In The News
All announcements from yesterday’s Nintendo Direct can be found courtesy of My Nintendo News.
International Game Developers Association released a statement in the wake of Alex Holowka’s death following sexual assault allegations against him and a host of other men in the industry. “Suicide is tragic and traumatic for those left behind. It is estimated that every suicide affects about 135 people – and everyone’s grief is very real. It is also important to understand that suicide is not caused by a single event or traceable to a single cause. It is the result of an accumulation of factors, often very complex…”
More events, please. They seem to be paying off for Niantic’s Pokémon GO. Sensor Tower estimates “the location-based AR game generated approximately $110 million worldwide in August” thanks to the Team Rocket event. “Last month’s revenue represented an increase of 44 percent year-over-year from the $76.6 million grossed by the title in July 2018. It was a 76 percent month-over-month increase from $63.5 million spent by players in July.”
Microsoft and SK Telecom are partnering, GI.biz’s Brendan Sinclair writes. “Project xCloud is getting a public preview in October as part of” the partnership. “Microsoft announced the partnership today, saying that SK Telecom would be the exclusive operating partner for its cloud gaming service in Korea.”
MWM Interactive is getting into publishing, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. It’s a rebrand from MWM Immersive, and “the division will publish Creature in the Well (a blend of hack-‘n’-slash games and pinball) from Flight School Studios.”
Sledgehammer Games is opening an Australian studio, GI.biz’s Matthew Handrahan reports. “The Activision-owned company will expand with an office in Melbourne, according to producer Alayna Cole, who is the new studio’s first official hire.”
Valve is updating Steam libraries, according to a blog post. Changes go into effect Sept. 17.
OUT: Ikumi Nakamura left ZeniMax and Tango.
Interviews: Mail.Ru’s Elena Grigoryan (GI.biz).
Extra Esports News:
Tfue used a racial slur while streaming Minecraft. While he deleted the video, clips remain. “Twitch declined to comment on Tenney’s use of the slur, which is explicitly against its community guidelines, saying only that it does not comment on individual streamers,” The Verge’s Bijan Stephen reports. “This isn’t the first time that Tenney has gotten in trouble for using a racial slur while streaming.”
BoomTV purchased American Video Game League and is expanding into collegiate esports. “The AVGL is one of the largest producers of collegiate esports events, content, and community initiatives. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. BoomTV is known for its popular biweekly event series Code Red, which reaches more than 5 million monthly users,” Takahashi writes.
IN: NRG Esports announced their Gears of War team.