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October 2019 Archive

    1. Esports tournament platform Mainline closes $6.8m funding round
    2. Modern Warfare dev compares game's "awareness building" to Schoolhouse Rock
    3. Project Witchstone: The indie RPG trying to replicate the freedom of Dungeons & Dragons
    4. Hinterland's future plans include movies, publishing, and The Long Dark 2
    5. Google's DeepMind AI ranks higher than 99.8% of StarCraft II players
    6. "Substantially improved" profitability for games doesn't prevent sales dip for Sega
    7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Critical Consensus
    8. Profits down 48.1% for Rovio Entertainment in Q3
    9. Codemasters renews F1 partnership until 2025
    10. Nintendo profits up after Switch Lite shifts 1.95m units in first 11 days
    1. Zynga posts record-setting revenues, net bookings in Q3
    2. 78% of gaming preteens also watch online gaming videos
    3. Red Games officially goes independent
    4. Ubisoft: "Our goal is to put cross-play on all the PvP games we have"
    5. Ubisoft's Q2 earnings lean heavily on Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six Siege
    6. PlayStation Now hits 1 million subscribers
    7. Luigi's Mansion 3: Critical Consensus
    8. The Climate Trail: A bleak look at what awaits us if we fail to address climate change
    9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare grosses $600m in opening weekend
    10. PlayStation revenues down 17% but Sony's financials hold steady
    11. Cloud gaming service Shadow raises $33m
    12. Potential store closures on the horizon as GAME conducts property portfolio review
    13. Pokémon Go surpasses $3bn lifetime revenue
    14. Sponsor abandoned Blizzard esports league after Blitzchung controversy
    15. New Zealand government commits $10m to growth of local games industry
    16. BAFTA announces Breakthrough Brits 2019
    17. Call of Duty Modern Warfare decried as 'American propaganda' over Highway of Death mission
    18. EA shows its hand for next fiscal year
    1. EA will not ship an NBA Live game this fiscal year
    2. The Sims franchise surpasses $5b in lifetime sales
    3. EA "doubling down on live services" as digital net revenue share grows in Q2
    4. Wizards of the Coast acquires Tuque Games
    5. Jobs Roundup: Antstream Arcade taps CNN vets for CMO, CDO roles
    6. WeWork parent considering gaming business
    7. Sony to shut down PlayStation Vue in January
    8. Mario Kart Tour's first-month downloads zoom past 123m
    9. Ninja Theory launches mental health R&D effort
    10. Shattering Muslim stereotypes with Islamic Relief's mobile game
    11. Money laundering prompts Valve to halt CS:GO in-game key sales
    12. EA returns to Steam
    13. Three ways game marketers can dominate Tiktok.
    14. Scopely announces $200m in Series D funding
    15. Shigeru Miyamoto recognised with Japanese cultural award
    16. Modern Times Group considering US IPO as esports business grows
    17. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne drives profit for Capcom in latest financials
    18. Sony files trademarks for PlayStation 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
    19. Switch China launch draws nearer as Tencent approved to publish Mario Bros U DX
    20. Why I hate fun | Opinion
    1. Death Stranding no longer a PlayStation exclusive as 505 Games prepares PC version
    2. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Gods, Monsters, and Delays
    3. Alberta eliminates game dev tax credit after just one year
    4. Star Theory's shot beyond the Mun with Kerbal Space Program 2
    5. Xbox All-Access expands to UK and Australia with Project Scarlett upgrade option
    6. New community management AI from FaceIt bans 20,000 players in trail run
    7. Epic sues tester who leaked Fortnite Chapter 2 details
    8. Sony considering sale of PlayStation Vue
    9. Ubisoft delays Watch Dogs Legion, Gods & Monsters, Rainbow Six Quarantine
