This Week in Games

Ubisoft axes 3 more executives. Sony makes a massive investment into Epic. I will be sharing my learnings over the last 2 ½ years. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://ubistatic19-a.akamaihd.net/comsite_common/en-US/images/pressrelease_downloadablemm_20200711_103822_20200711_pressreleaseen_tcm99-362812_tcm99-196733-32.pdf https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-08-manticore-games-launches-usd1m-creator-payout-pilot-program-for-propriety-game-dev-platform https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-09-electronic-arts-addicted-to-overpaying-executives-says-investment-group https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/technology/ninja-fortnite-youtube.html https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/9/21318965/sony-epic-games-investment-fortnite-unreal-engine https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/epic-games-2#section-funding-rounds https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2020/0710/2020071000536.pdf https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-10/tencent-is-said-in-talks-for-hong-kong-listed-gaming-firm-leyou https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/73862/traplight-9-million-usd-funding-launches-battle-legion/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/traplight-games#section-funding-rounds

Kongregate effectively ends its web portal. Sexual assault allegations hit the fighting game industry. Amazon Game Studios pulls down it’s only live game. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365842/COVID19_and_pivot_towards_game_development_lead_to_layoffs_at_Kongregate.php https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365787/Kongregate_shuts_off_game_submissions_as_Flashs_final_days_approach.php https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/2/21311251/nba-2k21-price-ps5-xbox-series-x-cover-athletes-special-editions https://kotaku.com/amazons-crucible-flopped-so-hard-its-being-un-released-1844222299 https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365769/The_Ubisoft_paradox_How_the_publisher_enabled_a_culture_of_abuse_and_control.php https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365922/Ubisoft_exec_Maxime_Beland_has_resigned_after_harassment_and_assault_allegations.php https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-04-ubisofts-maxime-b-land-resigns-amid-allegations-of-misconduct https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-03-nintendo-condemns-abuse-as-allegations-spread-across-smash-bros-community https://screenrant.com/smash-bros-pros-accused-sexual-assault-pedophilia/ https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2020/jul/02/joey-mr-wizard-cuellar-placed-administrative-leave-evo-staff-following-misconduct-accusations/ https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2020/jul/02/evo-2020-online-canceled-joey-cuellar-removed-ceo/ https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/gambling-committee/news-parliament-2019/lords-gambling-report-published/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/30/discord-was-once-the-alt-rights-favorite-chat-app-now-its-gone-mainstream-and-scored-a-new-35-billion-valuation/#9b50c76b6b2e https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/discord#section-funding-rounds

A large wave of allegations send ripples through the game industry. Twitch makes sweeping bans including one of their biggest streamers. Facebook acquires another top Oculus developer. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365581/Report_Ubisoft_has_suspended_two_executives_accused_of_sexual_and_physical_abuse.php https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/365316/Ubisoft_deeply_concerned_with_sexual_assault_allegations_against_multiple_employees.php https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-24-ubisoft-and-insomniac-face-dozens-of-allegations-over-mistreatment-of-women https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/24/21302033/assassins-creed-valhalla-creative-director-steps-down-ubisoft https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365416/Insomniac_responds_to_allegations_from_former_staff_about_culture_of_harassment.php https://kotaku.com/multiple-women-accuse-games-writer-chris-avellone-of-se-1844135498 https://kotaku.com/wizards-of-the-coast-cut-ties-with-sexual-predator-1844140031 https://kotaku.com/cards-against-humanity-co-founder-quits-after-complaint-1844139756 https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/22/21299032/microsoft-mixer-closing-facebook-gaming-partnership-xcloud-features https://kotaku.com/twitch-bans-dr-disrespect-1844182541 https://kotaku.com/twitch-finally-starts-banning-streamers-accused-of-sexu-1844164469 https://kotaku.com/a-wave-of-sexual-abuse-stories-is-causing-a-reckoning-i-1844122735 https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2020/06/24/an-update-to-our-community/ https://blogs.unity3d.com/2020/06/23/learn-premium-is-now-available-to-everyone-at-no-cost-forever/ https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/22/21299814/apple-app-store-policies-ios-bug-fixes-approval-dispute-appeal https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/22/facebook-acquires-lone-echo-vr-game-maker-ready-at-dawn/ https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/22/overwolf-acquires-mod-repository-curseforge-from-twitch/ https://www.overwolf.com/curseforge/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/treehouse-games#section-lists-featuring-this-company https://gamasutra.com/view/news/365510/Focus_Home_Interactive_acquires_Lords_of_the_Fallen_dev_Deck13_for_79M.php https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-26-admix-raises-USD7m-in-funding-for-non-intrusive-ads https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/advir#section-funding-rounds https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-24-treehouse-games-lands-usd2-6-million-for-collaborative-games https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/treehouse-games#section-lists-featuring-this-company

