Audience
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South Korea Declares Game-Boosting Services Illegal
If you’re caught offering ‘boosting’ services to video game players in South Korea, you may now face a USD$17,800 (£14,000) fine, or two-years jail time. Boosting sees less-experienced users of a given game grant accomplished players access to their account for that title. The high-level player then ‘boosts’ the accessed account, deploying their skills to rapidly progress a player-character through a game. ‘Levelling up’ the player account typically opens access to higher levels of game competition, increased powers, and new weapons [...]
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Harvesting the Niche: Understanding Farming Simulator 19's Chart Success
Earlier this week, the latest EMEAA game sales charts were released. The relatively new (and long-awaited) GSD charts compile data from across an impressive spread of countries, from Australia and Great Britain, to India and South Africa, via Ukraine and the UAE. This time around, in the wake of Black Friday and as the traditional Christmas game buying spree intensifies, there were plenty of expected entries. In the combined chart, reflecting both physical and digital purchases across all formats, plenty of [...]
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Fortnite Hits 200 Million Players
Video game sensation and global cultural phenomenon Fortnite now courts the attention of 200 million players. That’s according to Bloomberg, which points out that the shooter’s user base is now approximately comparable to the populace of sizeable nations like Brazil. Put another way, it’s well over 3x the entire population of the UK. That’s impressive for a handful of reasons. Fortnite is an established success, of course. Even so, the new user numbers mark a 60% increase from the 125 million registered [...]
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Mobile eSports as a Tool to Aquire & Retain: A Primer
You don’t need to be a devoted games industry observer to have noticed something of the recent rise of eSports. Organised competitive gaming has been around along time, of course. eSports’ nascent form was forged in the earliest arcade gaming tournaments in the 1970s, where players competed to win a patch declaring their prowess; presumably to be sewn onto an oversized distressed denim jacket. By the 1990s the notion of a ‘pro-gamer’ making money from prize winnings was established, but even then [...]
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How Brands Are Benefitting from Esports – Q&A with Minute Media
Once considered TV’s last safe bastion, the world of live sports is facing disruption. Ratings have dropped, subscriptions have fallen, and digital platforms continue to take an increasing share of eyeballs. Confronted with an ageing demographic, it’s no surprise rights holders and sports teams are moving into esports to counter declining ratings and attract younger audiences. For brands, this represents an exciting opportunity – the variety of players, teams, stories, and narratives offer many opportunities to be relevant. Duncan McMonagle, SVP & [...]
