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June 2019 Archive

    1. UK retail charts: Super Mario Maker 2 overtakes Crash Team Racing at No.1
    1. EA Access launches July 24 on PS4
    2. Niko Partners: Legal console sales in China to overtake grey market with Switch, next-gen launches
    3. Nutaku launches $5m investment fund for LGBTQ+ games
    4. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: The messy world of live streaming and Treyarch's QA underclass
    5. N3twork: "You can't control your audience"
    6. Hyperice partners with J.Storm in health and wellness push for esports pros
    7. Media union launches survey on games industry working conditions
    8. European Charts: Crash Team Racing takes pole position
    9. iPhone designer Jony Ive leaves Apple
    10. Is crunch being solved or just outsourced? | Opinion
    1. Google Stadia games will remain available to purchasers even if pulled from store
    2. Nexon reportedly no longer for sale due to lack of buyers
    3. Razer Deathadder mice have sold 10m units
    4. Tilting Point to invest at least $20m into CookApps
    5. Indies on Steam concerned Summer Sale promotion is hurting Wishlisting
    6. My Friend Pedro sells 250k in its first week
    7. Gumi shuts down Paris office, laying off 32
    8. Which gaming hardware manufacturers may have funded human rights abuses in 2018?
    9. How FIFA's The Journey revolutionised EA's approach to diversity
    10. Industry tells UK lawmakers it wants more research into gaming disorder
    11. Green Man Gaming gears up for first console launch
    12. Riot Games teams up with Nielsen to measure brand exposure for esports sponsors
    13. Square Enix: "We always look out for new IP"
    14. DrDisrespect returns to Twitch after ban over E3 livestream
    15. Wolfenstein: Youngblood will not be altered for German release
    16. Animoca Brands acquires Gamma for a potential $2.5m
    1. Myst to be adapted for TV and film
    2. Stories of crunch, neglect for QA at Treyarch
    3. Twitch introduces Subscriber Streams
    4. British technology inquiry chair says industry is only "paying lip service" to gaming addiction
    5. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo: 25% tariff on consoles would cause "disproportionate harm"
    6. PUBG Corp. taps Glen Schofield to lead new studio
    7. Cory Barlog: "We're now able to give actors meaty performances, as opposed to just doing voice"
    8. Ubisoft sees high acceptance for opt-out subtitles
    9. Sean Murray on No Man's Sky: "I thought we were making a niche game"
    10. Kolibri reaches 100m downloads with Idle games
    11. EA sees Bioware's Anthem on "seven to ten year cycle"
    12. Just 15% of European gamers are interested in Google Stadia and xCloud
    13. Charity livestream raises $3.7m for children's hospital
    14. Tim Sweeney: "Unpopular" Epic Game Store exclusives are working
    15. Steam ending support for Ubuntu
    1. Rovio sues California chicken restaurant over Angry Birds trademark
    2. Razer cuts ties with streamer following Twitter remarks about men
    3. Desmond 'Etika' Amofah found dead at 29
    4. Forge of Empires reaches €500m in lifetime revenue
    5. Humble Bundle has raised over $150m for charity
    6. Inside made you feel like an unwelcome guest
    7. Commodore 64 gets retro re-release
    8. Saving Fallout 76
    9. Nintendo chooses Israel for its second official store
    10. UK industry needs to get gaming graduates up to scratch | Opinion
    11. Square Enix launches charity fundraising campaign for first responders
    12. Microsoft reportedly cuts internal content teams at Inside Xbox and Mixer
    1. "Iwata Asks" developer interviews will become a book
    2. Trust Esport invests €1.5m in smartVR
    3. The subtle art of crisis management
    4. League of Legends reportedly blocked in Iran
    5. Bungie delays Destiny 2 patch to avoid crunch
    6. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite generated $1.7m less than Pokémon Go on day one
    7. UK Charts: Crash Team Racing puts the bandicoot back at No.1
    1. Sega sees streaming's potential to reach new audiences
    2. Making the most of a digital office space
    3. Bungie raises over $400k for St Jude Children's Research Hospital
    4. Superdata: PUBG sells 4.7m digital units year-to-date
    5. GAME asks shareholders to accept Sports Direct buyout
    6. Crystal Dynamics: The Avengers is the biggest thing we've ever done
    7. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Why do we need unions?
