purchases to its Instant Games platform,” TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez reports. “The feature will allow game developers to add another form of monetization beyond advertising to their games on select platforms, but not on iOS.”
Financial news:
Loot boxes are doing a lot of heavy lifting for the games market, GamesIndustry.biz’s James Batchelor reports. “Juniper Research expects the digital games market to be work $160 billion by 2022, thanks largely to the ‘increasing prevalence of loot boxes’. By comparison, the firm reports the market is currently worth $117 billion.”
Batchelor also writes that “UK developer Sumo Digital … transitioned from being majority owned by funds managed by Perwyn LLC to becoming a publicly listed company … Perhaps most impressive is that by the end of 2016 the studio was £52.2m in debt, but as of December 2017 has a cash balance of £12.4m.”
Interviews:
Online Performers Group founder Omeed Dariani was interviewed by CNBC’s Andrew Evers about managing online talent.
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins was interviewed by Forbes’ Tom Ward about Twitch and streaming.
Team SoloMid’s Ali “Myth” Kabbani received a citation award from Dearborn, Mich. for being “recognized as a ‘stand up’ guy,” Dexerto’s Calcium reports.
Dota 2 will get Funko Pops, Dot Esports’ Patrick Bonifacio reports. “Funko announced the upcoming Dota 2 figurines on its official Twitter account, unveiling five different heroes.”