    10. UK Charts: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launch sales beat Black Ops 4
    11. One company's cast-off can be Deca Games' treasure
    1. The French games industry had over 1200 titles in production in 2019
    2. Starbreeze restarts Payday 2 content production ten months after pulling the plug
    3. League of Legends: Understanding the success of an esport that doesn't turn a profit
    4. Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville was the No.1 game download across EMEAA last week
    5. Enterprise revenue expected to jump 69% this year as VR takes hold in business
    6. Media Molecule wants Dreams games published "to other devices and beyond"
    7. Ubisoft sues Rainbow Six Siege cheat provider MizuSoft
    8. Sony issuing refunds for faulty WWE 2K20
    9. Google Stadia's stealth launch does not inspire confidence | Opinion
    1. Gameloft partners with TIM Italy for new mobile subscription service
    2. My.Games sees Q3 revenue driven by free-to-play mobile
    3. Greedfall success drives H1 growth for Focus Home Interactive
    4. Yves Guillemot: "We have no pay-to-win elements in our games"
    5. Backflip Studios shutting down
    6. Mixer signs exclusive deal with Shroud
    7. The Outer Worlds: Critical Consensus
    8. The Last of Us Part II delayed to May 29
    9. Bethesda acquires Alpha Dog
    10. Xbox has paid out $1.2 billion to independent developers this generation
    11. Heaven Media acquires Little Big PR
    12. GameClub's "greatest hits anthology" of mobile games launches today
    13. European gamers wary of digital-only games consoles
    14. UKIE partners with Space Ape and Playmob on environmentally conscious game jam
    15. Empires and Puzzles surpasses $500m lifetime revenue
    16. AMD joins Blender Development Fund
    17. Suda51 and Swery collaborating on new game, Devolver unaware it's the publisher
    18. Sumo Digital opens new Warrington studio
    19. Google is making a "spectrum of bets" on Stadia content
    20. Former Xbox exec Mike Ybarra joins Blizzard Entertainment
    1. RektGlobal acquires Fullcube
    2. Fortnite's "The End" event set Twitch record for concurrent viewers of a single game
    3. Microsoft kicks off FY20 with flat gaming revenues
    4. Andrew Yang: "Games are intrinsic to the human experience"
    5. Bethesda introduces Fallout 1st subscription to Fallout 76
    6. How Riot Games' Legends of Runeterra will bring "true free-to-play" to the CCG space
    7. New law means EA could revive NCAA sports games
    8. Tencent takes majority control over Supercell
    9. Jagex denies reports it has been sold (again)
    10. Crytek veterans launch $6m annual fund for games startups
    1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare won't be sold on PS Store in Russia
    2. Ring Fit Adventure: Critical Consensus
    3. Fortnite tumbles down digital spending charts
    4. Mordhau wins top honours at Central and Eastern European Game Awards
    5. Can Need For Speed turn up the heat after 25 years?
    6. Starborne studio sees a universe of potential
    7. Nicecactus.gg raises €5m, launches €1m esports player fund
    8. Reboot Develop Red's final schedule adds ArenaNet, Magic Leap, Funomena
    9. YouTubers Life passes $12m lifetime revenue
    10. Children's Commissioner calls for ban on all non-cosmetic in-game purchases
    11. Haven is about "cooking, chatting, drinking, kissing -- that's very French"
    12. Riot's automated filters accidentally censor Muslim minority
    1. Former Eidos president Keith Boesky dies
    2. MadBox raises $16.5m to broaden mobile portfolio
    3. Anuman Interactive becomes Microids, opens Japan office
    4. Former Zynga CMO joins Twitch
    5. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Should Nintendo go third-party? And other questions
    6. Autonauts: Motivating players without conflict
    7. Yodo1's AI-driven whale hunt is a bad look for the games industry | Opinion