    8. FIFA 19 Global Series breaks viewership records
    9. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 2 dominate UK download charts
    10. Square Enix "Ethics Department" advised changes on Final Fantasy VII character
    11. Blizzard loses global esports director Kim Phan
    12. Amazon's struggle is a reminder that content is still king | Opinion
    1. Minecraft: Education Edition adds Immersive Reader
    2. Steam now has an official LGBTQ+ tag, hub page
    3. Valve launches first mobile game
    4. Patrick Söderlund's $20m retention bonus didn't leave EA with him
    5. YouTube reportedly under investigation over alleged child protection breaches
    6. Seven years on from Oculus Rift's launch, how far have we come? | Opinion
    7. Spil Games sells mobile division to Azerion
    8. Four more publishers and investors join GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit at PAX
    9. Epic and EA execs squirm under scrutiny from British MPs
    10. Ustwo Games appoints Maria Sayans as CEO to help multi-project development
    11. Ubisoft: Watch Dogs Legion will encourage players "to think differently"
    12. CD Projekt Red: "Everyone is feeling the pressure on Cyberpunk 2077"
    13. Alpha Protocol removed from Steam as music rights expire
    1. Magic Leap suing ex-employee for stealing tech to make his own XR headset
    2. Call of Duty, Pokemon dominate GameStop pre-orders in wake of E3
    3. How is Game Pass adding so many indie titles at launch?
    4. From Pokémon to Harry Potter: Niantic's hopes for Wizards Unite
    5. Tickets on sale for GamesIndustry.biz Summer Party in Brighton
    6. Blood & Truth, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Hellblade and more among VR Awards finalists
    7. Shifting Tides' sojourn to a non-boring puzzle game
    8. Bernie Sanders endorses game industry unionisation
    9. Fallout Shelter reaches $100m lifetime revenue
    10. Twitter data shows Nintendo as the winner of E3 2019
    11. Twitch acquires Bebo to bolster esports push
    12. Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour honoured at Games for Change Awards
    1. NPD: May 2019 was the worst May for new releases since 1998
    2. Niko Partners: NetEase to continue transformation from domestic giant to global company in 2019
    3. Niko Partners: Game for Peace expected to bring in nearly $1b by year's end
    4. EA names Sam Ebelthite as UK and Ireland boss
    5. Newzoo: Mobile, console install base to drive global games market to $152.1b in 2019
    6. Why Niantic bought a tabletop game developer
    7. Bluepoint co-founder Andy O'Neil dies
    8. Nicky Romero invests in ReKTGlobal
    9. Frontier Developments expects double annual revenue thanks to Jurassic World Evolution
    10. Lumberyard at heart of Amazon Game Studios' development woes
    11. How Fortnite has paved the way for Wargaming Nexus' mobile assault
    12. Devcom's first wave of speakers includes Remedy, Splash Damage and Compulsion Games
    13. Niantic acquires Sensible Object
    14. Twin Mirror Japanese release cancelled
    1. Take-Two expects shorter gaps between releases
    2. Oculus VP: "We believe Quest is the first VR hardware that has potential to become a viable medium"
    3. Twitch sues users who filled Artifact category with porn, violence, racism, and misogyny
    4. Minecraft Story Mode for Xbox 360 gets massive price hike
    5. Xbox and Cyberpunk 2077 won the battle for media coverage at E3 2019
    6. D3T details first ever Wellbeing Week
    7. Sweeney: Sony enabling cross-play was "one of the greatest moments in Epic's history"
    8. Gamelab conference has five free passes for GamesIndustry.biz readers
    9. Don't let ego kill E3 | Opinion
    10. Women accounted for 21% of E3 stage presenters, just 5% of game protagonists
    11. Niantic files lawsuit against "hacker" group
    12. UK charts: Sony's Days of Play sale means no change at the top
    13. Nintendo promotes Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma
    1. Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake lead online pre-orders post-E3
    1. NPD: Nintendo likely to end the year as best-selling publisher
    2. Amazon Game Studios lays off "dozens"
    3. Steam update changes In-Home Streaming to Remote Play
    4. Playtonic: “We are never using the term spiritual successor again”
    5. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: E3 Aftermath (2019 Edition)
