Game industry business news

Live streaming services Hitbox and Azubu have merged to form Smashcast, turning the newly-formed LA-based company into the world’s largest independent eSports broadcaster outside Asia. The platform, which will utilise Hitbox and Azubu’s 20m monthly active users, hopes to be a main competitor to Twitch, and will be the only …

With vast sums of money being poured into VR around the world, the virtual reality development scene has never been healthier. In a recent GDC survey, for instance, there were more developers making games for VR (24 per cent) than there were for the Xbox One and Project Scorpio (22 …

CompLexity gaming have announced that they’ll be exiting the competitive Overwatch scene, citing issues with Overwatch’s “current transitional phase.” CompLexity are the third organisation to eject from the Overwatch scene in the past week, with TSM and Red Reserve both claiming that uncertainty over the game’s competitive future as the …

Two NFL franchise owners have invested in Blizzard’s Overwatch League, according to reports. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross have, according to a report by Richard Lewis, purchased Overwatch League Spots in multi-million dollar deals. Dot Esports’ sources are claiming a figure of $20 …

NetherRealm Studios, the developers behind forthcoming fighter Injustice 2, announced the creation of an Injustice 2 Championship Series yesterday in tandem with the game’s publisher, Warner Bros. Games. The series will offer $600,000 in prizes, a pool that puts it on a level with the prize money offered up by …

When Activision acquired Blizzard back in 2008 via its Vivendi merger, the company had just released one of the most successful and influential shooters of all time – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The popular series went stratospheric, defining its console generation (especially the Xbox 360) and making levelling …

Thanks to Chinese law, Blizzard has published the odds that gamers face every time they buy a card pack or loot box. It was reported in December that starting May 2017, developers whose games contain random loot box drops will be required to reveal the underlying odds in compliance with …

We already have Batman in 3D, and now it sounds like Marvel’s roster of superhero IP could be preparing to dive into virtual reality. We did a deep dive in looking at the [VR] space towards the end of last year, and it offers some pretty incredible opportunities, in terms …

Developer Hopoo Games has confirmed that a sequel to Risk of Rain is now in development. The 2D roguelike, which started as a student project before being backed by a successful Kickstarter, sees players struggling to survive on an alien planet. It is perhaps best known for its gradually elevating …

Ballistix have announced that they’ll be sponsoring Team Liquid, providing Ballistix gaming memory for the team’s rigs. Yesterday Team Liquid announced it was renewing its hardware partnership with Dell’s gaming brand, Alienware. It’s not clear how the two deals with interact, but presumably the deals with work in partnership together. …