Netflix has purchased Night School Studio, its first game studio, as the company expands from streaming into gaming.
Netflix has been making a move into gaming, hiring former Electronic Arts executive Mike Verdu to head up its efforts. The company later confirmed its plans to offer games to its subscribers at no extra cost and ad-free.
Night School Studio is the maker of the critically acclaimed Oxenfree. Significantly, the purchase would seem to indicate Netflix’s efforts will not be restricted to mobile games, given that Oxenfree is a cross-platform game.
Founded by Sean Krankel and Adam Hines in 2014, Night School Studio is best known for their critically acclaimed debut game, OXENFREE. We’re inspired by their bold mission to set a new bar for storytelling in games. Their commitment to artistic excellence and proven track record make them invaluable partners as we build out the creative capabilities and library of Netflix games together.
We’ll continue working with developers around the world and hiring the best talent in the industry to deliver a great collection of exclusive games designed for every kind of gamer and any level of play. Like our shows and films, these games will all be included as part of your Netflix membership — all with no ads and no in-app purchases. Stay tuned for more.
The issue revolves around legislation passed in those states governing computer energy efficiency.
“This product cannot be shipped to the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont or Washington due to power consumption regulations adopted by those states,” the website says. “Any orders placed that are bound for those states will be canceled.”
Dell has confirmed the issue in a statement sent to the The Register:
Yes, this was driven by the California Energy Commission (CEC) Tier 2 implementation that defined a mandatory energy efficiency standard for PCs – including desktops, AIOs and mobile gaming systems. This was put into effect on July 1, 2021. Select configurations of the Alienware Aurora R10 and R12 were the only impacted systems across Dell and Alienware.
Twitch is rolling out threaded chat replies, in an effort to help individuals better communicate in chaotic chat threads.
Twitch is a popular streaming platform that gamers, ASMR aficionados and others use to stream their activities. The platform includes a chat option for fans to communicate with each other and the content creator.
Unfortunately, when thousands of people are watching a stream and chatting, the chat window can quickly become chaotic. Twitch is now working to address that problem by rolling out threaded chat replies.
Chat Replies help you keep the conversation going, even when chat is going off.
Try out new message threads, keyboard shortcuts and more, now available to all communities on Twitch.
Discord has ended talks with Microsoft — over the latter attempting to buy the chat platform — and will focus on going public instead, according to reports.
Discord got its start as a place for gamers to chat and communicate. The platform is especially popular as gamers play competitively, or in games that require coordinating large numbers of participants. In the wake of the pandemic, however, Discord has been rebranding itself as a general purpose chat app, as opposed to strictly one for gaming.
The company was in discussions with Microsoft for the Redmond-based company to purchase it. The combination seemed like a good fit for both parties, especially with Microsoft’s Xbox platform and gaming focus.
The talks have ended, however, with Discord rejecting a $12 billion bid from Microsoft. According to Bloomberg, the company will now focus on going public.
Representatives of both companies declined to provide Bloombergwith a statement.
Shortly after reports that Discord was investigating a sale, a new report says that Microsoft has emerged as a front-runner in the discussions.
Microsoft is a natural candidate for a purchase of Discord, given the company’s focus on gaming. In addition to its Xbox platform, Microsoft recently bought ZeniMax Media, and its gaming studio Bethesda Softworks, in an effort to bring more game development in-house.
As Bloomberg highlights, Microsoft has been shopping for companies that could help it establish, grow and interact with a community of users. The company recently tried to purchase TikTok and was in talks to acquire Pinterest. Services such as this are seen as especially valuable as a result of the pandemic, as virtual communities can help address people’s need for social interaction in a safe way.
“Microsoft possibly acquiring Discord makes a lot of sense as it continues to reshape its gaming business more toward software and services,” said Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Matthew Kanterman. “There’s a big opportunity to bundle Discord’s premium offering, Nitro, into the Game Pass service to drive more subscriptions from the last reported 18 million.”
