TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Opera acquires YoYo Games; multiple studios fined for geoblocking; and Visionary Realms secures seven-figure investment. Opera acquires YoYo Games Internet browser developer Opera has announced that it has acquired Dundee-based YoYo Games for approximately USD$10m (£7.3m). The acquired firm, which operates 2D game engine GameMaker Studio, will be combined with gamer-oriented browser Opera GX in a new subsidiary division, termed Opera Gaming. GameMakerStudio increased its userbase by 400,000 [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: ESA to pause political donations; Capcom breach affecting up to 390,000; and Microsoft-bound Bethesda secures Indiana Jones licence. ESA to pause political donations The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that it will be suspending donations to individuals through its political action committee (PAC) vehicle, following the attempt by multiple beneficiaries of their contributions to overturn the result of the US presidential election, amid a violent siege on [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: CD Projekt under consumer protection scrutiny; Publicis launches dedicated gaming offering; and Venatus hires seven amid 38% growth. CD Projekt under consumer protection scrutiny CD Projekt has fallen under the scrutiny of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) over the poor technical performance of its recently-released flagship title Cyberpunk 2077 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. As outlined by UOKiK press officer Małgorzata Cieloch [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Roblox raises USD$520m (£382m) ahead of direct listing; SuperData forecasts 2% growth for 2021; and Trump administration mulling Tencent investment ban. Roblox raises USD$520m (£382m) ahead of direct listing Online gaming platform developer Roblox Corporation has announced that it has raised USD$520m (£382m) in a Series H funding round led by US investment firms Altimeter Capital and Dragonner Investment Group, with additional support from the Investment Group of [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Parsec raises USD$25m (£19m); Keywords Studios acquires High Voltage; and UK MPs propose ban on resale of bot-bought consoles. Parsec raises USD$25m (£19m) Remote desktop technology and video game streaming firm Parsec has raised USD$25m (£19m) in a Series B financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz and supported by a host of previous backers including Lerer Hippeau, Makers Fund, NextView Ventures and Notation Capital. The investment is set [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: US Senator proposes prison for streaming copyright violators; Salad Technologies raises USD$3.2m (£2.4m); and Nintendo shifts 1.3 million Switch consoles in China. US Senator proposes prison for streaming copyright violators United States Senator Thom Tillis has filed an incendiary amendment to the controversial CASE act being pushed through Congress as part of last-minute measures to prevent a government shutdown tomorrow (11th December 2020), which proposes streaming copyrighted material [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: US House criticises app store dominance; G-Loot raises SEK500m (£43.3m); and Activision Blizzard withdraws from France. US House criticises app store dominance The US House of Representatives antitrust committee has filed a 449-page report criticising the four big tech companies, namely Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, following an investigation into their alleged monopolistic practices. Most preeminent for the video games industry is the House findings on Apple [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Tencent gaming draws US scrutiny; Stillfront acquires Nanobit; and Bunch raises USD$20m (£15.4m). Tencent gaming draws US scrutiny The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has sent formal enquiries to US-based video game companies in which Tencent Holdings Ltd. holds a minority or majority stake, including Epic Games and Riot Games, over their data security practices. Tencent has over 300 investments across its portfolio, including [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Huuuge Games acquires Double Star; EU IMCP recommends new loot box approach; and 2020 XR forecast revised to USD$6.9bn (£5.4bn). Huuuge Games acquires Double Star Szczecin, Poland-based developer-publisher Huuuge Games has announced the acquisition of Finnish indie studio Double Star for an undisclosed sum. Double Star, which previously collaborated with Huuuge Games on the release of casual mobile RPG Bow Land, will operate as a subsidiary studio out [...]

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 [...]