News Mash-Up - Week # 32

• • In a series of announcements from Xbox before the commencement of Gamescom, it was revealed that Remote Play (the ability to stream Xbox console games to a PC via a LAN connection) will be added to the Xbox Series and that Microsoft have launched Xbox Cloud Gaming in beta on PC. Xbox Cloud Gaming is currently only available for those in the Insider program.

  • Unity technology, one of the leading video game engines and tool for media CGI have released its latest financials. Q2’21 fiscal revenue reached $274 million, +48% v fiscal Q2’20. The division in charge of the Unity engine named Create Solutions made $72 million during Q2 2021, +31% v fiscal Q2’20. The Unity engine has been used to develop over 300 games since 2005.

  • Swedish video game holding company Embracer Group has acquired a further 8 game development studios. The newly acquired studios include Crazy Labs, 3D Realms, Ghostship Games, Grimfrost and DigitArt. The aggregate purchase price of the 8 deals is comprised of $312 million upfront. In its fiscal 2021 annual report (ending March 2021) the company generated $1 billion in sales, +72% increase on its fiscal year 2020. The acquired studios are expected to contribute up to a further $346 million to Embracer’s Net Sales.

  • Take Two has started to increase take down notices for GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas modders. In their last financial statement Take Two declared they will be looking to remaster a classic and gamers are speculating it could be one (or more) of the older GTA games.

  • Retro Games, which previously released the Commodore 64 Mini, will release the new A500 Mini. The A500 Mini comes loaded with 25 titles Worms, Another World and Simon the Sorcerer. The new retro console is expected in early 2022 and will retail for $140 USD.

  • Nintendo released its latest Indie World Showcase last Wednesday. In the 23-minute video, 20 games were promoted including Tetris Effect: Connected, Axiom Verge 2, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, Islanders: Console Edition and Slime Rancher: Portable Edition.

  • Sony has finalized the acquisition of anime streaming service Crunchyroll. The deal is worth $1.2 billion.

  • Some of the people who worked in the now defunct Typhoon Studios, one of the in-house game developers that Google Stadia shut down earlier this year, are reforming under a new name, Raccoon Logic. The new developer is in the fortunate position to have reclaimed the rights to the acclaimed game, Journey to the Savage Planet.

     

Week commencing Monday 16 August 2021