Highlights

Xbox Games Showcase: Microsoft comes out in force (link)

• Microsoft showed off an amazing array of games at its Xbox Games Showcase to prepare fans for the holiday launch of the Xbox Series X game console. The company didn’t disclose the launch date or price of the new hardware, as it focused on just the games
• Halo Infinite reveal pits the Master Chief against The Banished in an open world (link)
• Fable reboot closes out Xbox Games Showcase with cinematic teaser (link)
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be set in Iceland with highly realistic scenery (link)
• Tetris Effect Connected comes to Xbox (link)
• Tell Me Why gets new trailer at Xbox Games Showcase (link)
• Interior/Night Games unveils As Dusk Falls for Xbox Series X (link)
• Stalker 2 is an Xbox timed-exclusive on console (link)
• State of Decay 3 brings zombies to Xbox Series X (link)
• Next-gen Forza Motorsport will take advantage of Xbox Series X power (link)
• Rare’s Everwild is looking magical (link)
• Avowed is Obsidian’s answer to The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim on Xbox (link)
• Psychonauts 2 gets new trailer and Jack Black theme song at Xbox Games Showcase (link)

Digital games made $10.46 billion in June 2020 (link)

• Digital games revenue had its second-best month with $10.46 billion in June 2020, according to SuperData
• Overall, there was a revenue increase of 9% year-on-year and a 3% rise over earnings in May. However, both PC and console have seen a loss, although mobile has offset this through hitting an all-time high in revenue growth

Twitch launches a new sports category as Amazon pushes for sports dominance (link)

• Twitch has gradually become a key place to watch live sports and content over the past year, and Amazon is now acknowledging its push for sports dominance with the launch of a sports category on Twitch
• The standalone sports category will include streams from soccer clubs like Arsenal and Real Madrid, with Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain set to follow. Twitch’s new sports category will also play home to the existing NBA, NHL, RFL, UFC, and NWSL content that’s available on the platform

Ghost of Tsushima sells 2.4 million copies in first 3 days (link)

• Sony’s Ghost of Tsushima sold more than 2.4 million copies in its first three days of sales, making it the PlayStation 4’s fastest-selling first-party original intellectual property
• The PS4 game debuted July 17 as the console’s last big exclusive. The open-world title is a samurai action-adventure game from Seattle’s Sucker Punch Studios, the developer that made other PlayStation exclusives like the Sly Cooper and Infamous series

EA Mobile reels in Jeff Karp from Big Fish Games (link)

• Jeff Karp, the president of mobile game maker Big Fish Games, has resigned from that post to become the head of Electronic Arts’ mobile game division
• Karp replaces Samantha Ryan, who headed EA Mobile as well as other studios. Ryan will keep her other responsibilities, while Karp will focus on making sure that EA launches good mobile games

TinyBuild’s Hello Neighbor 2 is coming in 2021 (link)

• The company revealed the news in a trailer on Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest event ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase. Last week, TinyBuild announced it would acquire the Hello Neighbor property from Dynamic Pixels and invest more than $15 million in the franchise

Ubisoft is keeping the $60 price for next-gen games in 2020 (link)

• Ubisoft is going to charge $60 for its games on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 in 2020. This is in line with the company’s (and most of the industry’s) pricing since the launch of the Xbox 360
• In comparison, Take-Two and its subsidiary 2K Games announced they are upping the price of NBA 2K21 on the next-gen consoles to $70

Rocket League is going free-to-play and leaving Steam (link)

• Rocket League is one of the standout hits from the outgoing generation of consoles, and now the vehicular-soccer battler is going free-to-play. Developer Psyonix plans to make the move later this summer. As part of this shift in business models, the company will also roll out its biggest update yet
• Psyonix promises to provide more details about the timing of the update in the next few weeks. But for now, it is confirming that it’s going to overhaul how Rocket League’s Tournaments and Challenge systems work. More important, the studio is also adding cross-platform progression

Riot Games unveils LoL Esports brand (link)

• Riot Games announced its official League of Legends esports brand will be known as LoL Esports. The move will tie all of the company’s different regional tournaments under one umbrella in the moment of online-only esports. The brand will serve as the platform and voice for global competition for all regions, said Riot’s David Higdon in an interview with GamesBeat

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann steps down as Modern Times Group CEO (link)

• The Modern Times Group (MTG) CEO and president Jørgen Madsen Lindemann has handed in his resignation after 26 years with the company
• The company board has accepted his decision, though is reluctant to do so. Lindemann cited possible new challenges as the reason for his decision. It also gives the company the chance to prepare its long-term CEO succession plan

Jason Killingsworth leaves Riot Games (link)

• Riot Games creative director Jason Killingsworth has announced that he is leaving the League of Legends maker
• In a post on LinkedIn, he revealed that he was leaving to focus on his new publishing company, Tune and Fairweather

M&A and Capital Raising

Mobalytics raises $11.25 million for gaming assistant for hardcore players (link)

• Mobalytics has raised $11.25 million for its gaming assistant platform, which offers an automated way to coach millions of wannabe pro gamers on League of Legends and other games. Providing analytics for such games might sound like overkill, but Mobalytics says more than 7 million players use its service, which delivers advice and information in real time

Games development agency Amber is merging with studio KaraOkulta (link)

• The new merger came several months after Amber set up shop in Mexico with an office in Guadalajara. KaraOkulta first worked with the agency firm in 2019, when the pair collaborated on the casual title Toy Blitz

Others

Sea of Thieves surpasses 15 million players since March 2018 (link)

• Like a siren’s song, Sea of Thieves is continuing to draw in an audience. Developer Rare’s pirate-adventure simulator has had more than 15 million players since its debut in March 2018
• June 2020 – was also the biggest month so far for Sea of Thieves in terms of active players, with more than 3.3M players setting sail. A contributing factor to this growth has been the recent launch on Steam

Ludia unveils Disney Wonderful Worlds mobile puzzle game (link)

• Mobile game publisher Ludia and Disney announced the new match-3 mobile game Disney Wonderful Worlds
• The Montreal-based Ludia is creating a game that features a “Wish Upon A Star” storyline as players build and customize their Disney theme park. Match-3 games are a competitive space with broad audiences. Zynga recently teased that it’s almost done with its competitor, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells. And in November, Jam City launched Disney Frozen Adventures

Super Evil Megacorp to launch Early Access for Catalyst Black (link)

• American firm Super Evil Megacorp has launched an Early Access programme for its game Catalyst Black
• The battleground shooter is the company’s second title, the first being Vainglory, which Super Evil Megacorp saved from being shut down earlier this year. Catalyst Black will enter Early Access on August 12th, for iOS devices only

Mojang is moving Minecraft to Microsoft’s Azure servers (link)

• Developer Mojang is moving its smash-hit Minecraft from Amazon Web Services to the Azure platform run by its parent company Microsoft

Gaming Public Multiples