Scope out a few of the game industry news stories from the last week below, hand-picked from across the world of games. This week’s focus on QuakeCon, ChinaJoy, and good news for Nintendo (while games industry powerhouse, Tencent, may be able to avoid some bad news).
Index:
- QuakeCon at Home Shakes Things up with Free Quake Game and More
- ChinaJoy Shows What the New Normal for Events Might be Like
- Nintendo’s Profits Boom in Q2 2020
- Tencent’s Games Portfolio to be Unaffected by Trump Executive Order
- Cloud Gaming Services Kept from iOS App Store
- Profiling the Intellivision Amico and Atari VCS Retro Consoles
QuakeCon at Home Shakes Things up with Free Quake Game and More
Source:Â Daily Esports
Check out the full schedule of events during #QuakeCon at Home! https://t.co/D36BckIRO1 pic.twitter.com/H3gXq6Gers
— QuakeCon (@QuakeCon) July 30, 2020
QuakeCon, Berthesda Games’s showcase of games and updates, is online and streaming, and one of the things it’s brought to entice gamers is a few interesting freebies many may be interested in. Here’s a couple of the biggest ones so far:
“Like all great game cons, QuakeCon promises freebies! All throughout the weekend you can play QUAKE for free. Remember our PAX chat with Besthesda? QUAKE was one of the original esports. This is your chance to get your hands on the game completely free. All you need to do is log in to your Bethesda account this weekend and claim the game.
Those Elder Scrolls fans will be excited to hear there’s free in-game drops. Simply connect your ESO account to Twitch and watch the live stream for a free Flame Atronach Pony pet as well as Ouroboros Crown Crates.”
Read the Daily Esports story for more, and you may want to check out QuakeCon on Twitch for other new and interesting announcements from Bethesda Games.
ChinaJoy Shows What the New Normal for Events Might be LikeÂ
Source:Â BBC
ChinaJoy recently held convention was one of the few live in-person events to go forward this year, in spite of the pandemic. This BBC story details how the event worked out:
“…about 150,000 gaming fans descended on ChinaJoy in Shanghai for the four-day event.
With a mix of real-world and online launches, many feel it could be the new normal for conferences.
ChinaJoy, also known as the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, saw around 380,000 visitors last year, keen to preview and play the latest games and new gadgets.”
Nintendo’s Profits Boom in Q2 2020
Source:Â CNN
In a pandemic year, the game industry is raking in robust profits. Nintendo, in particular, is doing big business. One anecdotal sign of the Japanese company’s success is this: Just try to find a Switch at its suggested retail price or less. Take a look at the revenue and sales numbers
“Nintendo (NTDOF)Â sales are still soaring.
Tencent’s Games Portfolio to be Unaffected by Trump Executive Order
Source:Â Forbes
Video game companies owned by Tencent will NOT be affected by this executive order!
White House official confirmed to the LA Times that the EO only blocks transactions related to WeChat
So Riot Games (League of Legends), Epic Games (Fortnite), et al are safe
(pending updates)
— Sam Dean 🦅 (@SamAugustDean) August 7, 2020
In the escalating war of words and actions between the United States and China, it seemed that the game industry might be directly impacted, at least until clarification from the White House suggested otherwise:
“President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday (August 6) that will prohibit Americans from making transactions with Chinese company Tencent. This led many gamers to worry about the fate of games developed by studios Tencent owns such as Riot Games, makers of League of Legends and Valorant, and Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite. However, new information suggests this order will not include Tencent’s gaming portfolio.
The controversial order, which is due to come into effect on September 20th, aims to ban transactions with Tencent due to fears over national security for the US. The order against Tencent is specifically to curb the use of WeChat, the communication and payment platform that is massive in China, with another order targeting Chinese owned video social network app Tik Tok.”
Cloud Gaming Services Kept from iOS App Store
Source:Â The Verge
“Cloud gaming is shaping up to have a big moment on mobile starting next month with the launch of Microsoft’s xCloud service, but iOS users are getting left out. And now we know exactly why: Apple won’t allow those products, because of strict App Store guidelines that make cloud services like xCloud and its competitor, Google Stadia, effectively impossible to operate on the iPhone.
We already knew that there was some issue, likely App Store-related, as to why Stadia wasn’t available for Apple devices and why Microsoft’s service would likely face a similar fate. It seemed even more likely that xCloud’s fate on iOS was sealed yesterday when Microsoft cut off iOS testing for its xCloud app well ahead of its September 15th launch date on Android. Nvidia’s GeForce Now service is also similarly Android-only when it comes to phones, even though that platform technically lets you access titles you already own.”
Because cloud gaming services are, in themselves, platforms outside Apple’s review control, Microsoft, Google, and NVIDIA may be unable to work with apple and the App Store. Take a look at the story for a lot more info.
Profiling the Intellivision Amico and Atari VCS Retro Consoles
Source:Â CNET
As retro gaming grows in popularity, so are more options for connecting with classic (or revamped classic) gaming brands. CNET takes a questioning look into the value proposition for two fairly prominent retro consoles on the radar for release within the next several months:
“Retro” can mean a lot of things if you’re a gamer. Retro game console sets, like plug-and-play mini Sega Genesis, SNES and Turbografx systems loaded with old games to play? Sure. Gaming compilations that play on fancy new systems? Of course. But what about fancy, mysterious reinventions of classic gaming brands? Meet Atari and Intellivision, the Bizarro Consoles.”
Do you have interesting news to share, or something coming up that would also fit into this regular feature? Let us know!