Apple is in hot water with loot box lawsuits and app store policies. Stadia hopes a reprice reinvigorates Stadia interest. Epic Games is fundraising again but for what? Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/06/13/apple-sued-for-allowing-apps-with-loot-boxes-onto-app-store https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/technology/apple-ios-facebook-gaming-app.html https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/18/21296180/apple-hey-email-app-basecamp-rejection-response-controversy-antitrust-regulation https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/google-stadia-premiere-edition-price-cut/#:~:text=Google%20has%20slashed%20the%20price,online%20in%20Google's%20Chrome%20browser. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-15/fortnite-maker-epic-is-said-to-near-funding-at-17-billion-value https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/epic-games-2#section-funding-rounds https://www.pcgamer.com/star-citizen-has-raised-over-dollar300-million-now/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-15-ziggurat-interactive-acquires-bloodrayne-and-other-majesco-licenses https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ziggurat-interactive#section-overview

Sony drops a massive PS5 reveal. The Last of Us 2 makes us question modern game design. WB Games is reportedly looking for buyers at a pricy $4 billion. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NH4csfipes https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/11/21288494/sony-ps5-playstation-5-hd-camera-dualsense-charging-dock-pulse-accessories https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/6/12/21288535/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-ps4-naughty-dog-ellie-joel-violence https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=468&v=GB20A8CitRU&feature=emb_title https://www.shacknews.com/article/118614/exec-ron-johnson-no-longer-with-riot-games-following-comments-about-george-floyd https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/12/att-seeks-sale-for-warner-gaming-unit-could-fetch-4-billion.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros._Interactive_Entertainment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Warner_Bros._Interactive_Entertainment_video_games https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/10/wave-raises-30-million-for-superstars-to-stage-virtual-concerts/#:~:text=Wave%2C%20the%20virtual%20concert%20company,animated%20characters%20in%20virtual%20worlds. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/thewave#section-funding-rounds https://www.playableworlds.com/news/playable-worlds-raises-dollar10m-for-the-creation-of-its-cloud-native-sandbox-mmo/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/playable-worlds#section-funding-rounds https://boom.tv/about https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-09-boom-tv-raises-USD10m-in-series-a-funding https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/boom-tv#section-funding-rounds https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-11-luckbox-closes-usd3-8m-investment-round

Director of Product at Jam City Jenny Tai is here to co-host. Zynga acquires Peak Games. Playtika plans a $10 billion IPO. Playrix acquires a PC game studio. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Guest-host Jenny Tai: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennywtai/ Show Notes: https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/01/zynga-acquires-turkeys-peak-games-for-1-8b-after-buying-its-card-games-studio-for-100m-in-2017/#:~:text=Social%20gaming%20company%20Zynga%20confirmed,%24900%20million%20in%20Zynga%20shares. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/peak-games#section-funding-rounds https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-playtika-plans-wall-street-ipo-at-10b-valuation-report-1001331200 https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/playtika#section-funding-rounds https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-06-04-playrix-acquires-croatian-pc-developer-cateia-games https://www.cateia.com/games/games.php

Twitch signs more exclusivity deals, but from who. League of Legends is introducing in-game veiwerside advertisements. Tencent takes a large stake in a Japanese publisher. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/05/26/popular-streamers-summit1g-dakotaz-joshog-re-sign-with-twitch/ https://loaded.gg/ https://www.pcgamer.com/league-of-legends-is-about-to-get-in-game-ads-during-official-matches/ https://watch.lolesports.com/article/introducing-summoner%E2%80%99s-rift-arena-banners/bltfed23f2200f71ae7 https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/28/magic-leap-ceo-rony-abovitz-is-stepping-down/ https://www.magicleap.com/en-us/news/news/a-message-from-rony https://www.polygon.com/2020/5/28/21270647/madden-nfl-ea-renew-contract-license-football https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-25/tencent-to-become-largest-shareholder-in-japan-s-marvelous https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/marvelous-japan#section-funding-rounds https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-29-netease-to-open-secondary-listing-on-hong-kong-stock-exchange https://www1.hkexnews.hk/app/sehk/2020/101923/documents/sehk20052900324.pdf https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/05/stockmultipleexchanges.asp https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-28-african-mobile-startup-carry1st-raises-usd2-5m https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/adg-technology-inc#section-funding-rounds

