TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Ubisoft’s Maxime Béland resigns; Animoca Brands raises USD$4.1m (£3.3m); and Rockstar and VGD partner for AAA VR title. Ubisoft’s Maxime Béland resigns Ubisoft Vice President of Editorial Maxime Béland has resigned following allegations of sexual harassment and abusive behaviour. As well as Béland, Ubisoft has placed fellow editorial lead Tommy François on disciplinary leave pending further investigation, and has fired an unnamed individual from the company’s Toronto office [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Paradox Interactive acquires Playrion; Sony mulling offer for Leyou; and Tencent launches second US studio. Paradox Interactive acquires Playrion Stockholm-based developer-publisher Paradox Interactive has announced that it has acquired mobile studio Playrion for an undisclosed sum. Operating out of Paris, the acquired developer is best known for its Airlines Manager title, which has a player base of over 10 million since its release in 2014. Playrion becomes the [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Apple terminating Arcade games for retention; PlayBrain raises USD$6m (£5m); and Mountaintop Studios formed. Apple terminating Arcade games for retention Apple Inc. is reportedly cancelling development contracts with partners for its Apple Arcade service as it seeks to improve customer retention on the fledgling platform. According to anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg, Apple has been informing developers of certain in-production titles that their new titles lacked sufficient engagement, [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Starbreeze to raise SEK250m (£21.8m); GP Bullhound closes €125m (£114m) fund; KAT VR passes £1m crowdfunding for Walk C treadmill. Starbreeze to raise SEK250m Stockholm-based developer Starbreeze AB has announced that it intends to raise SEK250m (£21.8m) in a new issuance of class A and B shares, as a result of delays in finding a publishing partner for its upcoming Payday 3 title due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Focus Home Interactive acquires Deck13; Keywords purchases Coconut Lizard; and Koch Media launches Americas publishing unit. Focus Home Interactive acquires Deck13 Paris-based publisher Focus Home Interactive has acquired German developer Deck13 for a total consideration of €7.1m (£6.4m), which itself consists €6.5m (£5.9m) in cash and €0.6m (£0.5m) in treasury-held shares. The acquired firm generated €5.5m (£5.0m) in revenue in 2019, and is best known for its Lords [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: US suspends H-1B visas; Phoenixx partners with Bandai Namco and Dentsu; and Treehouse Games raises USD$2.6m (£2.1m). US suspends H-1B visas United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order suspending H-1B skilled worker visas, along with a range of other temporary visas including work-based exchange programmes, which took effect as of yesterday (24th June 2020) and will apply until the close of 2020. The restrictions [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Epic Games targets USD$17bn (£14bn) valuation; Ubisoft opens Vietnam studio; and Gearbox Software sues Apogee Software. Epic Games targets USD$17bn (£14bn) valuation Epic Games is set to raise USD$750m (£598m) in a funding round which would raise its valuation from the USD$15bn (£12bn) it garnered in 2018 to USD$17bn (£14bn). According to sources speaking to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, the round will be financed by existing investors [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: AT&T mulls USD$4bn (£3.2bn) Warner Bros. gaming sale; Nazara acquires majority stake in Halaplay; Aiva Technologies raises €1.5m (£1.3m); and Kahoot raises USD$28m (£22m). AT&T mulls USD$4bn (£3.2bn) Warner Bros. gaming sale AT&T is considering selling its Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment video games division as part of its ongoing asset divestment strategy, as it looks to clear its debt portfolio which current stands at approximately USD$165bn (£132bn). According [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: GameStop posts USD$165m (£130m) loss; Playrix acquires Cateia Games; and Nintendo confirms 300,000 accounts may have been compromised. GameStop posts USD$165m (£130m) loss Retailer GameStop has recorded a net loss of USD$165.7m (£130.4m) for the first quarter of its 2020-2021 financial year, compared to a profit of USD$6.8m (£5.4m) from the equivalent period last year, as the majority of its stores were limited to roadside collection-only orders in [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Gen.G partners with Puma; organisational changes at Arc System Works; and Brøndby IF expands hummel partnership to esports. Gen.G partners with Puma German sports clothing brand Puma has announced that it has entered into a partnership with esports organisation Gen.G Esports, which will see the firm supply the Los Angeles-based team’s players and content creators with merchandise. Though financial terms and duration of the collaboration have not been [...]