The report indicates the sale could be north of $10 billion, but nothing is final.
Discord is exploring a possible sale for $10 billion, as gaming and communication take on greater importance.
Discord made its name as a service that allowed gamers to communicate with each. The service is especially popular among players of multiplayer games, as it provides a way for large groups of people to communicate effectively.
Most recently, Discord began to pivot to chat as digital platforms became key to companies and individuals remaining connected and productive during the pandemic. That growth has helped propel Discord to new heights, and the company is looking to cash in with a possible sale, according to GamesBeat.
“I know they are in active discussions with a select few parties,” one source said. “The market is in a state where they could command strong double-digit billions of dollars.”
Much of Discord’s demand stems from the increased popularity of gaming during the pandemic. As individuals have remained in lockdown, gaming has become an even more popular pastime, with social gaming serving as an important way for people to maintain social connections.
The ultimate decision will rest with Discord CEO Jason Citron, although a $10 billion sale is a powerful motivator.
Google is backing away from making games for its Stadia gaming platform, shutting down the involved studios.
Google Stadia is a cloud gaming platform, allowing gamers to play on a variety of devices. Because its a cloud platform, users don’t have to invest in heavy-duty gaming equipment to play, relying on the platform to stream the game’s content to them.
To help the service gain widespread adoption, Google initially invested in its own in-house studios to develop games for the service. It appears the cost has the company reconsidering, as it is ending its own development efforts.
Phil Harrison, Google Stadia Vice President and GM, broke the news in a blog post:
In 2021, we’re expanding our efforts to help game developers and publishers take advantage of our platform technology and deliver games directly to their players. We see an important opportunity to work with partners seeking a gaming solution all built on Stadia’s advanced technical infrastructure and platform tools. We believe this is the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry.
Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially. Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games. With the increased focus on using our technology platform for industry partners, Jade Raymond has decided to leave Google to pursue other opportunities. We greatly appreciate Jade’s contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles. We’re committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them.
Harrison emphasizes that Google is committed to the platform and cloud gaming, and will continue to work with third-party game developers. It simply won’t be creating its own in-house games anymore.
Opera has announced it has acquired YoYo Games, the company behind GameMaker.
GamerMaker Studio combines drag-and-drop elements with a scripting language to to help novice programmers create games with minimal programming. While the acquisition may seem out of place for a company long-known for its web browser, the acquisition aligns with Opera’s recent moves.
The company announced its new Opera GX web browser in June 2019. Unlike its legacy browser, Opera GX was aimed at gamers from the beginning. Still in early access, the browser provides ways to limit its network use to save bandwidth for whatever games are running, as well as quick ways to kill RAM-hogging tabs. The browser also includes built-in Discord support. Discord is a popular communication platform gamers use when playing multi-player and PvP games.
“We are very excited to start working with the team at YoYo Games,” said Krystian Kolondra, EVP Browsers at Opera. “We see the platform as being an ideal acquisition to complement our global ambitions in gaming, along with our Opera GX gaming browser. We look forward to further growing Opera GX and to driving the growth of GameMaker, making it more accessible to novice users and developing it into the world’s leading 2D game engine used by commercial studios. We are also thrilled to find future synergies between YoYo Games’ products and Opera GX.”
“It’s been clear to us from the first time we spoke to them that the whole of the team at Opera is incredibly passionate about games,” said Stuart Poole, General Manager of YoYo Games. “Since joining them last week, the positivity and creative energy we are seeing from them has been overwhelming. We have always had big plans for improving GameMaker across all platforms, both from the perspective of improving accessibility and further developing the features available to commercial studios; and now we can’t wait to see them arrive much sooner.”
Opera’s acquisition illustrates the ongoing digital convergence among industries that, at first glance, appear to have little in common.
Microsoft has bought Smash.gg, the site dedicated to building “active esports scenes around the games people love to play.”
