Scope out a few of the game industry news stories from the last week below, hand-picked from across the world of games. This week’s focus is on GamesCom and Devcom, a handful of notable acquisitions, news about Epic Games, Apple, Tencent, and more!
Index:
- GamesCom and DevCom Going Big Online
- Tensions Between Epic Games and Apple Intensifies
- Video Games Industry Shows No Signs of Slowing Down in Q2
- Daybreak Games Snags Cold Iron Studios — and Alien Game
- Embracer Group Acquires Several Studios
- Tencent’s Profits Booming During Pandemic
- Perspective on the Brazilian Games Industry
GamesCom and DevCom Going Big Online
Source:Â VentureBeat
While many events may be trying to bridge their real-world events in 2020, some events, like Gamescom 2020, appear to be embrace the online format and try to make the biggest splash possible.
“The big Gamescom 2020 game festival and the accompanying Devcom professional game developers conference in Germany are planning for a massive worldwide streaming audience, the founders said in an interview with GamesBeat.
Twitch and YouTube will stream the Gamescom event, which runs from August 27 to August 30 and includes Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live on August 27. The partnerships are aimed at making sure that Gamescom reaches an audience of millions of people around the world. Last year, the event drew more than 500,000 concurrent viewers. And it’s a sharp contrast to events like the Game Developers Conference and the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in the U.S. The GDC had a much smaller summer event this year, and E3 was canceled altogether. But the German event is seeking to be a worldwide celebration of games.”
Tensions Between Epic Games and Apple Intensifies
Source:Â Business Insider
Apple and Epic Games seem to be on the verge for a legal tit-for-tat battle:
“Epic Games, the company behind “Fortnite,” filed an injunction against Apple on Thursday, accusing it of engaging in anticompetitive behavior via the App Store.
Earlier Thursday, Epic announced the ability to make in-game purchases directly through Epic, bypassing the 30% cut Apple and Google take from in-app purchases. In response, Apple pulled “Fortnite” from the App Store, though the game appeared to still be available on Google’s Play Store.”
Video Games Industry Shows No Signs of Slowing Down in Q2
Source:Â Digital Trends
“The video game industry scored massive revenue gains during the second quarter and there are signs its earnings will continue to soar for the foreseeable future.
American consumers spent $11.6 billion on video game hardware, software, and accessories during the second quarter, a gain of 30% compared to the same period last year, market researcher NPD reported on Monday, August 10. The spending also topped the $10.9 billion Americans spent in the first quarter of 2020.”
Daybreak Games Snags Cold Iron Studios — and Alien Game
Source:Â VentureBeat
The saga of Cold Iron Studios, which has landed at last, with a game in development for a famous sci-fi franchise:
“Daybreak Games has acquired Cold Iron Studios, which is making a PC and console game set in the Alien universe.
Daybreak said that cofounder Craig Zinkievich will continue to run Cold Iron, which is in San Jose, California. The purchase price was not disclosed. Yes, in space, no one can hear you scream. And hopefully, the screaming of the Cold Iron’s developers will cease after they’ve been bounced around so long.”
Embracer Group Acquires Several Studios
Source:Â Gamesindustry.biz
“THQ Nordic parent company, Embracer Group, has acquired a number of new studios, including Malta-based 4A Games, which has been subsumed by Saber Interactive.
Embracer acquired 100 per cent of the shares in 4A Games, with an upfront purchase investment of “approximately $36 million on a cash and debt-free basis equivalent to an equity value of $45 million”.
Saber also confirmed it has acquired 100% of the shares in the US and Canada-based studio, New World Interactive, Embracer’s first Canadian acquisition.
Embracer’s wholly-owned subsidiary THQ Nordic also acquired 100% of Austria-based Pow Wow Entertainment, “for an undisclosed consideration.” Embracer itself also agreed to acquire 100% of the share capital in Germany-based Deca Live Operations.”
Tencent’s Profits Booming During Pandemic
Source:Â Gamesindustry.biz
Tencent may (eventually) experience some political and economic turbulence from the US, but so far the company has been doing very well, at least when looking at Q2 profits:
“Chinese internet giant Tencent has posted soaring revenue and profit while many businesses around the world struggle amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Total revenue for Q2 2020 was RMB 114.8 billion ($16.2 billion), a 29% increase year-on-year. Profit meanwhile saw a similar growth of 29% year-on-year to RMB 31.2 billion ($4.4 billion)”
Perspective on the Brazilian Games Industry
Source:Â TechRaptor
How is the Brazilian games market performing lately? This TechRaptor report explores Brazil’s flourishing game development business:
“Brazil leads the Latin American video game market and is the 11th top country overall for games revenue. This burgeoning games market has had breakthrough moments in the past decade and could become a major player in the games industry, with 13.5% year-over-year growth in revenue in 2020, higher than the U.S.
Still, the Brazil games industry is not a traditional market in terms of games development because of their late start behind the major global markets. Overall they are made up of smaller studios and are still proving themselves.”
Do you have interesting news to share, or something coming up that would also fit into this regular feature? Let us know!