    8. Academic research finds no evidence of gaming as a clinical disorder
    9. UK boss Harvey Eagle moves to global Xbox Live role
    10. THQ Nordic expands to Japan
    11. FIFA 20 supporting Premier League's No Room For Racism campaign
    12. UK Charts: Switch dominates as Ring Fit Adventure leads slew of new releases
    1. US legislators: Blitzchung ban could have "chilling effect" on free speech
    2. Humble Monthly becomes Humble Choice
    3. Saber Interactive acquires Bigmoon Entertainment
    4. Onmyoji server shut down in Vietnam for violating local sovereignty laws
    5. Unity to raise subscription prices
    6. What Tilt Five learned from the funding, focus stumbles of CastAR
    7. Persona series clears 10m lifetime sales
    8. FIFA 20 tops EMEAA chart for a third consecutive week
    9. Three million square miles of wilderness: How Silk advances a lost genre
    10. Deadtoast's My Friend Pedro nears 500k sales
    11. Should Nintendo go third-party? GamesIndustry.biz answers gamers' questions at EGX 2019
    12. Xbox Game Pass users are playing 40% more games -- including outside Game Pass
    13. Big spending whales aren't the problem with free-to-play games | Opinion
    1. NBA 2K20 slam dunks with best US launch month sales of any sports game ever
    2. Mario Kart Tour was the third most-downloaded mobile game in Q3 2019
    3. Nintendo Switch has sold over 15m units in North America
    4. Call of Duty tosses loot boxes along with Season Pass, DLC map packs
    5. Google Stadia's controller is wireless, but only on TV at launch
    6. Tilting Point acquires monetization firm Gondola
    7. Deca acquires four games from Gree
    8. National Literacy Trust and Penguin Random House researching link between games and literacy
    9. "All I understood was the company wanted me to work, so I worked, worked, worked"
    10. Unit 2 Games secures $5m investment from Makers Fund
    11. Diversity isn't only skin deep: Accommodating autistic and neurodiverse people
    1. Ubisoft Entrepreneurs Lab continues blockchain focus
    2. US Hearthstone players banned for Hong Kong protest
    3. Google ending Daydream
    4. Analogue shows off Pocket retro portable
    5. German regulator begins process to ban Coin Master game
    6. How does the games industry solve its problem with music licensing?
    7. Sold Out ramps development efforts with key new hire
    8. Space Ape Games: "Chasing whales is not our strategy"
    9. Check out the GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair line-up
    10. Riot expands beyond League of Legends with rivals to Overwatch, Hearthstone and Street Fighter
    11. Stellaris mobile beta taken offline over stolen Halo assets
    12. Kine: From "artsy bullshit" to Stadia launch title and Epic exclusive
    13. Chris Remo, Denis Dyack and Austin Wintory added to Reboot Develop Red
    14. Untitled Goose Game honoured at Australian Game Dev Awards
    1. Ex-Bungie president wants to offer "a job that fits in your life, not something that rules it"
    2. UPlay+ subscribers report repeat charges, suspended subscriptions, other issues
    3. Capcom: "We minimize gacha elements in the mobile games we develop"
    4. Google Stadia Pro launches November 19
    5. Two Hat: Stop tweaking your game and start fixing your community
    6. G2A: "There's no place in a business like ours for shadiness or fraud"
    7. Here's everything GamesIndustry.biz is doing at EGX
    8. Blizzard cancels Overwatch live event at Nintendo World in New York
    9. UKIE prepares no-deal Brexit advice
    10. Microsoft introduces swear filters for Xbox
    1. Halo Infinite lead producer Mary Olson leaves 343 Industries
    2. Fortnite "shuts down" ahead of battle royale's Chapter 2
    3. Bendy and the Ink Machine studio Kindly Beast lays off just under 50
    4. World of Warcraft sees Q3 streaming rise
    5. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Can Blizzard recover from Blitzchung?