Gaming is becoming an increasingly important part of the tech industry, with recent information showing significant upticks in the amount of time all age groups are playing games. Games are also used for training purposes, therapy and community building.
Microsoft has been at the forefront of the gaming industry for years, thanks to its Xbox console. The company has been expanding its influence, buying game studios and bringing some of the biggest titles to the Xbox. As a result, buying a company dedicated to esports seems the next logical step.
Smash.gg posted the announcement on their website:
Since we started in 2015, our goal has been to build active esports scenes around the games people love to play. Today we’re excited to take the next step in that journey by joining Microsoft to help strengthen our existing relationships and explore new opportunities. Smash.gg will continue as a self-service esports platform available to tournament organizers from all game communities. If you have any questions about existing tournaments please reach out to hello@smash.gg.
Microsoft also confirmed the announcement via their MSN Esports Twitter account:
Big news everyone! @smashgg is joining us at Microsoft. Same great tournament organization features. Same amazing team. Even more support and opportunities. Get ready to play!
Microsoft on Monday announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, one of the largest, privately-held game developers and publishers in the world. The ZeniMax library includes game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, and Rage, among many others, Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash.
“Gaming is the most expansive category in the entertainment industry, as people everywhere turn to gaming to connect, socialize and play with their friends,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Quality differentiated content is the engine behind the growth and value of Xbox Game Pass—from Minecraft to Flight Simulator. As a proven game developer and publisher, Bethesda has seen success across every category of games, and together, we will further our ambition to empower the more than three billion gamers worldwide.”
“This is an awesome time to be an Xbox fan. In the last 10 days alone, we’ve released details on our two new consoles which go on pre-order tomorrow, launched cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and now we’re making another investment in the most critical part of our strategy: the games,” said Phil Spencer, executive vice president, Gaming at Microsoft. “Generations of gamers have been captivated by the renowned franchises in the Bethesda portfolio and will continue to be so for years to come as part of Xbox.”
Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media was founded in 1999 by Chairman and CEO Robert A. Altman; Bethesda’s structure and leadership will remain in place.
“This is a thrilling day for this company, our employees, and our fans. We have enjoyed a close partnership with Microsoft for decades, and this deal is a natural progression of those years working together,” said Altman. “The big winners today are our fans. We are continuing to develop our slate of AAA games, but now with Microsoft’s scale and entire Game Stack, our games can only get better.”
Today is a special day… We are THRILLED to welcome the talented teams and beloved game franchises of @Bethesda to Team Xbox!
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox at Microsoft, discusses the company’s acquisition of game maker ZeniMax and how this impacts gaming and the Xbox platform:
Adding ZeniMax Games To Xbox Is Incredible
Gamers love great games. The Xbox console is going on preorder tomorrow for the next generation. Just last week we added Game Pass cloud streaming so that people can play this Game Pass library across all of their Android phones. Then obviously Game Pass which is the largest game content subscription out there with 15 million subscribers and growing. So getting to work with ZeniMax to bring their amazing collection of games to GamePass is just an incredible opportunity for us.
Our plan is to leave it alone. ZeniMax has an amazing track record of building great games. Our goal is to make ZeniMax the best ZeniMax they can be. ZeniMax will be working individually with their studios on the great platform technology that we have, getting their creators feedback into the things that we need to go build. That’s just a critical flywheel for us innovating, just the feedback from the world’s best creators on our platform.
Committed To Bringing Game Pass To iPhones
When you get large scale general compute platforms like mobile phones people should have access to the great content and services that are out there. We remain committed to that. There are over 3 billion people who play video games today and many of them play on phones. We’re committed to bringing Game Pass to all mobile phones out there including Apple phones. We will continue to have conversations and I’m sure we will be able to get to some resolution.
Our biggest issue (with the Apple app store) isn’t a financial issue. Our biggest issue is that cloud game streaming apps are actually not allowed in the way that Game Pass is built for other platforms. For us, this is about gamers having great access to the content from the creators they love on the devices they own. Play the games that you want with the community that you want to play with the devices that you have. That’s our goal.
