November was another big month for video game hardware. Nintendo Switch outsold the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in terms of dollar sales, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. But this wasn’t just a win for Nintendo. It turns out that all three major systems came away feeling good from the Thanksgiving holidays. “For […]
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The video game industry in the United States was flat year-over-year in November, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. U.S. consumers spent $2.693 billion on hardware, software, and accessories. In November 2017, that number was $2.706 billion. Overall, the month was still strong considering it had a tough comparison to last year. “Gains in […]
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Path of Exile may be in for a Betrayal, but it’s not coming from its players. A studio spokesperson from Grinding Gear Games said today that the free-to-play online action-role-playing game set a new mark for concurrent players. The Betrayal expansion launched December 6 on PC, and Path of Exile reached about 189,000 players. Two-thirds of them […]
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Bonnie Ross is the Halo boss, and for that, she is being inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Ross is the 23rd recipient of the prestigious award from the peer-run body, the AIAS. She is one of the rare women honored by the industry for her achievements in the […]
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is already a huge hit in the U.S., with the fighting game selling over 3 million copies in just 11 days since its December 7 debut. This is according to Nintendo and industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. This makes Ultimate the fastest-selling Switch game in the U.S. yet, along with the fastest-selling installment ever […]
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Switch has become the fastest-selling console of this hardware generation in the U.S., according to Nintendo and industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. The home console/portable hybrid has sold 8.7 million machines in its first 21 months, the period from its launch in March 2017 through November 2018. That tops the U.S. performance of its two competitors, PlayStation 4 […]
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Supermassive Games is bookending the year in VR in much better form than it started. The Until Dawn developer’s first two games of 2018, PSVR’s The Inpatient and Bravo Team, have all but been forgotten following an unexpectedly lukewarm reception that led the team to vow it will do better in the future. Rest assured; Shattered State […]
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Monetizing esports is still a work in progress. The idea of watching people get paid to play games seemed far-fetched not long ago. But market researcher Newzoo estimates that 165 million esports enthusiasts are now watching esports, with that number expected to reach 250 million by 2021. Occasional viewers will drive those numbers to 557 […]
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Most gamers dream about being Ninja, a video gamer who became the No. 1 social “influencer” in sports — beating out Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Lionel Messi and LeBron James – by playing Fortnite, earning on average $400,000 to $500,000. That’s the crest of the Leisure Economy, or the economic change that comes as people get paid […]
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Heroes of the Storm isn’t dead. But it isn’t alive, either. Blizzard Entertainment’s announcement this week that it was ending Heroes esports entirely, shifting developers off the game, and “changing the cadence” of updates effectively stated that the game was shifting away from active development.The maudlin tone of the piece, even though it said the […]
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The age of the esports lifestyle brand has arrived. K-Swiss is launching its Immortals Icon sneaker today, tapping into the popularity of the Immortals esports organization. This is one of the multiple ways that esports will grow its monetization and eventually become a $1.7 billion business worldwide by 2021, according to market researcher Newzoo. Los […]
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Twitch has come a long way since it debuted in 2011 as Justin.tv. And now the company is making us feel teary with its livestreamed Twitch Holiday Spectacular, which is a special edition of Twitch Weekly that features guests from the community and highlighted big moments and milestones from 2018. The livestreaming division of Amazon said […]
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Indie developer Cowardly Creations and publisher Digerati announced today that the pixelated survival horror game Uncanny Valley is coming to Switch on December 25. Uncanny Valley has been on PC via Steam since 2015, were it has over 100,000 owners according to SteamSpy, although changes in Steam’s privacy policy. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions followed in 2017. […]
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Pixowl, the maker of The Sandbox voxel-based game world, has created a $2 million Creator Fund that it will use to reward artists for creating unique items on its blockchain-based gaming platform. Animoca Brands bought Pixowl in August for $4.875 million, in part because of Pixowl‘s plan to move into non-fungible tokens, or blockchain-based technology […]
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The video game industry is witnessing the death of the standard revenue split for distribution platforms. For years, stores like Steam have taken 30 percent of every sale. Valve, which owns and operates Steam, recently adjusted that. Then, last week, Epic launched its own store with the promise to only take 12 percent instead. Now, […]
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IronSource has a broad view of what is happening in mobile user acquisition, brand advertising, games, adtech, and even 5G technology. And that’s why I thought it would be interesting to talk with Tal Shoham, chief operating officer for developer solutions at IronSource. Shoham made some predictions about what will happen across categories as changes […]
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Intel and ESL announced today that they have extended their partnership, which will result in $100 million invested in esports initiatives through 2021. The two companies have been working together on gaming competitions for 18 years, which they call the longest partnership in esports. The $100 million will go to developing technology and creating new […]
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Pokémon Go Trainer Battles are live, which means that players can engage in direct player-to-player duels for the first time. Niantic said today that players can now fight in player-vs.-player Trainer Battles at levels 10 and up in Pokémon Go. The new feature comes two-and-a-half years after the debut of the location-based game, which has generated more […]
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The single-player component of Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Rastakhan’s Rumble, is out not on PC and mobile. The new solo mode, Rumble Run, is free for all players. Hearthstone is the king of the digital card game market. The game has over 100 million registered players. Gaming intelligence group SuperData expects it to make $414 million this year, […]
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More than 60 percent of esports fans on Twitch said that they have followed esports for more than four years, according to a research study by market researcher Nielsen. In contrast, among the broader U.S. esports audience, only one in 5 have been following this long, with 23 percent new to esports within the past year. […]
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