TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Sony launches immersive music division; Ubisoft partners with Lucasfilm on Star Wars title; and Tilting Point to invest USD$10m (£7.3m) in Storytaco’s Dangerous Fellows. Sony launches immersive music division Japanese technology conglomerate Sony has announced the launch of a new subsidiary during CES 2021, Sony Immersive Music Studios, focusing on developing experiences at the intersection of music, immersive entertainment, and video gaming. The debut demonstration of the initiative [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: ReKTGlobal raises USD$35m (£27m); GameStop partners with Microsoft; and GameSquare goes public. ReKTGlobal raises USD$35m (£27m) New York-based esports holding company ReKTGlobal has announced that it has raised USD$35m (£27m) in debt capital funding from Summit Partners. The investment will be used for recruiting purposes across the firm, including the appointment of new C-suite executives, sales personnel, and players for its Rogue and London Royal Ravens teams. Moreover, [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Roblox preparing to go public; ProbablyMonsters opens RPG studio; and Torque Esports in USD$3.15m (£2.44m) partnership with Simply Mac. Roblox preparing to go public California-based gaming platform Roblox Corporation is reportedly preparing to go public and will pursue a listing on a US stock market at a valuation of approximately USD$8bn (£6.2bn). This would double the valuation it attained at its previous funding round, a USD$150m Series G [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: IGN parent firm Ziff Davis partners with Tencent to relaunch IGN China; Apple blocks Epic Games from submitting updates to the App Store; and Potato Play raises $1.75m in seed funding.   Ziff Davis and Tencent Partner in IGN China relaunch   Parent-company of IGN, Ziff Davis, has joined forces with Chinese technology heavyweight Tencent to relaunch IGN China. The new version of the company’s flagship site, which went live [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Zynga acquires Rollic; Nintendo profit up by 428%; Big Run Studios raises USD$5.25m (£4.00m); and Venatus partners with Frameplay. Zynga acquires Rollic Mobile gaming giant Zynga has announced that it has entered the hyper-casual market with the acquisition of Istanbul-based developer-publisher Rollic for a minimum cash consideration of USD$168m (£128m). As well as growing its audience by the measure of around 65 million monthly active users (MAUs), Zynga [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Activision Blizzard posts record Q2 results; Keywords Studios expects 13% revenue gain; and Ubisoft partners with Anzu.io. Activision Blizzard posts record Q2 results Activision Blizzard has joined fellow industry behemoths Electronic Arts (EA) and Take-Two Interactive in announcing company-record revenues for the previous financial quarter. GAAP net revenues surpassed the previously forecast USD$1.69bn (£1.29bn), climbing by 38.4% year-over-year to USD$1.932bn (£1.479bn), driven by a 45.9% boost to digital [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Take-Two Interactive revenue up 54%; Blizzard employees angered over pay disparity; and Ubisoft partners with Parsec. Take-Two Interactive revenue up 54% Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. has reported company-record results for the first quarter of the 2020-2021 financial year, with GAAP net revenue increasing by 54% to USD$831.3m (£626.2m) and net bookings up 136% to USD$996.2m (£762.4m). Recurrent player spending from in-game purchases within its existing properties including Grand [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Live-streaming viewership climbs rapidly over Q2; LocalizeDirect raises SEK10.26m (£909,600); and ESL and Dreamhack enter partnership with Huya. Live-streaming viewership climbs rapidly over Q2 Hours spent watching content on livestreaming platforms have increased sharply over Q2 2020, with viewership climbing by 56% on Twitch and 75% on Facebook Gaming over the previous quarter, according to figures published by StreamElements in collaboration with Aresenal.gg. Over five billion hours were [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Paradox Interactive acquires Iceflake Studios; Sea Monster raises USD$1m (£796,000); and Partner TV launches cloud gaming service with Blacknut. Paradox Interactive acquires Iceflake Studios Stockholm-based developer-publisher Paradox Interactive has announced the acquisition of Finnish multiplatform developer Iceflake Studios for an undisclosed sum. The two studios are currently collaborating on strategy title Surviving the Aftermath, which is currently in early access. Iceflake becomes the ninth subsidiary studio under the [...]

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 [...]