In The News
SuperData is reporting that millennials spend “an average of $112 a month on gaming content,” VentureBeat’s Mike Minotti writes. “That is more than any other age group, including the Gen X and Gen Z demographics. SuperData notes that 71 percent of millennial gamers watch video game content on sites like Twitch and YouTube. The average millennial gamer will spend about $29 a month in donations to video content creators.”
GameStop shares took a 39% tumble , GI.biz’s Brendan Sinclair writes. “The company is trading at $4.78 … GameStop’s results showed revenue down 13.3%, and while it still posted a net profit, it was considerably less than in the year prior. While the revenue was lower than analyst expectations, the company left its full-year guidance unchanged.”
Apple is dealing with a class action lawsuit over alleged “profit killing” monopoly practices brought by app developers. “The case will be put before the US District Court for Northern California by law firm Hagen Berman; in it Apple is alleged to have violated federal antitrust law and Calfironia competition law,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
EA’s renaming Wilhelm Franke, a Battlefield V character who accidentally has the same name as “an actual member of the anti-fascist resistance in Germany before and during the Second World War,” PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports.
Azarus raised $1.8 million “to build out its blockchain-based ‘Smart Challenge’ platform, which offers gamers the ability to compete for digital assets in both casual and competitive gaming challenges,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports.
Blizzard Entertainment cancelled an unannounced game it worked on for two years, GameSpot’s Eddie Makuch reports.
People Can Fly opened a New York studio.
Interviews: ESA’s Stanley Pierre-Louis (VentureBeat).
Extra Esports News:
Infinite Esports & Entertainment was reportedly hemorrhaging $1 million a month, Medium’s Amanda Zelauskas writes. “All of Infinite’s expenses which include infrastructure costs, staff salaries, athlete salaries, travel, and more lead the company facing a major problem with recovering that cash. It is alleged that Infinite Esports began to lose over $1 million each month.” What’s more, a glut of employees allegedly meant a lot of people being paid to sit around. OpTic Gaming CEO Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez said on the Eavesdrop podcast that he “saw about 30 people sitting at their desks either on social media or browsing the internet because they had nothing to do.”
FaZe Clan is dealing with another lawsuit “with a now-defunct company called Hubrick, which originally launched as a social media focused platform,” The Blast’s Mike Walters reports. “Hubrick helped FaZe shoot to stardom by helping the gamers organize their network and funding the early stages of Faze and Clout Gang growth, including recruiting top esports players and helping build the vlog channels on YouTube.”
ESPN announced EXP, a gaming series “featuring esports competitions at ESPN-owned events, which kicked off in May at the first-ever Collegiate Esports Championship,” ESPN announced.
Cooldown Ventures acquired Vexed Media, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch writes. “Cooldown Ventures will operate out of Vexed Gaming’s offices in Manchester, UK.”
Introducing Cinema Loves Esports, “a platform which brings esports viewing to German cinemas” from KAYDEE and MMmedia, Esports Insider’s Laura Byrne reports. “Starting July 7th, 30 cinemas will broadcast the final day of ESL One Cologne, with the Rainbow Six: Siege Major then following in August.”
Partnerships & Sponsorships:
Wizards of the Coast and Red Bull Esports are partnering “for a Magic: The Gathering tournament series offering a $200K USD prize pool. Red Bull Untapped will host Magic: The Gathering Arena online qualifiers June 29-30, offline qualifiers July 6-7, and the finals on August 4,” TEO’s H.B. Duran reports.
Benefit Cosmetics is sponsoring GIRLGAMER Sydney Festival. “Brand activations are still in the planning stage, but will likely include signage and product demos, according to a spokesperson for GIRLGAMER,” Duran reports.
IN: Team Sirius added Yang “InJuly” Xiaodong and removed He “Inflame” Yongzheng from their Dota 2 roster.
Happy birthdays Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan and Gareth “Gareth” Bateson!