Scope out a few of the news stories from the game industry this week, hand-picked from across the world of games.
DICE Europe Postponed to 2021
Source: Gamasutra
Another game industry event joins the ranks of the postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has delayed its 2020 DICE Europe event out of 2020, and will instead hold the Barcelona show in September 2021.”
Magic Leap Workforce Halved, Consumer Markets Now Off the Table
Source: Engadget
“The company (Magic Leap) announced today that it will lay off employees at every level of the organization, and though Magic Leap’s CEO, Rony Abovitz, doesn’t cite any particular numbers, The Information reports that around 1,000 people will be forced to leave. (We’ve reached out to Magic Leap for comment and will update this post if we hear back.) That’s about half of the startup workforce. Abovitz says that the recent economic downturn caused by the global spread of the COVID-19 virus has “decreased availability of capital and the appetite for longer term investments.” In other words, the company is having a hard time raising more money.”
Additionally, Magic Leap announced they are withdrawing from the consumer markets, narrowing focus to enterprise and healthcare markets instead.
Global Games Spending Reaches All-Time High of $10B in March
Source: Hollywood Reporter
“Digital video game spending hit a record high in March as consumers around the globe turned to gaming amid lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue topped $10 billion last month, the highest-ever total for a single month and an 11 percent increase year-over-year, Nielsen’s SuperData reports.”
San Diego Comic-Con 2021 Announced
Source: San Diego Comic-Con/Twitter
Sadly SDCC will not take place this year, but we will return to the San Diego Convention Center July 22 – 25, 2021. If you purchased a badge for Comic-Con 2020, look out for the email from us detailing the option to request a refund or transfer your badge to Comic-Con 2021.
— San Diego Comic-Con (@Comic_Con) April 22, 2020
For folks wondering what comes next for San Diego Comic-Con (after 2020’s show was recently canceled), the organizers have officially announced plans for 2021 and how they’re handling badge refunds or transfers to 2021’s event.
NVIDIA GeForce Now: You Win some, You Lose Some
Source: The Verge
“Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service is losing access to more titles later this month, the company announced on Monday. Starting April 24th, GeForce Now will no longer be able to play titles from Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Codemasters, and Klei Entertainment … Nvidia’s model has been controversial because it does not involve publishers selling separate licenses of games for access in the cloud.”
Still, GeForce Now is gaining access to UbiSoft’s entire Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry series, and the company claims to have access to 30 of the top 40 Steam titles currently available.
Facebook Offers Dedicated Mobile Gaming App with Streaming Focus
Source: TechCrunch
“Facebook’s dedicated Gaming app is now live on Android, months before its planned June release. The social media giant pushed the app out two months prior to its scheduled unveiling amid a global pandemic that’s left people all over the world isolated at home, rapidly burning through entertainment options.”
With competition heating up between streaming service heavyweights Twitch, YouTube and newcomer, Mixer — especially with a lot of people staying at home with time on their hands — Facebook apparently didn’t want to miss the chance to compete. TechCrunch also reports that an Apple iOS version should also be expected at some point, depending on Apple’s approval.
Nintendo Confirms 160,000 Switch Accounts Breached
Source: The Verge
“Nintendo is disabling the ability to log into a Nintendo Account through a Nintendo Network ID (NNID), after 160,000 accounts have been affected by hacking attempts. Nintendo says login IDs and passwords “obtained illegally by some means other than our service,” have been used since the beginning of April to gain access to the accounts.
Nicknames, date of birth, country, and email addresses may have been accessed during the breach, and some accounts have experience fraudulent purchases. Nintendo is now recommending that all users enable two-factor authentication.”
Do you have interesting news to share, or something coming up that would also fit into this regular feature? Let us know!
