In The News
The joys of E3 came to an abrupt halt Monday when the World Health Organization announced it fully intends to include “gaming disorder” in its latest Internal Classification of Diseases. Push back from the gaming community was predictably fierce, with the likes of Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, Xavier Woods and the Entertainment Software Association voicing their disapproval. You can find WHO’s official “gaming disorder” page here.
The Daily Walkthrough’s Katie Frates also spoke out against the decision Monday evening on Fox Business.
Mobile app revenue is taking no prisoners, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. “Marketing-driven revenue from mobile apps has grown 80 percent since 2016, according to a new report … The report cites an increasingly competitive market and dwindling rates of retention — the ability for an app to hang onto users — as having pushed app marketers to rely more on data to measure and optimize revenue.”
Curious how bad your “gaming disorder” is? There’s a page on Steam that lets you see how much money you’ve spent! Check it out here.
GameStop is reportedly toying with buyout options, Reuters reports. “Video game and electronics retailer GameStop Corp is holding talks with private equity firms about a potential transaction after receiving buyout interest, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.”
Investment News:
Critical Force raked in “$6.3 million [in] funding to scale the growth of its flagship game, Critical Ops,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports. “The mobile esports FPS has over 40 million downloads, and the funds will be channelled towards operation of a global Critical Ops esports system.”
Scopely netted an additional “$100 million as part of its Series C round,” Variety’s Todd Spangler reports. It “raised $100 million from Greenspring Associates, a fund-of-funds that is a limited partner in several venture-capital funds, and Horizons Ventures.”
Sensible Object, “the London-based games company known for Beasts of Balance, announced today that it has raised $3.2 million to be used toward research and development for board game experiences that will utilize Amazon Alexa,” Gamasutra’s Emma Kidwell writes.
Razer is “leading $3.3M funding for Australia-based Esports Mogul,” TEO’s Graham Ashton reports. “Funding will be used to develop the Mogul Arena platform for mobile, and fund user acquisition and monetization pushes.”
Partnership News:
Red Reserve and Advocate are partnering, according to a tweet. “From Hardpoint to S&D, @Redreserve played their hearts out yesterday. Couldn’t be more proud to have them as the first team on the @Advocategg platform.” Advocate is a livestreaming “sponsorship management platform for brands, agencies, and teams.”
“US Sports Camps executive vice president Justin Hoeveler has launched a new company called Esports Camps,” TEO’s Trent Murray reports. Esports Camps will partner with Esports Arena.
E3 Interviews:
Take-Two Interactive’sStrauss Zelnick did an interview with Takahashi at E3. Here’s a snippet: “‘Historically, in entertainment, people take positions like that, but there are also people saying that it won’t work if it’s not a free-to-play battle royale. People really are…’”
Elijah Wood spoke with Variety’s Brian Crecente about Transference. Here’s a snippet: “‘It’s a game, it’s definitely a game,’ he said in a private upstairs room at LA’s Orpheum Theatre following Ubisoft’s E3 press conference last week. ‘This isn’t just a…’”
Hires:
NBA executive Jack Harari joined Activision Blizzard “as vice president of international partnerships,” TEO’s Ben Fischer reports.
Esports Agency Damage hired “Engine Shop co-founder Ed Kiernan and former Blizzard COO Paul Sams,” Fischer writes. “Both Kiernan and Sams are equity-holding partners, and Sams also has been granted the title of co-founder because of his informal role since the founding.”
The top streamer of last week for hours watched on Twitch was once again Ninja at 6.3 million, according to TEO. Shroud came in 2nd with 2.6 million and Dakotaz in 4th with 1.9 million.
Cloud9 announced their Rainbow6 Siege roster. Check it out here.