COVID Impacted Game Production
People with sheltering in place and work from home, we’ve seen incredible engagement in the gaming community over the last few months. We’re really proud with the way that gaming has been able to play such a pivotal role for people. Games today are hundreds of people coming together to build these massive games. It’s important that we’re conscious of the safety of our teams. COVID has had an impact on production and you’re seeing that out there.
When you look at this launch and people’s appetite for gaming right now we are very bullish on how are preorders are going to go tomorrow. We have the most powerful console on the market. We have the most affordable console on the market. We’ve got things like Xbox All Access that allow people to join this next generation of gaming for $24.99 a month with no upfront costs. You get a console and Game Pass. In times like this, I think that accessibility of price point and offer is really important.
Discord is working on repositioning itself as a chat platform, rather than a gaming messaging platform.
As millions of people have been sheltering in place, working from home and relying on communication tools to keep in touch, chat and video conferencing apps have become all the rage. While Discord started out as a messaging platform for gamers, it would appear it is growing far beyond that and moving into the general communication space.
In a blog post, CEO Jason Citron said the company has spent the last year finding out what mattered most to its users. Based on that information, it quickly became apparent that many individuals were using Discord to be part of an online community, engage in meaningful conversation and have a place to belong.
“You came to us and said Discord was this place. And for millions of you, it already felt like a home,” writes Citron.
“Today, many of you use Discord for day-to-day communication. You’re sharing thoughts about books, music, and art, creating servers to just be yourself and share moments with friends. Since we launched in 2015, Discord has grown to more than 100 million monthly active users. You spend 4 billion minutes in conversation daily across 6.7 million active servers. On a weekly basis, that’s 26 billion server conversation minutes across 13.5 million active servers.”
Citron then goes on to highlight the changes Discord is making to keep up with the way people are using it. These changes include improving the branding to focus on chat, making Discord “hostile to hate” and improving the onboarding experience.
It’s a safe bet that Discord will probably continue to grow and benefit from this move, especially as digital communication is more important than ever.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Akamai has announced it’s going to start slowing down video game downloads during peak times.
As millions of people shelter in place and work from home, networks are being tested like never before. Internet providers, social media platforms and wireless companies alike are having to make adjustments to ensure their infrastructure can keep up with demand.
Akamai, as the world’s largest content delivery network, is working with major video game distributors, such as Microsoft and Sony. Since a single video game download can be the equivalent of 30,000 web pages worth of traffic, game downloads during peak times can have a crippling effect. As a result, Akamai will begin throttling game downloads during peak times, resuming normal speeds late at night when traffic is less.
“Playing video games enables people all over the world to connect with friends and family and enjoy much needed entertainment during these uncertain times. Our goal is to partner with other leaders in the industry to help ensure gamers are able to enjoy engaging experiences,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment.
“As people look to gaming for play and social connection, we’re seeing record engagement across Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live, and Mixer. We’re actively monitoring usage and making temporary adjustments as needed to ensure the smoothest possible experience for our gamers. We appreciate the collaboration with partners like Akamai to deliver the joy of games in these unprecedented times,” said Dave McCarthy, Corporate Vice President, Xbox Product Services.
While gamers may not be happy with Akamai’s announcement, it’s understandable given the challenge the pandemic is posing for internet companies around the world. Akamai’s main goal is to make sure critical network infrastructure remains fully functional and performs at the necessary level.
“It’s important to note that Akamai fully expects to maintain the integrity and reliability of website and mobile application delivery, as well as security services, for all of our customers during this time,” writes CEO Tom Leighton. “In particular, Akamai customers across sectors such as government, healthcare, financial services, commerce, manufacturing, and business services should not experience any change in the performance of their services.”
As the coronavirus forces people to forgo hanging out in person, social gaming is gaining in popularity.
