In The News
Niantic:
Niantic is suing “members of Global++ for allegedly offering ‘unauthorized derivative’ (read: hacked) versions of Pokémon Go, Ingress and even the still-in-beta Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” Engadget’s Jon Fingas reports.
The company also purchased “London-based Sensible Object, a games developer probably best known for blurring the lines between digital and table-top gaming,” Engadget’s Rachel England writes.
Epic Games acquired Houseparty, a social video app. “Terms of the deal were not disclosed and for the time being, Houseparty and Epic Games accounts will remain separate,” H.B. Duran at TEO reports.
Twitch is attempting to sue streamers who flooded the Artifact section with porn and memes, PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports. “It filed a lawsuit against the people who took part in the trolling for trademark infringement, fraud, breach of contract, and unauthorized use of its services.”
The Oculus Quest has sold “$5 million in content sales” so far, TechCrunch’s Lucas Matney writes. “At launch the company’s store had just over 50 titles available to download, with a mixture of free titles and games costing as much as $30.”
Make-A-Wish International and StreamElements are partnering for a good cause. They’re raising “$50,000 for the charity that helps grant wishes to children with critical illnesses,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports.
Looks like the Gears of War movie will have nothing to do with the games, Makuch reports. “The Gears Of War movie is set in an ‘alternate reality’ separate from the mainline Gears of War video game series, and this is what could help it rise above the history of video game movies being mediocre or worse.”
Frontier Developments is expecting “its annual revenue will double following last year’s launch of Jurassic World Evolution,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
My.Games launched My.Studio, “an investment initiative to find and fund a new triple-A game developer,” Takahashi writes. “My.Games will work closely with the winner on development, customer support, legal and studio operations. The winning studio will have legal and creative independence.”
Littlestar started “a dedicated PlayStation4 app this week, giving users of Sony’s game console access to their personal media libraries, as well as both traditional and 360-degree video content from a variety of publishers,” Variety’s Janko Roettgers reports.
Nintendo promoted Eiji Aonuma to deputy general manager.
Interviews: Square Enix’s Yosuke Matsuda (VentureBeat), Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick (VentureBeat, GI.biz, Variety, GameSpot), Nexus’s Mike Belton (GI.biz), Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney (The Wall Street Journal), Xbox’s Phil Spencer (Variety).
Extra Esports News:
Congratulations to 100 Thieves on winning back-to-back majors at CWL Anaheim!
Congratulations to Mindfreak on winning back-to-back Mountain Dew Amp Game Fuel Open Brackets at CWL Anaheim!
ESL and Sony are hosting a Call of Duty charity event, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “Gaming4Life Call of Duty Charity Tournament … will see Australian Call of Duty players compete to raise funds for Sony’s ‘You Can‘ initiative, which builds specialised youth centers for patients with cancer aged between 15-25.”
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Dignitas and Esports Entertainment Group are partnering, Fitch reports. “The deal aims to ‘provide safe and transparent’ esports betting to fans of the organisation.”
EPICENTER Major and SAP are partnering, Esports Insider’s Laura Byrne reports. “SAP will collect and display in-game figures such as net worth and patch records in real time, connecting them to esports tournament broadcasts. This will allow fans, observers and broadcasters to analyse full data from every game.”
Acer and Intel are sponsoring META High School Esports, Esports Insider’s Thomas Lace writes. “META has stated that the sponsorship will allow them to fund further gaming peripherals, secure venues for tournaments, and expand their reach to high school esports enthusiasts.”