In The News
The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds team at Bluehole is becoming a subsidiary called PUBG Corporation, Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft reports. “PUBG producer Chang-han Kim will be the company’s CEO … PUBG Corporation already established a US office and is going to set up branches in Japan and Europe.”
Bluehole is also now reportedly valued at $4.6 billion, Bloomberg’s Yuji Nakamura and Sam Kim report. “The little-known company is now worth 5.2 trillion won ($4.6 billion), up five-fold in just three months.”
YouTube implemented changes toward Patreon accounts. “A YouTube representative confirmed to Polygon that links to Patreon and other external websites — merchandise shops, websites or crowdfunding platforms — aren’t being removed entirely,” Polygon’s Julia Alexander explains. “To help combat inappropriate and abusive content, YouTube is asking all of its creators to join the YouTube Partners Program in an attempt to better protect the content on its site.”
Some YouTubers are not happy with the change, which prevents channels with under 10,000 views from linking to Patreon at all.
Crafty people, Valve “will allow people to upload, print, and even sell objects based on its games” through a new partnership with Shapeways, “a 3D printing service that enables people to upload their designs for jewelry, toys, or whatever, and have them made into real, physical products,” PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports.
Cryotherapy is srs bsns. But really, the training esports athletes are beginning to partake in is not too dissimilar from traditional sports players. VentureBeat’s Aurangzeb A. Durrani explored some of the steps players have to take to keep in peak form. Here’s a portion:
“He states, ‘a strong core, perfect posture, hand-eye coordination, and strong forearms, hands, wrists and fingers. Additionally, professional gamers should be training with cardiovascular exercises, focusing on nutrition and…’”
No friends for you. FIFA fans loading up the game on their Nintendo Switch won’t be able to play with friends online, Pocket Gamer’s Emily Sowden writes. “FIFA 18 does have online play you can’t match with your friends.”
Rumble Entertainment belongs to Plarium. “Israeli developer Plarium, known for strategy MMOs such as Soliders Inc. has acquired Rumble Games, the studio responsible for mobile game KingsRoad,” Haydn Taylor at GamesIndustry.biz reports.
The Wii Shop Channel is going away Jan. 31, 2019. “Users will no longer be able to add Wii Points to their account from March 26, 2018,” Tamoor Hussain at GameSpot explains.
South Korea’s esports Hall of Fame nominees have been announced. Six players “across various esports will be added to the Hall of Fame in the ‘Stars Zone.’ A panel of judges made up of industry experts decided on the pool of 17 nominees, and an online vote will determine the six honorees. The chosen players will keep their places in the Stars Zone for the next year.” Thanks to Slingshot Esports’ Andrew Kim for compiling the list.
- League of Legends
- Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyun.
- Go “Score” Dong-bin.
- Kim “PraY” Jong-in.
- Bae “Bengi” Seong-ung.
- Bae “Bang” Jun-sik.
- Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho.
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.
- Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan.
- Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-hwan.
- Hong “Madlife” Min-ki.
- StarCraft
- Kim “Bisu” Taek-yong.
- Song “Stork” Byung-gu.
- Lee “Jaedong” Jae-dong.
- Heo “Jangbi” Young-mu.
- StarCraft 2
- Kim “sOs” Yoo-jin.
- Warcraft 3
- Jang “Spirit_Moon” Jae-ho.
- Crazy Racing Kart Rider
- Moon “Ho Jun Carry” Ho-jun.