According to report by NPR, social games are becoming the new way people hang out, providing interaction without the risk of infection. One such example is Discord, a communication platform popular with gamers that has seen a 200% increase in signups in the last week.
Even games that are normally played in person are seeing growth, as families stay home. Jackbox Games CEO Mike Bilder told NPR that their traffic last weekend was “comparable to Thanksgiving weekend, which is a very busy time of year for us. Across the board we’ve just seen a lot of additional activity over a typical weekend.” The company has also released a guide to help people adapt and play their games remotely.
Similarly, Facebook recently announced a closed beta of its Horizon virtual reality environment, an environment designed to allow users to visit, interact, cooperate on tasks, compete with each other and more. As the pandemic continues to progress, it’s a safe bet social games and virtual reality will only continue growing in popularity.
People love rivalries. Apple vs Microsoft, Ford vs Chevy, Patriots vs the Bills and Xbox vs PlayStation are just a few of the greats. According to Protocol, however, the Xbox vs PlayStation rivalry may be nearing its end as Microsoft’s focus has shifted to Amazon and Google as its primary rivals.
“When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them, but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward,” Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s games business, told Protocol in an interview. “That’s not to disrespect Nintendo and Sony, but the traditional gaming companies are somewhat out of position. I guess they could try to re-create Azure, but we’ve invested tens of billions of dollars in cloud over the years.”
The change in focus is another indication of the growing importance of the cloud, and Microsoft’s determination to continue gaining ground in the market. While the company has enjoyed phenomenal success with its Xbox line, it sees the future of gaming in cloud-based streaming, according to Business Insider.
Google has already released its streaming game service Stadia, and Apple has a similar service called Apple Arcade. While Amazon doesn’t currently have a gaming service, it has the underlying cloud architecture to support one. Unlike Microsoft or Sony’s current offerings, for a low monthly price Stadia and Arcade stream a myriad of games to devices people already own and use, meaning there is a far lower barrier-to-entry. This is significant when taking into consideration the cost of a gaming console. Suddenly the potential market goes from hundreds of millions to billions.
Microsoft’s changed focus is just the latest thing that illustrates the many different fronts the cloud wars will be fought on—including gaming.
Touch an ad on Instagram and instantly play the game.
“5G is going to be a real tailwind for growth in mobile,” says Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau. “It’s going to enable much higher performance games. They’re going to be able to bring more people into a gaming experience. You’ll be able to have games that are zero downloads where you can play them right over the air and never have them installed on your phone. If you’re looking at an ad on Instagram you’ll be able to touch that ad and quickly be able to play the game without having to go to the App Store.”
“It’ll also enable new forms of innovation in terms of distribution, the funnel of how you manage players, will be a lot more efficient and strong,” says Gibeau. “As infrastructure around 5G rolls out globally over these next several years it’s going to be a huge boost for us.”
5G To Enable Much Higher Performance Games, Says Zynga CEO
According to a report by the Economic Daily News, Apple may be releasing a gaming Mac at next year’s WWDC event.
As BGR comments, the Economic Daily News has a pretty spotty track record when it comes to predicting Apple’s next moves. Even so, this rumor is not outside the realm of possibility. Apple has been making moves into a number of industries, including TV programming, that are well outside its traditional business. As BGR points out, even Apple Arcade represents a significant step into this arena.
For years, Mac users who are serious gamers have had to purchase Windows-based PCs to have the best gaming experience. Most gaming companies primarily develop for Windows and the best graphics and sounds cards often have drivers that are optimized for Microsoft’s operating system.
A Mac gaming platform would help Apple fill a relatively large hole in their ecosystem, not to mention help the company take advantage of a lucrative and growing industry that shows no sign of slowing down. Such a move won’t be without its challenges, however, as Apple would still need to convince developers to target the Mac as a platform, both with games and with the best drivers.
If the report is to be believed, the gaming Mac could cost up to $5,000. Sources reportedly told the Economic Daily News the model may be an all-in-one computer or some type of large-screen rig.