    6. Keanu Reeves: "Games don't need legitimising"
    7. The GamesIndustry.biz E3 Award Winners
    8. 83% of gamers potentially interested in streaming services
    9. ZeniMax shuts down fan remake of Doom
    10. Nintendo "evaluating" streaming, but focused on physical and downloads
    11. Next-gen expectations overshadowed E3 | Opinion
    12. E3 attendance drops slightly for 2019
    13. Forza Horizon 4 reaches 10m players
    1. EA holds Building Healthy Communities Summit, pledges to fight toxicity
    2. ThinkGeek closes site, moves in with GameStop
    3. AppOnBoard acquires BuildBox
    4. Guerilla lead producer Patrick Munnik dies at 44
    5. Fallout Shelter is coming to Tesla cars
    6. Stardock reveals Cider Cloud engine
    7. Sea of Thieves reaches 8.4m lifetime players
    8. Square Enix subscription service would focus on classic titles
    9. Square Enix eyes its own subscription service
    10. Only 17% of E3 games are non-violent
    11. PUBG Mobile daily users pass 50m, downloads pass 400m
    12. Mobile games are losing to video in the battle for users' time
    13. Human Fall Flat developer opens Tenerife's first games studio
    14. Riot Games accused of non-compliance with gender discrimination investigation
    15. The Witcher 3 has passed 20m lifetime sales
    16. Nintendo pledges continued support for the 3DS
    17. Konami rebrands PES as eFootball PES
    1. Against Gravity raises $24m for VR development
    2. Vanessa Gill and Damon Packwood named Global Gaming Citizens
    3. Immortals Gaming Club acquires Infinite Esports & Entertainment
    4. Esports Global Fund launches next month backed by British Esports Association
    5. Streamer Dr Disrespect has E3 badge revoked after filming in public bathroom
    6. ReKTGlobal acquires Greenlit Content
    7. There was only one thing missing from Nintendo's E3 | Opinion
    8. Epic acquires social platform Houseparty
    9. Game streaming has not arrived | Opinion
    10. Star Control legal dispute was resolved by a phone call and mutual love of beekeeping
    11. Destiny 2's migration to Steam is not a snub to the Epic Store
    12. Bethesda's Pete Hines: "E3 needs to be something all of us support"
    13. Nintendo partially pulls Switch production out of China to limit damage by US tariffs
    14. Frontier signs first deal as third-party publisher
    15. UK digital charts: GTA V No.1 but Blood & Truth was definitely the best-selling game
    16. Nintendo: Animal Crossing delay means avoiding crunch
    17. Konami to launch TurboGrafx-16 Mini console
    18. Keywords Studios acquires Descriptive Video Works Inc
    1. Dauntless reaches 10 million players
    2. Atari VCS goes on pre-sale in the US starting at $250
    3. Ooblets will now be self-published on Xbox One and PC
    4. Breath of the Wild 2, Banjo-Kazooie and The Witcher 3 headline Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct
    5. Phil Spencer: "It would be nice to buy a Japanese studio"
    6. Shenmue III is an Epic Games store exclusive on PC
    7. "There is no downside to Game Pass," says Playground Games
    8. Novaquark raises additional $11.2 million for Dual Universe
    9. Unity faces lawsuit as John Riccitiello accused of sexual harassment
    10. YouTube can't be trusted with Google Stadia | Opinion
    11. Ubisoft: Watch Dogs Legion "has a message for sure"
    12. Star Control creators settle legal battle with Stardock
    13. FromSoftware's Dark Souls series has now shipped 25m units
    14. Zynga proposes $600m convertible note sale
    15. Microsoft ends Xbox One backwards compatibility efforts to focus on Project Scarlett
    16. Facebook: $5m in Oculus Quest software sold since launch
    17. Microsoft to host X019 in London this November
    18. FFVII and Avengers bookend Square Enix's hour of announcements, commercials
    1. Phil Spencer on Project Scarlett: "We want to be compatible across all generations"
    2. Epic Games store offering a free game every week for 2019
    3. Ubisoft fills E3 hour with Tom Clancy games and Watch Dogs Legion gameplay
    4. Ubisoft enters subscription battleground with Uplay Plus
    5. Double Fine confirms no layoffs to publishing team after Xbox acquisition
    6. Publishers can put their own separate subscriptions on Google Stadia
    7. Super League Gaming acquires Framerate
    8. Xseed Games' controversial credits policy only names current staff members
    9. "Big exclusive games win the day, and Stadia does not have any"
