In The News
Dear president, could you not? Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony drafted a letter to President Donald Trump “asking the administration to reconsider” a 25% import tariff on Chinese goods, Game Informer’s Imran Khan reports. “The letter makes several points, but the biggest takeaway is that the companies are asking for an exception to the tariffs based on how ruinous it would be for console sales.” You can read the letter here.
Does the gaming industry really give a damn about so-called “gaming addiction”? United Kingdom politician Damian Collins MP doesn’t think so. “Collins accused the industry of ‘waiting to be told what to do by others rather than having a standard of its own in regards to loot boxes and excessive playtime. I don’t think the industry is engaging with these topics directly, and that’s what’s been certain to us throughout the inquiry,’” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
Twitch:
The service is getting subscriber streams, it announced in a blog post. “If a viewer subscribes to a channel at any tier, including a Twitch Prime subscription, they’ll have access to that creator’s Subscriber Streams. If they’re not a subscriber and they arrive on a channel that’s running a Subscriber Stream, they’ll see a preview of what’s going on and, if they’d like, they’ll be able to join the party immediately by subscribing.”
Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm is back in action now that his two-week suspension for IRL streaming in public bathrooms at E3 is over. “His channel’s chat had to be put into subscriber-only mode to limit the number of messages being sent, even though he wasn’t actually streaming,” PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk writes.
Folks quite like substitles, Ubisoft has found. Ubisoft’s David Tisserand noted that “more than 60% of players eventually went into the option screen to turn” on subtitles in Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Additionally, when subtitles are on by default, “only about 5% of players entered the options to turn subtitles off” for Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and 3% for Far Cry New Dawn, GI.biz’s Brendan Sinclair writes.
Village Roadshow owns the rights to Myst for tv and film, Gamasutra’s Chris Kerr writes. The rights “will be used to develop a ‘multi-platform universe including film, scripted and unscripted television content.’”
Interviews: Square Enix’s Yosuke Matsuda (GI.biz).
Extra Esports News:
Anheuser-Busch is trying to trademark “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF ESPORTS,” Gerben Law Firm’s Josh Gerben tweeted.
The Quake® Pro League has been announced. Get the details here.
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Gen.G and Elite Open School are partnering, Esports Insider’s David Holingsworth reports. “As part of the partnership, the two will open a professional esports academy Gen.G Elite Esports Academy‘ in Korea.”
Team SoloMid and Venmo are partnering, TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports. “According to a source, the companies will activate around Fortnite player/streamer Ali ‘Myth’ Kabbani, as well as give money away via the Venmo app.”
GameStop and Justin Wong are partnering, Dot Esports’ Cale Michael writes. He will “create a 45-minute gaming clinic to support amateur esports players.”
The Gaming Stadium and GINX Esports TV Canada are partnering, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch writes. “GINX Esports TV Canada will work with The Gaming Stadium to produce and broadcast exclusive content.”
PVBET is sponsoring Evil Geniuses in a 2-year deal, TEO’s Eva Martinello reports. “This is the first Asian-focused sponsorship Evil Geniuses has ever signed.”
Jang “Moon” Jae Ho has been inducted into “the Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard,” ESL Gaming announced.
IN: Wizzrobe joined Team Envy.