In The News
E3 2018 News:
Reddit megathreads: Ubisoft, PC Gaming Show and Sony.
Announcements: Ubisoft, PC Gaming Show and Sony.
Please refer to the stickied post in Releases for updated trailers. Poor Cayde-6.
And then there’s Death Stranding. I’ll just let that trailer speak for itself.
Entertainment Software Association President Mike Gallagher, at a Monday breakfast, discussed cable networks missing the esports boat — and the implications that may have. Here’s a snippet of “ESA President Predicts Regret In Cable Networks’ Future If They Continue To Ignore Esports.”
“The indicators are already there. Eventually, those same media centers of power, they’ll either make the right decision or they…”
Gallagher also took a shot at the National Rifle Association. “‘We know the NRA makes those arguments,’ he said. ‘We also know they’re going to bear the burden of history. We will continue to be successful with policy makers as the industry continues to grow,’” Chris Morris reported for Fortune. “Gallagher was present earlier this year at a summit convened by President Donald Trump focusing on violent video games. After that meeting, he says, many senators in attendance were convinced there was no connection between games and real world violence.”
Bomberman franchise developer Shoji Mizuno has passed away, Gamasutra’s Alex Wawro reports. “It’s unclear what happened, but on Monday morning a link to a blog post memorializing Mizuno’s life and work was published by the Twitter account of former Hudson Soft executive and frontman Toshiyuki Takahashi.”
Congratulations to Detroit: Become Human on 1 million sales.
Steam is coming to China, PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports. “Valve has announced a new partnership with Perfect World Co. to launch Steam China, which ‘will provide Chinese gamers and developers with a new way to access Steam’s expansive selection of games and entertainment.’”
Playground Games creative director Ralph Fulton spoke with GI.biz’s James Batchelor about their acquisition by Microsoft. “‘One of the real opportunities of our new status as a first-party studio is being on the inside of all the things Xbox is doing to push gaming forwards. We’re really excited about Matt [Booty, head of Microsoft Studios]’s vision for first-party. Being on the inside of that, being about to participate as a first-party studio, will enable us to do more. And ultimately when we think about the teams back at Playground, that will be to their benefit. I genuinely believe our best is yet to come because of this.’”
New Jersey “passed a law legalizing sports betting within the state starting on Thursday, June 14th,” Unikrn’s Chase Wassenar reports. “However, this new law excludes esports betting for events that take place in the United States, which have been labelled as “prohibited sports events” alongside high school events.”
Partnership News:
Sephora is sponsoring GIRLGAMER Esports Festival, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “This festival celebrates, supports, and celebrates women’s inclusion in esports and competitive gaming. It’ll include an esports business conference, as well as competitions in both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends. There will also be a public Clash Royale tournament.”
Kings Guard Gaming and CEEK VR are partnering, TEO’s Trent Murray reports. “The VR company is also partnered with Magic Gaming. CEEK VR hopes to offer live VR experiences for NBA 2K League matches in the future.”
ELEAGUE and Kraken Rum are partnering, Fitch writes. “ELEAGUE has added yet another non-endemic sponsor to its seemingly ever-growing roster by welcoming Kraken Black Spiced Rum as its official distilled spirits partner. The deal officially kicked off during the ELEAGUE Street Fight V Invitational.”
Open and Close:
Tripwire Interactive “has opened a new publishing division to help other indie studios bring their projects to market,” Chris Kerr at Gamasutra reports. “It intends to tailor each publishing deal specifically for each partner and their game.”
InnoGames is closing its “Dusseldorf office by the end of 2018,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor writes. “The developer said it hopes the majority of the 29-member team will relocate to its headquarters in Hamburg, to work on its currently unannounced mobile MMO.”
Once again, Ninja topped the streaming charts on Twitch for most hours watched last week at 5.6 million. Shroud came in 2nd at 2.2 million and TSM_Myth in 3rd at 1.7 million.