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: Apple faces European antitrust investigation; FirstMark raises USD$650m (£515m) fund duo; and Eidos-Montréal to open Eidos-Sherbrooke. Apple faces European antitrust investigation Apple is facing a formal antitrust investigation by the European Commission over claims the California-based tech giant is stifling competition by taking a high rate of commission on payments to third-party developers through the mandatory use of its App Store in-app payment system, whilst simultaneously promoting its [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Wave raises USD$30m (£24m); Baidu acquires Redfinger; and UK to launch APAC Digital Trade Network. Wave raises USD$30m (£24m) Los Angeles-based digital concert broadcaster Wave has raised USD$30m (£24m) in Series B funding in a round led by Maveron, with support from a host of 15 VC and angel investors, including Upfront Ventures, Raised in Space Enterprises, RRE Ventures, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners, and GFR Fund. [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: DCMS calls for more loot box evidence; Sony fined AUD$3.5m (£1.9m); and Sandsoft Games launches. DCMS calls for more loot box evidence The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is to call for further evidence on loot boxes as it considers whether to classify the controversial in-game mechanic as a gambling product, according to a report published in The Guardian. Despite the committee stating in [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: AppLovin acquires Machine Zone; BLAST Premier raises €12.5m (£11.1m); and Sumo Group purchases Lab42. AppLovin acquires Machine Zone Mobile games company AppLovin has announced that it has acquired development studio Machine Zone for an undisclosed sum. The purchased developer is best known for its Game of War: Fire Age, and Mobile Strike titles, which have both grossed well in excess of USD$1bn (£819m) in lifetime revenue according to [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Twitch content at all-time high; Japan plans esports expansion; and controversy over Gearbox bonuses. Twitch content at all-time high Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet will report later today (2nd April 2020) in their Q1 2020 live streaming industry report that content consumption across the major streaming platforms, namely Twitch; Mixer; Facebook Gaming; and YouTube Gaming Live, has increased substantially during the quarter. Market-leader Twitch has surpassed its records for [...]

In this special exclusive contributed piece, Dimoso CEO Jacki Vause considers the fine art of publishing mobile games to China. Vause is a widely respected veteran of the tech, mobile and PR space, has been named one of PCR’s Top-30 Women in Mobile, and is an experienced entrepreneur and founder. — China should be considered by all mobile games developers who are looking to take their games global. Over the years I have represented many developers and publishers both from the East [...]

As part of the recent UK budget, the government confirmed that it is pressing ahead with its somewhat controversial Digital Services Tax. As reported by the Financial times, the UK plans to raise £500m a year by applying the tax primarily to large US tech companies. It is being seen as a means to secure money in relation to allegations that many large tech outfits are not paying enough tax in the areas in which they operate, instead using low tax [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Microsoft focusing on subscribers over consoles; UK VGTR spend hits £582.6m; and ironSource opens mobile game studio. Microsoft focusing on subscribers over consoles Microsoft is focusing less on its hardware devices and is instead more closely examining how to appeal to a wider gaming audience, most preeminently through its Game Pass subscription service, according to comments made by its executive vice president of gaming Phil Spencer on Gamertag [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Sony gaming revenue declines; 1570 game approvals by China in 2019; and Supercell invests €1m (£846,000) in Wild Games. Sony gaming revenue declines Sony gaming and network services revenue for the third quarter of the financial year has fallen by 20% year-on-year to JP¥632.1bn (£4.451bn), with operating income declining by 36.6% to JP¥53.5bn (£367m), according to the Japanese conglomerate’s published results. The decline has been attributed to foreign [...]