Amazon Game Studios abruptly releases a game. Take-two claims nearly 100 new game to be released by 2025. Magic Leap somehow raises a $350 million lifeline. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://www.reuters.com/article/esports-business-amazon-crucible/amazon-launches-first-big-budget-game-title-crucible-idUSFLM13S4tM https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-20-take-two-plans-to-release-93-full-titles-in-the-next-five-years https://igda.org/resources/game-industry-standards/ https://igda.org/resources/event-diversity/ https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2020/05/20/stadia-exclusivity-will-keep-serious-sam-4-off-ps4-and-xbox-until-2021 https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/interview-platinumgames-on-next-gen-and-its-next-steps/ https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3085074/tencent-hires-big-names-including-ken-ichiro-imaizumi-scott-warner https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/news/development-update-self-refund-keyless-partner-integration-and-changes-to-ownership-authorization https://gamasutra.com/view/news/363410/G2A_to_pay_Factorio_dev_39600_after_allowing_illegal_game_key_sales.php https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/8879ae https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/magic-leap#section-funding-rounds https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/21/magic-leap-has-apparently-raised-another-350-million-in-spite-of-itself/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-20-amplifier-game-invest-acquires-destinybit

Epic unveils the next generation of their famed game engine. Marking platform AppLovin swoops up mobile. Keywords Studios positions itself discounted acquisitions. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC5KtatMcUw https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/a-first-look-at-unreal-engine-5 https://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/news/gta-v-free-epic-games-store-crashes-upcoming-games-leaked-2229322 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-15/applovin-is-said-to-value-machine-zone-at-around-500-million https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/machine-zone https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/applovin#section-funding-rounds https://www.sumo-digital.com/sumo-group-announces-the-acquisition-of-lab42-limited/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-15-keywords-eyes-acquisition-of-firms-less-able-to-weather-the-disruption-of-covid-19 https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-13-maze-theory-raises-1-4-million-for-doctor-who-vr-trilogy https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/maze-theory#section-funding-rounds https://a16z.com/2020/05/12/sleeper/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sleeper#section-funding-rounds https://parsecgaming.com/features/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-12-streaming-startup-parsec-raises-usd7m-in-funding https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/parsec-2#section-funding-rounds

XBox shows off first gameplay footage of the Series X. YouTube signs one of gaming’s biggest content creators. Sensor Tower gets a massive cash injection from the private equity space. Music by Proviant Audio: http://freemusiarchive.org/music/Proviant_Audio/Welcome_Wilderness/Just_Like_That Show Notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REwzQraW7K4 https://www.polygon.com/speedrun-quibi/2020/5/8/21252025/inside-xbox-series-x-assassins-creed-valhalla-halo-infinite https://gamasutra.com/view/news/362666/Tokyo_Game_Show_2020_cancelled_amid_coronavirus_pandemic.php https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/4/21246658/pewdiepie-youtube-deal-exclusive-streaming-dlive https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-05-rektglobal-launches-talent-agency-for-esports-athletes-and-influencers https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-07-activision-blizzard-brings-in-anti-betting-firm-to-monitor-its-esports https://gamasutra.com/view/news/362588/Capybara_Games_cofounder_Nathan_Vella_is_now_at_Annapurna_Interactive.php https://sensortower.com/blog/sensor-tower-riverwood-capital-announcement https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sensor-tower#section-funding-rounds https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/05/dazzle-rocks-raises-6-8-million-for-minecraft-like-mobile-mmo/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dazzle-rocks#section-funding-rounds https://ludiq.io/blog/unity-acquires-bolt https://blog.applovin.com/applovin-welcomes-redemption-games/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-08-rogue-games-raises-usd2m-toward-expanding-its-publishing-business