Kliuless? Gaming Industry Insights #58
Hi, my name is Kenny Liu, and each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I publish broadly. Opinions are mine.
See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless
Revenue Strategy
- More reasons why mobile gaming companies use fake ads
- Player spending in Grand Theft Auto Online jumped 23% following casino update
Creative
- How Magic: The Gathering card sets are designed
- How Death Stranding's unidentifiable score was created
- Star Wars + Fortnite event brings Jedi: Fallen Order to Epic’s shooter
- World of Warcraft: Shadowlands interview — Fixing Battle for Azeroth’s biggest problems
Cross-Platform / Multi-Platform
- Google Stadia's launch lineup includes 12 games
- Related: Google plans to roll out Stadia features weekly after a barebones Nov. 19 launch
- Xbox Game Pass gets flood of new games, EA Access, and more
- Path of Exile 2 (and PoE Mobile) announced at ExileCon
PC / Console
- Tencent wants to make console games with Nintendo IP to boost US and Europe presence
- Tencent grabs 10 percent stake in UK game company Sumo Group
- Prey developer Human Head shuts down; Bethesda hires team to open new studio
XR: AR / MR / VR
- Flavourworks raises £3m to expand Touch Video platform
- "This is the first time a game lets you reach out and touch a real, live-action world and have this world react to you in a meaningful way"
- Bloomberg: Apple Plans Standalone AR and VR Gaming Headset by 2022 and Glasses Later
- Cerberus Interactive acquires Tastebud, hoping to incentivize IRL purchases in its location-based title Atlas Empires
- NYT: How Virtual Reality is Augmenting Realty (sic)
Esports
- Artist Capital Management raises $100 million fund to invest in esports
- Value investor Joel Greenblatt says Vindex could solve a key hurdle in esports’ growth
- ​[KL: Interesting to see one of my personal investor idols jump into the esports foray]
- Immortals Gaming Club sells its Houston Outlaws Overwatch team to Beasley Media Group
Asia
- PlayStation to open development studio in Malaysia
- Niko Partners: SE Asia’s $5bn game market expected to grow to $8.3bn in 2023
- Related: Google report on SE Asia’s $100bn internet economy
- Minecraft closes in on 300m registered accounts in China (112m global MAU)
- Opinion: China’s overbearing campaign for influence is forcing countries to resist and recalibrate relations with Beijing
Tech / Entertainment
- Epic Games acquires photogrammetry startup Quixel to make games more realistic
- Matthew Ball: The "Streaming Wars" are Just a Battle
- Related: What is the endgame for Disney+?
- NYT: "I Got Access to My Secret Consumer Score. Now You Can Get Yours, Too"
- Snap shares its in-house accelerator’s next 10 investments
- Deep Tech Trends 2019
Overtime
- Polygon's 100 best games of the decade
- How Does the ESRB Rate Video Games?
- OECD proposes a global minimum corporate tax rate
- How to Configure Your iPhone to Work for You, Not Against You
- Illusion of Transparency: Your Poker Face is Better Than You Think
See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless
LinkedIn: @kliuless