According to StreamElements year-end report, Microsoft’s Mixer streaming service grew some 149 percent in 2019, yet still lagged far behind rival Twitch.
Amazon’s Twitch has long dominated online game streaming, with 1,256,000 average concurrent viewers. Over the last couple of years, Microsoft has tried to challenge Twitch with its Mixer streaming service, even scoring some major exclusivity deals. One of the biggest was when Microsoft poached Twitch star Ninja.
While such deals helped Mixer grow, it still only commands a mere 3 percent of the streaming market, as opposed to the 1 percent it had in 2018. The same is true for Facebook Gaming, another streaming platform for gamers. While Twitch did lose market share, it only lost two points going from 75 to 73 percent, leaving it as the overwhelmingly dominant service. Similarly, the second place streaming service, YouTube Gaming, lost a single point, going from 22 to 21 percent.
In spite of the two leaders losing market share, they both registered growth in viewership. YouTube Gaming saw a 16 percent growth rate over 2018, while Twitch registered a solid 20 percent.
According to StreamElements, the platforms cumulatively accounted for a total of 12,731,686,280 hours of viewership in 2019, up from 10,344,857,722 in 2010. In view of this report, two things are clear: viewers appetite for watching video game streaming is voracious; and Microsoft Mixer, as well as Facebook Gaming, have plenty of room to grow.
“We’re going to reach a point where you won’t be able to tell the difference between what’s created in the computer and what’s real,” says Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. “That doesn’t mean we’ll do it for all of our games. This promise of taking certain titles, like basketball, and making it truly look like live-action is pretty close now. Squint a little bit and it looks like live-action (even now). That’s really exciting and that gives our creative folks a new canvas on which to paint.”
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software, the company behind such games as Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, and NBA 2K, discusses the future of gaming in an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC:
Eventually, You Won’t Know What’s Real or Not in Computer Games
We have a new console generation coming and that’s going to allow us to do some things that we haven’t been able to do before creatively. That’s exciting. But as I’ve said before, we’re going to reach a point where you won’t be able to tell the difference between what’s created in the computer and what’s real. That doesn’t mean we’ll do it for all of our games. Borderlands, for example, is an animated universe and it’s always going to be an animated universe.
But this promise of taking certain titles, like basketball and making it truly look like live-action is pretty close now. Squint a little bit and it looks like live-action. That’s really exciting and that gives our creative folks a new canvas on which to paint.
Our Strategy Is To Make the Best Entertainment
We’re incredibly grateful to our creative teams and they keep delivering. The reason they deliver is that our strategy is to make the best entertainment. We are focused on being the most creative, the most efficient, and the most innovative company in the entertainment business. We don’t always succeed but that’s what we aim to do every day. We’re really happy with how NBA 2K is doing and by the way, we’re happy with how (our competitor) Fortnite is doing. Hits are good for the marketplace.
NBA 2K19 has now sold 12 million units and recurrent consumer spending was up 140 percent in the quarter. It is extraordinary. It used to be about a three-month experience. It’s now a nine or ten-month experience. Our goal is to make that a 12-month experience. It never ends, it just gets better and better. In China, we have our online games. So NBA 2K online in China we launched the second iteration and that title is up 75 percent year-over-year. We have 46 million registered users. It remains the number one PC Sports title in China.
We’re still saying there are 110 million users for Grand Theft Auto. But you should know, in the past six months, five out of those six months it’s been a top ten title. And Grand Theft Auto Online set a new record in the first quarter. That’s before the launch of Casino Pack which is huge. Rockstar Games has done an amazing job and Social Casino is a big part of the interactive entertainment business. It’s great to be in the social casino business now through Red Ded Online and Grand Theft Auto Online.
