In The News
YouTuber Desmond “Etika” Amofah has been found dead “a week after he went missing,” CBS News’s Sophie Lewis writes. “The New York Police Department said Amofah went missing on the night of June 19. Authorities found his body in the East River on Monday after responding to a call about a person floating in the water near South Street Seaport, a department spokesperson told CBS News.” He was 29 years old.
Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, “argued that store exclusives will ultimately benefit gamers” in a Twitter discussion. “Sweeney said that stocking the Epic Games Store with PC exclusives is the only effective way of ending the standard 70/30 revenue split imposed on developers,” GI.biz’s Matthew Handrahan reports.
A whopping 70% of European gamers aren’t interested in “video game streaming services,” GI.biz’s Christopher Dring writes. “15% of the surveyed gamers (defined as anyone playing games via any device) are interested in a Netflix-style streaming service for games … The remainder either ‘don’t now’ (12%) or already utilise a service … Just 3% of gamers claimed to be ‘very interested’ in such a streaming service.”
Razer has dropped streamer Gabriela Cattuzzo after she called men “trash” in an argument on Twitter, Vice’s Nicole Carpenter reports. Razer Brazil said her comments constituted “extremism.”
Rovio is suing Angry Birdz Nashville Hot Chicken over an alleged trademark violation of its Angry Birds games. “Rovio sent a cease and desist to the restaurant owners in February and says has communicated with them since, but has been unable to resolve the issue,” GI.biz’s Rebekah Valentine reports.
EA has patched a multitude of Origin vulnerabilities that could have exposed user accounts thanks to an investigation by Check Point Research and CyberInt. “The potential damage could have involved an attacker gaining access to a user’s credit card information and the ability to fraudulently purchase in-game currency on behalf of the user,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports.
Facebook Gaming and StreamElements are integrating, TEO’s H.B. Duran reports. “The new Facebook Gaming integration includes OBS.Live, an add-on to StreamElement’s Open Broadcast Software for video recording and streaming.”
OUT: Frank Azor is leaving Dell and Alienware.
Interviews: Hello Games’ Sean Murray (GI.biz), The Coalition’s Rod Fergusson (IGN).
Extra Esports News:
The University of North Texas is offering an esports scholarship, Dallas Observer’s Juan Betancourt reports. It “will become the first public university in the state to offer scholarships to current and upcoming students. Scholarships totaling $20,000 will be awarded to 25 to 30 students who will compete in the 2019-20 varsity season.”
ICON Esports acquired Chiefs Esports Club, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “The two brands will be combined to further strengthen the position of Chief Esports Club’s presence in the Oceanic region.”
J.Storm and Hyperice are partnering, Fitch writes. “The deal will focus on esports demographics in both North America and Asia, the two regions that J.Storm primarily occupies. The organisation will work with Hyperice to advertise health and wellness in the industry.”