    6. FIFA 20 retains No.1 as Grid reaches Top Five
    7. Latinx in Gaming takes over PAX South
    8. PUBG Mobile is highest-grossing smartphone game in Q3
    9. Blitzchung says he will "be more careful" following Blizzard statement
    10. NorthEdge Capital acquires Curve Digital parent Catalis
    11. What we can learn from... successful game teams
    12. Creative England launches new £24m investment fund
    13. Daybreak Game Company suffers more layoffs
    14. Hiro Capital is "determined to fill the post-seed gap" with new €100m fund
    15. Video sharing platform Medal.tv acquires Megacool.co
    1. Blizzard: Chinese interests "had no influence" on Blitzchung ban
    1. Esports mobile startup Meta Games gets $2m
    2. Mixer's other co-founder also leaves Microsoft
    3. Starbreeze splits into two new companies
    4. Blizzard forces name change for gay guild
    5. Riot Games directs casters and players not to discuss politics on air
    6. Blizzard "assessing the situation" surrounding blitzchung's ban as more protests mount
    7. Busy September charts see FIFA 20 take No.1
    8. FIFA 20 tops EMEAA charts for second week since launch
    9. PlayStation partners with InnovateHer on digital bootcamp for young girls
    10. Riot Games: "We aren't telling anyone to avoid saying 'Hong Kong'"
    11. Riot Games files trademark lawsuit against esports organisation Riot Squad
    12. Publishers risk being trapped between the US and China | Opinion
    1. Summerfall Studios breaks new ground with Chorus: An Adventure Musical
    2. Niantic announces Wayfarer program to improve in-game play locations
    3. Millennial Esports acquires YouTube channel LetsGoRacing
    4. Adi Shankar working on another video game TV series, this time for Far Cry 3
    5. FIFA 20 sees 10 million players in three weeks
    6. Changing mental health depictions in games
    7. Steam to add ability to play local co-op games with friends online
    8. Warner Bros partners with IO Interactive for new game
    9. Nerd Street Gamers raises $12m for building esports facilities
    10. Rocksteady and Creative Assembly under fire over Video Game Tax Relief
    11. Esports' ongoing data competition: PCU v. ACU v. AMA
    12. Apple is selling Xbox controllers
    13. New charity Safe In Our World focuses on mental health in the games industry
    14. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery reaches $150m in revenue