Give An Audience Something That’s Fantastic And They Show Up
The conventional wisdom before the launch of the first Red Dead Redemption was westerns don’t work in interactive entertainment. Truth is if you give an audience something that’s unexpected and fantastic they show up for it. Red Dead Redemption 2 has now sold 25 million units. Very few titles can rise to the level of Rockstar Games titles. and if Borderlands 3 became close to Red Dead Redemption 2, we’d be just thrilled.
The truth is that Borderlands 3, coming out in September, is shaping up to be a massive title. The catalog has been selling great. The margins are high and consumers are really loving it. A concern that we had is that it’s been almost eight years since Borderlands 2 and you wonder whether you know consumers see that as a fresh title. The buzz is saying absolutely yes.
It’s Disrespectful To Point the Finger At Entertainment
This is a terrible and tragedy a senseless tragedy. It’s fun to talk about entertainment but lives were we’re lost. The truth is it’s disrespectful to the victims and the families to point the finger at entertainment. Entertainment is part of people’s daily joy. It’s consumed worldwide and it’s the same worldwide. However, gun violence is uniquely American. That has to change and that will only change if we address the real issues.
Eventually, You Won’t Know What’s Real or Not in Computer Games – Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two
Google CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled their Stadia game streaming platform at the 2019 Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco today. Stadia is designed to bring high-end gaming to Chrome and other devices and aims to eliminate the many barriers to gaming. It will likely be a subscription service similar to Netflix but focused on games that can be played without a console right in Chrome or other devices.
Biggest Impact of Gaming is How it Pushes Technology Forward
Perhaps the biggest impact of gaming is how it pushes us to make big leaps in computing and networking power, high fidelity graphics, and the infrastructure that supports it all. All of it is pushing computing and technology forward and I find it really exciting. At Google, we have always believed that technology should adapt to people. Not the other way around. We’ve been building towards this vision for some time. For example, when we launched Chrome a decade ago we envisioned that it could be a modern platform for web applications. We wanted to bring the power of the web to everyone including use cases that seemed impossible at that time like high-quality games.
Finally, we are making progress towards that goal. In fact, over the last two years, we’ve been hard at work on game streaming technology. Last Fall, we launched our first public test with Project Stream. But a technical test wasn’t the whole view of our ambition. It was probably the worst kept secret in the industry. Internally, we were actually testing our ability to stream high fidelity graphics over a low agency network. We learned that we could bring a triple-A game to any device with a Chrome browser and an internet connection, using the best of Google to create a powerful game platform.
Google Committed to Paying Billions to Game Developers
When we say best of Google, it always starts with our cloud and networking infrastructure. Our custom server hardware and data centers can bring more computing power to more people on planet Earth than anyone else. Today, we are in 19 regions, and in over 200 countries and territories connected by hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber optic cables. The best of Google also includes our open platforms that allow us to reach billions of people. With Google, your games will be immediately discoverable by over two billion people on a Chrome browser, Chrome Books, Chrome Cast, Pixel Devices, and we have plans to support more browsers and devices over time. That’s in addition to all of the people playing and watching games across YouTube and Google Play.
When we build these ecosystems, we always take the approach that we only succeed when our partners do. Collectively, our partners across web, Google Play, and YouTube have earned more than $110 billion over the last four years alone. We are committed to this approach here as well. So now, we have focused on our next big effort, which is to build a game platform for everyone. And, when we say for everyone, we really mean it. It is one of our most cherished values as a company. Be it Android or Chrome or AI, we are dead serious about making technology accessible for everyone.
Google is Dead Serious About Eliminating Barriers
But, if you think about games, there are a lot of barriers for users to play high-end games. Beautiful graphics really need high-end consoles or PCs. And games don’t have instant access. Think about the way the web works. You can easily share a link and it works seamlessly. We want games to feel that way too. Instantly enjoyable with access for everyone.
I think we can change the game by bringing together the power and creativity of the entire community, people who love to play games, people who love to watch games, and people who love to build games. That means all of you. We are really excited to work with you. We want to build a platform and we want you to show us what’s possible. And together, I think we can create a new games experience powered by best of Google and built for everyone.
