In The News
Amazon provided this statement to VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb on the pirated games allegations: “‘Our customers trust that when they make a purchase through Amazon’s store — either directly from Amazon or from its third-party sellers — they will receive authentic products, and we take any claims that endanger that trust seriously. We strictly prohibit the sale of counterfeit products, and these games have been removed.’”
Twitch now has gifs. They’re partnering with Giphy, Variety’s Todd Spangler writes. “The new Giphy extension on Twitch allows viewers to post GIFs to a section of the screen.”
FOCUSAID and Loot Crate are partnering for a great cause. They’re raising money for Gamers Outreach with a Twitch stream “at 12:00PM PST on July 28th, at twitch.tv/lootcrate.”
Ubisoft boasted “a record first quarter … showing sales of $466.5 million,” VentureBeat’s Mike Minotti reports.
Madden senior producer Carlos Guerrero is out of a job. He violated “undisclosed company policies,” Game Informer’s Matthew Kato writes. “Roy Harvey is serving as executive producer until the spot is filled.”
The Washington Post’s gaming-inspired political Twitch show is up and running. “Political reporter David Weigel will interview prominent politicians … while they play video games,” Digiday’s Lucia Moses writes.
Ken Lord lost his lawsuit for a refund of his $4,500 backing of Star Citizen, Motherboard’s Matthew Gault reports. “The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, saying an arbitration clause buried in the Star Citizen end-user license agreement prevented Lord, or anyone, from taking RSI to court for a refund on a game that some backers think may never come out.”
Niantic acquired Seismic Games, Engadget’s Mariella Moon writes.
Funding News:
FRVR “completed a round of funding that will boost the firm’s international capabilities to the tune of $3 million,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports.
Blast “announced a top-off of its Seed Round at $12 million in conjunction with launching its app in the Google Play Store,” Business Wire reports.
AppLovin “has taken a $400 million investment from private equity investor KKR & Co,” GI.biz’s Matthew Handrahan reports.
Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider published a fanfiction extension of the series on Medium titled “The Final Conversation.”
Nolan North “will be taking over the voicework for Cayde-6 in Destiny 2: Forsaken” because Nathan Fillion wasn’t able to, Game Informer’s Derek Swinhart writes.
Hearthstone’s out with a Hearthside Chat titled “Hearthside Chat with Stephen Chang: Magnetic.”
Realm Royale has plans for invitations tournaments. They begin today. “Dubbed the Realm Royale Invitational, this tournament series will feature Champions of all types, from streamers to Masters-ranked players to community favorites,” the press release reads.