Regulation

• Harry Potter Wizards Unite Due to Gross USD£10m (£7.85m) in first month; Nintendo Opens Second Retail Store

  4 weeks ago News

  

  TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: Harry Potter Wizards Unite due to gross USD£10m (£7.85m) in first month; Nintendo opens second retail store; and US government blocks League of Legends in Iran and Syria. Harry Potter Wizards Unite due to gross USD£10m in first month Mobile AR title Harry Potter Wizards Unite is due to take in USD$10m (£7.85m) in its first month, according to data from analytics body Sensor Tower. The title shifted 400,000 [...]

• Commons committee grills EA and Epic reps at ongoing 'Immersive and addictive technologies inquiry'

  4 weeks ago News

  

  In the UK the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has been speaking to representatives from Electronic Arts and Epic Games, as it’s ‘Immersive and addictive technologies inquiry’ continues. The enquiry – which is not just focused on games – is looking at the ongoing emergence of technology in contemporary UK society, with a particular focus on notions of technology addiction and negative impact. “The inquiry will examine the development of immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, and the [...]

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• China’s Mobile Game Revenue Predicted to Exceed USD$25bn by 2023

  2 months ago News

  

  That figure – and Niko’s other findings – point to rapid growth in China’s games market, despite state involvement stifling game releases in the country through 2018 and into this year. Niko’s in-depth report points to the fact that China presently accounts for 25% of the world’s mobile games market. As home to 18.4% of the world’s population, China is clearly punching above its significant weight when it comes to mobile. China is currently home to 1.4 billion people. Niko’s figures [...]

• Chinese Gaming Giants’ Overseas Revenues Skyrocket, Chinese Government Reinstates Game Approvals Freeze

  5 months ago News

  

  Two current game business stories together highlight the stark dichotomy at the heart of China’s games market. As revealed in a new report from business insight specialist IHS Markit, Chinese tech giants Tencent and NetEase saw extraordinary profit growth for their international mobile game releases through 2018. Simply put, combined mobile game net revenue gained in territories outside of China by Tencent and NetEase increased 500% in 2018 to USD$472m (£360m). Again, that figure relates to sales of games outside Tencent and [...]

• Analysis: Launching Apex Legends. Fortnite's greatest contender yet?

  5 months ago News

  

  A lot of businesses in the global game industry would like a slice of the ‘battle royale’ pie. And it’s no surprise. Fortnite is a battle royale game – sometimes called a ‘BR’ title – and we all know how well it has done. The shooter hit 200 million players in November last year. According to a source speaking to Tech Crunch, its creator Epic banked USD$3bn (£2.3bn) in revenue through 2018. But, more than all of that, the free-to-play competitive online [...]

• South Korea Declares Game-Boosting Services Illegal

  7 months ago News

  

  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 [...]

• How the California Consumer Privacy Act Aims to Put an End to the Data Wild West

  11 months ago News

  

  Despite a monumental build up, the EU GDPR may not have made quite the splash the industry expected – it rather depends on who you ask. However, what it has done, is set the wheels in motion for other countries, such as Brazil, to adopt similar legislation. One in particular, which is starting to take data privacy very seriously, is the US. Multiple states have started updating their consumer privacy acts, and the state of California, the home of ad [...]