In The News
The Monday Blues — An Announcement:
The blues are hitting particularly hard today. I’ve made the exceedingly difficult decision to step back from my day to day duties with The Daily Walkthrough after 2 1/2 wonderful years. This newsletter has been my baby since its inception in 2017. It introduced me to the video game and esports industries and opened doors for me I never thought possible. I’ve made countless friends through TheDW’s publication and your constant support has played a large role in my drive to keep it going. But after more than 600 newsletters, it’s time for me to step away from The Daily Walkthrough.
My goal was — and always has been — to make your life easier. I hope I succeeded in that goal. I’m sorry I can’t continue to do so.
I will write the newsletter through this week with the final publication being on Friday, Sept. 20.
Be on the look out for the Daily Walkthrough’s new iteration later this month.
Thank you again for your support. It truly means the world.
Your Editor-in-Chief,
Katie Bedford
Weekend in Review:
Sales:
PlayStation 4 sales hit 30 million in the U.S., Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad tweeted. The U.S. is “approximately 30% of total PS4 sales.”
Game sales — including hardware, software and accessories — dropped “18% year-over-year to $666 million,” GI.biz’s Brendan Sinclair writes. “Year-to-date, the NPD figures put US spending on games down 6% from last year to $7 billion as of the end of August. Software sales have been slightly up over that stretch, but not enough to offset significant declines in hardware sales.”
Sweden’s gaming industry “generated combined revenues of €1.87 billion last year, up 33% compared to 2017,” GI.biz’s James Batchelor reports. “Profits for the industry were actually 25% lower year-on-year at €335 million, continuing the decline since 2016’s €872 million. However, this is the tenth consecutive year the industry has shown combined profits.”
Discord is removing its Nitro subscription service after lackluster interest. “We won’t be hitting Continue when these contracts come up for renewal. The Nitro Games catalogue will be removed on October 15th, 2019,” the blog post reads.
Investment:
Game Seer Venture Partners raised “$11.1 million (10 million euros) to invest in high-quality PC and console game projects,” VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. “The fund is run by Bertrand Vernizeau and Oliver Redelfs, who are veterans of game digital distribution (their games have sold more than 60 million copies).”
BetaDwarf raised $6.6 million to put toward “a new genre focused on friendship,” GI.biz’s Haydn Taylor writes.
Apple Arcade launches Sept. 19 “alongside iOS 13. It will come to iPadOS and tvOS on September 30, and finally arrive on MacOS Catalina in October,” Game Informer’s Brian Shea reports.
Extra Esports News:
Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez has left OpTic Gaming and joined NRG as co-CEO alongside Andy Miller.
Immersive Systems Inc. announced Immersive Esports, “a mobile application that states it’s ‘revolutionizing how fans follow pro esports,’” ESI’s Eva Martinello reports. Immortals Gaming Club and Complexity Gaming are 2 of Immersive Esports’ founding partners.
Partnerships:
NRG and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are partnering, according to a press release. “The Partnership will see NRG and its players raising awareness and driving donations through digital and live activations.”
N3rd Street Gamers and Rowan University are partnering “to develop a collegiate esports and academic program. The partnership will see N3rd Street Gamers invest over $1 million (£801,939) to build a 7,500 square foot facility dedicated to gaming on Rowan Boulevard in Glassboro, New Jersey,” ESI’s Jonno Nicholson writes.
OUT: Team Liquid and their Dota 2 team have parted ways.