In The News
Tsk tsk, don’t game on the job people. Especially if you’re a member of Congress. Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife were indicted by the Department of Justice “for allegedly using $250,000 in campaign money for their own personal expenses,” ABC News’s Mike Levine reports. Those expenses included a lot of Steam games. A lot.
Gamescom Awards 2018 winners are out. GI.biz’s Rebekah Valentine has the full list. Spider-Man won “Best PS4 Game.”
Speaking of awards, medals for esports in the 2022 Asian Games “is uncertain,” TEO’s Sara Elsam reports. “The Olympic Council of Asia states that esports requires one governing body before it can be recognized as a medal event.”
Devin Delliquanti and Daniel Radosh, writers for “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” will host the 2019 New York Game Awards, Variety’s Stefanie Fogel writes.
Zynga’s making a Star Wars title. “Zynga has cut a multiyear deal with Disney to make a future Star Wars game, giving the publisher access to one of the biggest licenses in the gaming industry,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports.
Facebook won’t take a 30% cut of “Instant Games in-app revenue on the Android platform,” Takahashi reports.
Sport1, a German tv station, is “developing their own esports television network,” Unikrn’s Dustin Steiner reports. “The company has been broadcasting esports events since 2016, including Dota 2, CS:GO, and League of Legends events.”
2K Games is “working to comply with the BGC’s current interpretation of” loot box laws in Belgium, according to a press release. NBA 2K’s MyTeam mode is affected.
Valve’s up with a “Steam for Linux” post announcing it’s “releasing the Beta of a new and improved version of Steam Play to all Linux user.”
Partnership News:
Mousesports and SNIPES are partnering, TEO’s Trent Murray writes. “SNIPES will produce team apparel and a streetwear collection for the team.”
MotoGP eSport Championship and Lenovo are partnering, Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports.
Extra Esports News:
Interviews: ESL’s Jens Hilgers (TEO) and Team Liquid’s Victor Goossens (CNBC).
Call of Duty News:
OpTic Gaming’s Seth “Scump” Abner’s confirmed he’s not retiring.
Interviews: Evil Geniuses’ Adam “Assault” Garcia (Dot Esports).