    15. The enduring appeal of simulation games
    16. Nintendo Switch sales in Europe pass 10m
    17. Blizzard employees organise walkout following Hong Kong controversy
    18. Ustwo Games accused of union busting
    19. Livestream of Germany shooting removed from Twitch
    20. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Welcome to the Fampany
    1. Mike Ybarra departs Microsoft
    2. Sony Interactive Entertainment EU reportedly lays off "dozens" amid restructuring
    3. Epic won't take action against Fortnite players who speak up about Hong Kong
    4. Mario Kart Tour's Gold Pass has potential - if done right | Opinion
    5. Vicarious PR expands to publishing with new label
    6. Oxenfree reaches 3m downloads
    7. Five Vectors raises $1m in seed funding to make music for esports
    8. Eight essential ways to use sound in video games
    9. Harold Ryan sets up ProbablyMonsters
    10. Blizzard backlash escalates following Hong Kong supporter ban
    11. Developers and publishers partner with War Child UK for Day of the Girl sale
    12. What's going on with PlayStation? | Opinion
    13. Jessica Curry to host new Sound of Gaming show on BBC Radio 3
    1. Atari VCS architect quits, citing six months of missed payments
    2. Call of Duty Mobile sees best first-week downloads of any mobile game
    3. Utopos Games raises $1m for machine learning game
    4. Man breaks into Valve, steals $40,000 of equipment, games
    5. Raw Fury opens new Croatian studio
    6. Doom Eternal delayed to March
    7. Microsoft expands Windows/Xbox family settings to Android
    8. PlayStation 5 set for holiday 2020
    9. Charting the darker periods of history in Humankind
    10. PUBG Mobile envisions esports for casuals
    11. NPD Group: 73% of Americans play video games
    12. NHS targets gaming addiction with new specialist clinic
    13. Redundancies expected as Rovio reshuffles its licensing division
    14. Epic Games faces class action lawsuit in Canada over "Fortnite addiction"
    15. Blizzard dismisses Hearthstone player for supporting Hong Kong protests
    16. Sony temporarily removes Facebook integration from PS4
    17. Mixer viewership down in Q3 despite Ninja's exclusivity deal
    1. Epic, minor accused of cheating in Fortnite settle copyright suit
    2. GWU Australia survey shows 19% of direct employees aren't making minimum wage
    3. Can supporting esports communities deliver returns for publishers?
    4. Tenacious Entertainment raises $3.3m
    5. Monster Hunter World has sold 14m units
    6. Meet the Star Wars, Civilization and Borderlands developer you've (probably) never heard of
    7. Stardew Valley creator clarifies relationship with Chucklefish following exploitation accusations
    8. Former Nintendo lawyer and Kirby namesake John Kirby dies
    9. The UK games industry is at a regulatory crossroads | Opinion
    10. Fortnite Professional Players Association formed
    11. FIFA 20 remains leagues ahead in UK charts
    1. FIFA 20 arrives atop EMEAA charts
    2. Playable Worlds has a 'different mindset' on engagement
    3. Call of Duty: Mobile surpasses 35m downloads in just three days
    4. One Special Day - Friday, October 4
    5. CVC Funds acquires $400m minority stake in IronSource
    6. ArenaNet co-founder leaves to start new studio
    7. Five misconceptions about the Chinese games market
    8. GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit meeting deadline today
    9. Croteam co-founder leaves for Google Stadia
    10. Acquisition and conversion costs threaten a mobile bust | Opinion
    1. Unity acquires ChilliConnect
    2. EA leaks FIFA Global Series player data
    3. Sauropod Studio responds to concerns surrounding layoffs, sexism, studio's status
    4. Gearbox and its former lawyer agree to drop lawsuits
    5. WGA drops video game award category
    6. Bringing non-endemic brands to esports... and keeping them
    7. Raph Koster launches new MMO studio with $2.7m in seed funding
    8. Discord confirms layoffs
    9. NBA star invests to become co-owner of RektGlobal
    10. How one game studio is trying to tackle the loneliness epidemic
    11. Independent film producer looks to adapt ten game IPs
    12. Apple Arcade is a short-term fix with far reaching consequences | Opinion
    13. SAG-AFTRA dismisses Gearbox's stance in Borderlands 3 union row
    14. Rocket League swaps loot boxes for transparent Blueprints system
    15. Sony indicates PlayStation cross-play has now left beta
    16. Mario Kart Tour racks up 90m downloads in its first week
    1. Mario & Luigi RPG series developer enters bankruptcy
    2. Mixer co-founder leaves Microsoft
    3. Global game companies have claimed millions through Video Game Tax Relief in UK
    4. Dontnod: "If we didn't talk about politics, that would be a political message"
    5. Limited cross-play enabled in PUBG
    6. Virtuos: Switch ports, co-development, and next-gen
    1. On average, it costs $35.42 to get a mobile gamer to make first in-app purchase
    2. Atari partners with Antstream, responds to VCS concerns
    3. Court upholds net neutrality repeal, but lets states pass their own
    4. Fortnite US July revenues down 52% year-over-year
    5. Welsh universities, government partner to form Games Talent Wales
    6. SIE Japan Asia president Atsushi Morita retires
    7. Why did Borderlands 3 re-cast Troy Baker's role?
    8. Ubisoft announces free coding game Rabbids Coding
    9. That time David Cage asked fans to stone Fox News
    10. CCP, Remedy, Next Games veterans team up to form Mainframe Industries
    11. PlayStation Now cuts price in half, adds time limited "marquee games"
    12. LEGO and Amazon join GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit in London
    13. Pokémon Masters generates $33m revenue in first month
    14. Excessive crunch is bad for business | Opinion
    15. Free-to-play PUBG arrives in Europe next week
    16. Outfit7 hits 10bn mobile game downloads
    17. National Film and Sound Archive of Australia to start preserving video games
    18. DualShock 4 controllers are now compatible with Apple devices
    19. Nintendo is bringing Brain Training to the Switch