In The News
Today’s top story can be found in the Extra Esports News section.
Nexon’s sale is dead in the water, it seems. It “failed to narrow the valuation gap with financial investors in the lack of strategic bidders,” The Korea Economic Daily reports. “Founder of Nexon, Jungju Kim, had sought to sell the majority stake held by himself, his wife and others in the holding company since early this year.”
Gumi is shutting its doors and laying off 32 employees, GI.biz’s Rebekah Valentine reports. The Japanese mobile developer is being hit by those laid off for “the circumstances of the closure, claiming gumi had officered ‘cheap severance packages,’ and that the Tokyo-based parent company had assigned undue responsibility to the European office for what the former employees say were ‘management errors.’”
Nintendo is reportedly looking to “add more consoles” to its subscription service, Game Informer’s Imran Khan reports. “Nintendo’s official response, without commenting on the specifics, is that they are looking into expanding the NES games.”
A British entertainment union is running a survey “on working conditions in the games industry,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports. “Launched with the intention of building a picture of industry working conditions in the UK, the survey results will inform recommendations BECTU will make to the APPG.” The survey is here.
Partnerships:
American Cancer Society and Skillz are partnering for “a series of charity esports tournaments to support the fight against cancer,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. “Through this new partnership, mobile gamers worldwide can compete in games powered by the Skillz platform and donate proceeds to ACS. The first tournament runs June 29 to June 30.”
Tilting Point and CookApps are partnering, Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports. “The multimillion-dollar deal was announced in a press release today, and sees Tilting Point offering platform relations, app store optimization, and potentially future live ops and monetization support to the South Korean studio for Toy Party.”
Final Fantasy XIV has a live-action TV series being developed. “It’ll be set in Eorzea, and delve into ‘the struggle between magic and technology in a quest to bring peace to a land in conflict,’” Engadget’s Kris Holt writes.
Extra Esports News:
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Team Liquid and Marvel are partnering, according to an announcement. “We are collaborating with the entertainment giant to bring together the worlds of heroes and professional gaming,” Team Liquid’s tweet reads. See the collaboration here.
John Deere will sponsor a Farming Simulator League team, TEO’s Andrew Hayward reports. “Other agricultural equipment brands Lindner, Horsch, Bednar, and Krone will also sponsor teams in the league.”
Charlotte Hornets have settled on a name for their esports team, The Charlotte Observer’s Katherine Peralta writes. “The Charlotte Hornets have selected a name and brand for their new esports team: The Hornets Venom GT. In choosing the name of the team, the Hornets wanted to ‘maintain synergy’ with the rest of the brand.”
Interviews: Justin “JWong” Wong (ESPN).
Happy birthday Li “TIME” Peinan and Jeffrey “Trump” Shih!