The best Fortnite player in the world, ‘Ninja’ Tyler Blevins, says he currently makes more than $500,000 a month and may just become the world’s first $10 million a year gamer. Ninja has over 20 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and a reported 200,000+ paying subscribers watching Blevins livestream on Twitch.
‘Ninja’ Tyler Blevins, coming off appearances on Ellen and Jimmy Fallon, discussed his Fortnite success and wealth in an interview on CNN Business:
Blevins Makes More than $500,000 a Month
Losing tens of thousands of dollars sitting for this interview is a perfect assumption. With Fortnite alone I’ve streamed 3,400 hours this past year. That’s 142 days of gaming and streaming. On a good month I make more than $500,000 a month.
When I started making more than $80,000 a year streaming and gaming was the deciding factor in leaving college and quitting my job at Noodles & Company. That was the deciding factor by my Mom. By no means was she going to let me quit my job or drop out of school.
I say “drop out of school,” I don’t even like that because I always had every intention of going back. I actually did go back when I had an eye issue thing and my stream took a dive. After hitting $80,000 a year I said Mom, I’m doing this until I make less and then I will go back.
Could be the First $10 Million a Year Gamer
I definitely could be the first $10 million a year gamer. It’s rare that I meet people that don’t know what I’m doing. But if I had a dollar every time I was at an airport and someone asks what I’m doing. I say I’m going to a tournament. I answer it’s a video game tournament. They are amazed I make money playing video games. The gaming tournament explanation is simple. A bunch of people buy a team pass. That money goes into the prize pool winner take all.
70 Percent of Revenue Comes from Twitch and YouTube
Streaming is the hardest part for people to understand. How do you make money streaming? The answer is ad revenue. There are going to be ads in commercial breaks. Those advertising companies pay the network and it’s the same way with streaming. However many people see the ads, you get money there. Also, people can subscribe.
I make most of my money from Twitch and YouTube. It’s constant, it’s consistent, it’s monthly. About 70 percent of my money comes from Twitch and YouTube together. And then like brand deals with Red Bull and others make up the rest. It’s really simple, it’s like subscribing to a magazine, Spotify, or anything like that. It’s the same thing.
My favorite reference is a guy on the street playing the violin. He’s not expected to get any money, maybe a couple of bucks. If you enjoy it a lot sometimes people will throw in twenty’s and five’s. It’s the same thing with me, but I absolutely have a big violin case.
China just lifted its year-old ban on new video games but no Tencent games were approved in the initial list. Gamer World News Entertainment host Capt. Rob Steinberg says that it’s not really much of a surprise that Tencent’s Fortnite wasn’t in this first 80. He sees it as a huge economic opportunity for gaming companies in general.
Steinberg also noted that China “has gone very hyper” with the control they have put on games.
From what I’ve seen China just lifted this ban that allows more games to be licensed in China. That being said, we’ve only released about 80 games that were there. In that there are about 3,000 games that will be released in 2019 and there are about 7,000 games that are on this waitlist.
It’s not really much of a surprise that Tencent’s Fortnite wasn’t in this first 80. But what this does say is that there is an enormous market, a market that takes up $34 billion in the gaming industry that has now opened up the possibility of having these games enter that market.
China Has Gone Very Hyper Controlling Games
The gaming ban is really put in place by the government to try and protect its people. They’re very strict whenever it comes to allowing things in that might show anything that is illegal, immoral, or violent.
That being said, they have gone very hyper as far as the amount of control that they put over these games. In doing that they’ve lowered their economic ecosystem in gaming by 5.4 percent as of last year.
A Fantastic Time to Invest in Gaming
It has definitely had a huge impact and I believe lifting the console ban and allowing more games to come in will help them create more money. It also is great for us here in case you haven’t already invested in Tencent this is a fantastic time for you to consider getting into the game knowing that they are now about to open up to a huge market if they can break through and if Fortnite becomes popular with the Chinese.