    10. Xbox's Phil Spencer: Our next console will have a disc drive
    11. Intellivision opening European office
    12. Microsoft confirms no Forza Motorsport 8 in 2019
    13. UK Charts: Sony's Days of Play campaign puts FIFA 19 back at No.1
    14. Phantasy Star Online 2 will launch in North America only next year
    15. Double Fine: Xbox deal won't change multi-platform Psychonauts 2 release
    16. Microsoft forms dedicated Age of Empires studio
    17. Bethesda's E3 revealed new IP from Tango Gameworks, Arkane Lyon
    18. Bethesda unveils Orion game streaming tech
    1. Xbox closes E3 2019 conference with Project Scarlett, coming Holiday 2020
    2. Xbox adding Remote Play-style console streaming, xCloud preview launches this October
    3. Microsoft will launch new Xbox console next year
    4. Microsoft buys Double Fine Productions
    5. Xbox Game Pass PC launches today
    6. E3 2019: Every story and announcement in one place
    1. EA signs fresh indie publishing deals with Zoink, Glowmade and Hazelight
    1. Epic exclusive Satisfactory sells half a million copies in three months
    2. The Elder Scrolls Online has reached 13.5m players
    3. Ubisoft says avoiding messages is part of making "more mature games"
    4. ESA launches new website
    5. Pole to Win CEO: Building a team that will retire with you
    6. Tencent sells a quarter of its stake in Glu Mobile
    7. Can Sports Direct halt the gradual demise of GAME?
    8. Starbreeze granted extension to its reconstruction period
    9. Sony sets December 2020 release date for Uncharted movie
    10. Playground Games: "Crunch has no place in modern development"
    11. Dignitas merges with Clutch Gaming
    12. Larian Studios will not "participate in the exclusivity game" with Baldur's Gate III
    13. AAA game downloads on the brink of overtaking physical in Europe
    14. Naughty Dog taking Uncharted 3, The Last of Us PS3 servers offline
    15. Sony: There is "no scenario where the PlayStation and Xbox platforms combine"
    16. Bungie to launch free-to-play Destiny 2 in September
    17. Konami's PES 2019 mobile game hits 200m downloads
    18. Are we witnessing the end of the console wars? | Opinion
    1. Blizzard reportedly cancels StarCraft FPS to focus on Overwatch, Diablo
    2. Vox Media staff stages one-day walkout over union contract
    3. Google Stadia's paid subscription service launches in November
    4. Read GamesIndustry.biz Magazine Issue 3 right now
    5. SuperData: US millennials spend $112 a month on gaming
    6. E3 2019: A complete guide to the press conferences
    7. Epic collaborates with dance creator on Fortnite emote
    8. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: E3 Expectations (2019 Edition)
    9. Devs hit Apple with class action lawsuit
    10. Anita Sarkeesian: "No more excuses for the lack of women at E3"
    1. People Can Fly opens New York studio
    2. Take-Two CEO: "Fortnite never affected the industry"
    3. GameStop shares plummet nearly 39%
    4. Who really won E3 2018?
    5. Tencent reportedly gives up on Arena of Valor
    6. Sports Direct makes £51.9m offer for GAME
    7. "Women and men need to sponsor -- not mentor -- women in the industry"
    8. YouTube harassment of gay journalist "doesn't violate our policies"
    9. Eight ways your games can inspire climate action
    10. GamesIndustry.biz to host David Braben keynote at Develop:Brighton 2019
    11. Mobile developer DoubleJump accused of cloning
    12. Sony: Microsoft cloud partnership was a response to Google Stadia
    13. Gearbox names Borderlands 3 gun after fan with terminal cancer
    1. Institute of Play shutting down
    2. GameStop quarterlies show slumping sales
    3. (Religious Game) Developer or Religious (Game Developer)?
    4. YoYo Games closes publishing division
    5. Starbreeze lays off a quarter of its staff in further efforts to cut costs
    6. To Infinite and beyond: Attracting new Halo fans without a new game
    7. Art of Coding campaign seeks to add Demoscene to UNESCO cultural heritage list
    8. Quantic Dream pushes into third-party publishing with new hire
    9. Jobs Roundup: Christian Baur takes over as new head of Gamescom
    10. Shenmue 3 delayed for the third time
    11. Netflix and Avengers: Endgame directors working on a Magic: The Gathering TV show
    12. Google to reveal Stadia pricing information this week
    1. PlayStation Plus prices to rise in Asia and Europe
    2. Xbox One and PS4 controllers now supported on Apple TV
    3. Stillfront Group acquires Kixeye for $90m
    4. Discovery launches Discovery Game Studios for licensing, distribution
    5. Missed Kinect-tions - E3 in the time of motion controls
    6. First UK digital chart: Total War: Three Kingdoms was last week's true No.1
    7. Coherence: "Lowering the barrier to entry has always proved to be a game changer"
    8. Batallion 1944 passes 250,000 sales on PC
    9. The balance between fact and fantasy when building game worlds
    10. Cuphead arriving on Tesla dashboards later this year
    11. Next-gen consoles must not "segregate" Rainbow Six community
    12. Two of Korea's largest gaming firms bid for Nexon parent company
    13. Online gaming disorder test calls for volunteers
    14. Niantic discontinues Pokémon Go for Apple Watch
    15. Support for Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode will end this month
    16. UK Charts: Blood & Truth is the first VR game to claim No.1