In The News
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is the first gamer to be featured on ESPN Magazine’s cover.
His apparel brand also launched.
Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds is taking a break to work on his behavior, he said in a letter. “I am not an emotionally empathetic kind of person and that probably doesn’t come as a big surprise to anybody … This week people in our community confronted me about my lifetime of not understanding emotions. My flippant attacks in emails have been both unprofessional and uncalled for … I am going to take time off and get some assistance on how to understand people’s emotions and respond appropriately.”
Kiss that sweet $$$ goodbye. Capcom lost some $40 million “on projects cancelled at its Vancouver studio,” GI.biz’s Matthew Handrahan writes. “Despite this significant hit, however, the company has not adjusted its financial outlook.”
An Australian committee put out a study claiming “loot boxes in games could lead to problem gambling,” PC Gamer’s Shaun Prescott reports. “Over 7,400 game enthusiasts were surveyed for the study, the results of which were presented during a public hearing in Canberra.”
Acquisitions:
Keywords acquired Trailer Farm and SoundLab, Handrahan reports. “Keywords closed another busy six-month period for acquisitions with both revenue and profit up around 70 per cent.”
Guinevere Capital, an investment group, acquired exceL Esports, TEO’s Trent Murray reports. “Guinevere Capital owns majority stakes in several Oceanic esports companies.”
Introducing Rogue, a new developer focusing on mobile games formed “of industry veterans … from Apple, IGN, and Kabam,” GameDaily.biz’s Sam Desatoff reports.
Wargaming opened a United Kingdom studio “which is looking to initially house a 25-person development team” for an “unannounced” MMO, GI.biz’s Christopher Dring reports.
InXile Entertainment’s Brian Fargo wants to buy back Interplay if The Bard’s Tale IV is a success, he tweeted. He confirmed to Variety’s Stefanie Fogel that his tweet was serious.
Interviews: Crystal Dynamics’ Rich Briggs (VentureBeat).
Extra Esports News:
The Washington Post’s Noah Smith is up with a piece titled “Is the future of esports in your pocket? Mobile gaming is already huge and getting bigger.” Here’s a snippet: “Mobile game spending is projected to rise more than 25 percent and represent the majority of all games spending, totaling about $70 billion in a $138 billion market…”
Halo Infinite (ilu) multiplayer will be designed with esports in mind, Microsoft’s Elizabeth Van Wyck said, according to Variety’s Brian Crecente. “‘In developing for the next [Halo] game, it is a key piece of how we think about how we built out multiplayer, which is the mode that our esports is built off of.’”
King Pro League is expanding outside China to include “Asia-Pacific teams,” Esports Insider’s Adam Fitch reports. “Eight teams from China, Korea, and South Asia will be invited to the 2019 King Pro League Winter Champion Cup.”
Acer and Red Bull Media House renewed “their esports content partnership,” TEO’s Brandon Brathwaite reports.
Hearthstone is “Introducing HGG Cheer.”
IN: Ninjas in Pyjamas is back in Dota 2 with a new roster.
Happy birthday Jun “TY” Tae Yang and Tymoteusz “ArT” Makaran!