Day 2 of our GamesBeat Summit 2019 kicks off this morning at the Two-Bit Circus micro-amusement park in Downtown Los Angeles. As with Tuesday’s program, we’re streaming live from our two stages — Boss and Hero. The action starts on the Hero stage at 9:15 a.m. (all times Pacific) with opening remarks from our co-emcees, […]
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March 2019 NPD: The Division 2 jumps over Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to lead sales chart
The Division 2 shows that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice isn’t too hard to beat — at least on the sales charts. But for the industry overall, March 2018 trumps March 2019, as total industry spend is down 11% compared to this time last year in the United States, market research firm The NPD Group reported […]
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Watch GamesBeat Summit 2019: Phil Harrison, Amy Hennig, Ted Price, and Vince Zampella headline Day 1
Our GamesBeat Summit 2019 event kicks off today at the Two-Bit Circus micro-amusement park in Downtown Los Angeles. We’ve got 97 speakers over two days — so many good talks, in fact, that we’re broadcasting live from two stages this year. We start streaming from our two stages — Boss and Hero. The action starts on […]
Read MoreIs there a new future for storytelling in interactive media?
Presented by NBCUniversal Every gamer has their “gateway game” — the one that got them into gaming in the first place. For me, it was the Infocom series of text-based adventures and in particular, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which was written by the novel’s author, Douglas Adams, in collaboration with Steve Meretzky. Adams […]
Read MoreQualcomm joins Tencent and Vivo on new AI initiative for mobile gaming
As smartphones become more powerful, they’ll be able to offer better artificial intelligence performance for gaming and other applications. Qualcomm wants to make sure that it stays at the bleeding edge of AI mobile technology, so the chipmaker is working with Tencent and Vivo on a new initiative called Project Imagination. The companies announced their […]
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Fortnite and Apex Legends propel Twitch to 2.7 billion hours watched in Q1 2019
Twitch continues to be the go-to destination for watching live video. According to a new report from streaming service company StreamElements and analytics firm Stream Hatchet, people watched 2.7 billion hours worth of content on Twitch in the first quarter of 2019, a 35% increase from the first quarter of 2018. But its rivals also experienced a […]
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Fortnite World Cup Creative focuses on the building aspects of the battle royale hit
Fortnite’s battle royale players can’t have all the fun. So for the upcoming Fortnite World Cup tournament in New York City, developer Epic Games announced a new competition: Fortnite World Cup Creative. It’s the largest competition from Epic centered around the game’s sandbox Creative mode. World Cup Creative will even have its own separate prize pool […]
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Esports organization Gen.G gets $46 million in funding from Will Smith and Stanford
The esports organization Gen.G announced today it has a completed a $46 million funding round that includes actor Will Smith as an investor. Gen.G, formerly KSV Esports, started in 2017. Its executive chairman and cofounder Kevin Chou was also the co-founder for mobile developer Kabam. It has teams competing in notable competitive games Overwatch, League […]
Read MoreGears 5 multiplayer to debut in new Eleague TV series on TBS
Microsoft is betting big on Gears 5’s esports potential. During the latest episode of Inside Xbox (Microsoft’s online series on Xbox news), the company revealed that it’s partnering with esports broadcaster Eleague to showcase Gears 5 multiplayer in a new TV series on TBS called Eleague Gears Summer Series: The Bonds and Betrayals of Brotherhood. […]
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Building games communities with YouTube, Twitch, and more at GamesBeat Summit 2019
More than 15 million unique daily visitors each spend an average of 95 minutes daily watching live gaming on Twitch; every day, more than 200 million people view gaming content on YouTube, and in the past year, people watched more than 50 billion hours of gaming videos on YouTube. With numbers like these, building a […]
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Sony files patent for PSVR esports tournament spectator tech
Own a PlayStation VR headset? One day you might be able to watch esports leagues from inside virtual reality. Sony recently filed a patent application titled “Spectator View Into An Interactive Gaming World Showcased In A Live Event Held In A Real-World Venue.” The patent describes using an array of cameras to make the VR user […]
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Our deep dive into how esports broadcasting differs from traditional sports
The world of sports entertainment is changing, and esports is the star player. Market researcher Newzoo forecasts that esports revenue will grow from $906 million in 2018 to $1.7 billion by 2021. In an esports panel at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas this week, we explored how esports will disrupt the […]
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GamesBeat Decides 115: Why is everything always rising?
The new teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Sunday’s Wrestlemania give us plenty to talk about on GamesBeat Decides this week. Also on this episode, co-hosts Mike Minotti and Jeffrey Grubb talk about Katana Zero and Pathway as well as more Sekiro and World of Warcraft. In the news, the crew talks about […]
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Make content moderation good for business — and change the world (VB Live)
Being called upon to strengthen content moderation has actually proven to be a plus for online communities, because it can actually boost user retention and encourage growth. To learn more about the changing landscape of online conversations, and how to get it right, don’t miss this VB Live event featuring veteran analyst and author Brian […]
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Technalysis: Gamers are willing to try multi-device cloud gaming
Cloud gaming’s second coming has been a big topic ever since Google announced its Stadia game streaming service will be coming this year. And a new report by research firm Technalysis Research suggests that gamers are willing to give cloud gaming a try if it means they can play their games across multiple devices. Technalysis did […]
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How Garena’s Free Fire competes with Fortnite and PUBG Mobile
Mobile apps are a difficult business to succeed in. The competition in mobile gaming is even tougher. Where can you grow your game? Where can you even just be competitive? If you look toward emerging markets and nail it, the payoff is huge, as these regions often have massive growth potential. But these markets do […]
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Xbox TV maintains lead for game industry ad spend in March
Xbox held its lead in March with 35.8% of the total gaming-industry spend on national TV advertising. Meanwhile, Nintendo and chart newcomer Respawn Entertainment were neck-and-neck with 25.7% and 23.6%, respectively. GamesBeat has partnered with iSpot.tv, the TV ad measurement and attribution company, to bring you a monthly report on how gaming brands are spending. […]
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The state of multiplayer gaming and how it’s going to change
Multiplayer gaming has been a staple of video games for decades. But while internet access has grown more reliable and faster for many people around the world, multiplayer gaming is not an exact science. Players often find their connections drop inexplicably. Companies find it hard to pull off a glitch-free launch of a brand new […]
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Call of Duty: Blackout rocks players with Alcatraz battle royale map
Call of Duty’s Blackout battle royale mode is getting a new map called Alcatraz tomorrow on PlayStation 4. This island locale has players fighting through a foggy, cramped environment. Like the real Alcatraz, a prison sits at the center of the rocky hill jutting out from the sea. Unlike the real Alcatraz, you can’t escape […]
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GameStop sponsors Complexity Gaming’s esports training center
Esports training facilities are turning into a big sponsorship opportunity. The latest to show that is esports organization Complexity Gaming, whose new performance center is being sponsored by game retailer GameStop. GameStop is announcing today a string of strategic partnerships in the esports space, including an alliance with Complexity Gaming, one of North America’s longest-standing […]
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