In The News
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Police investigated a “threat at the headquarters” of Twitch Tuesday. “Officer Adam Lobsinger of the San Francisco Police Department told Business Insider on Wednesday morning that the police were investigating the threat at the headquarters. ‘We don’t have any suspect or know how credible the threat is at this time,’ Lobsinger said.’” Employees were allowed to work from home and “the investigation has been referred to the SFPD’s special investigations department.”
Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have agreed to begin disclosing “the odds of obtaining highly-sought-after gear inside loot boxes,” Engadget’s Kris Holt reports. “They’ll require all publishers of upcoming PlayStation, Xbox and Switch games to reveal the chances of earning rare items.”
2K Games sent “two private investigators” to YouTuber SupMatto’s home “and questioned him on behalf of Take-Two Interactive about leaked Borderlands 3 content on his channel,” PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports. “2K Games told IGN that it believes SupMatto and his followers did not simply stumble upon the information, but took advantage of a Twitch security exploit to capture screens of channel preview thumbnail that had been set to private in order to access it. 2K also revealed that it’s actually been investigating him for almost a year.”
The United Kingdom spent “almost £1.6 billion on video games in the first six months of the year,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports. “Games remains the highest-grossing sector of the entertainment market. In total, UK consumers spent £3.3 billion on games, music and video from January to June.”
Financials:
NetEase reported “an increase in both revenue and profit for the last quarter. In Q2 2019 NetEase saw revenue increase 15.3% year-on-year to RMB 18.7 billion ($2.7 billion), while gross profit was 12.2% for the period, to RMB 8.1 billion ($1.1 billion),” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor writes.
Nexon profits fell “by 40% in the second quarter, despite an increase in overall revenue. In the three month period ended June 30, 2019, Nexon earned ¥53.97 billion ($508 million) in revenue, up 13% over Q2 2018. However, its net income declined by 41% year-on-year to ¥19.14 billion ($180 million),” GI.biz’s Matthew Handrahan reports.
Eighteen percent of “all rating assessments for physical video games to date have resulted in an in-game purchases notice” from the ESRB, Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports. “That label itself was only implemented in April of 2018.”
Vreal, a VR streaming platform, is shutting down. “Vreal raised $15 million in venture capital since being founded in 2015, most of which came from an $11.7 million Series A round early last year,” Taylor reports.
EZ365 is launching a blockchain “ecosystem that combines a digital asset exchange, a cryptocurrency casino, esports betting, and a blockchain education portal,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi writes.
Animoca Brands will buy Quidd, “a maker of a digital collectible marketplace with 6.8 million unique users. The purchase price is as much as $8 million,” Takahashi reports.
Extra Esports News:
FaZe Clan and Burger King are partnering for a new burger, Dexerto’s Joe Craven reports.
IN: Keane and Souless joined Team SoloMid.
Interviews: MKLeo (ESPN).
Happy birthday Vladislav “Crystallize” Krystanek, Heitor “Duster” Pereira, Antoine “Dayshi” Stievenart and Manny “Fury” Medina!