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'Overwatch' was June's best-selling game, even with a handicap
In case you haven't noticed, Overwatch is really, really popular. Popular enough to support millions of active players, host high-stakes professional competitive gaming drama and even inspire a graphic novel adaptation. All this, and the game's barely three months old. Still not convinced? Okay, we've got one more thing: Overwatch sold better than any other game in June -- and according to NPD Group, it won that top spot with a handicap.
The 'Skylanders' TV show will debut on Netflix this fall
Netflix has snatched up another TV show that children will be begging their parents to stream. A new deal with Activision Blizzard will ensure Skylanders Academy, the first TV show based on the toys-to-life video game franchise, will premiere on Netflix this fall. It's not yet clear if the series will be shown elsewhere at a later date. Regardless, it's a major coup for Netflix as it seeks to build a broader, more attractive slate of shows for kids. Previous deals include a long-running partnership with DreamWorks, which has produced series based on Madagascar, Turbo and Voltron.
Blizzard deal lets you stream its games on Facebook Live
Blizzard is about to make it much, much easier to share your gaming exploits with the world. The developer has unveiled a deal with Facebook that will let you stream its games directly through Facebook Live -- you won't have to do much to broadcast your latest Overwatch marathon for your friends. There isn't a firm timeline for when this will be available, but it won't be limited to Overwatch when it arrives.
'Overwatch' already has 7 million people aiming at your face
Blizzard Entertainment probably knew its online shooter Overwatch was going to be pretty popular following the wildly successful beta, but maybe not to this extent. The company has revealed that the game has earned some 7 million players worldwide already across PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with users logging over 119 million hours of the colorful shooter since its May 24th launch. For context, New York City has around 8.5 million residents and the playtime translates to over 13,500 years.
Blizzard will permaban 'Overwatch' cheaters
Overwatch's massively popular beta might be over, but the game's cadre of developers at Blizzard are already making plans of how to deal with cheaters ahead of launch: Banning them. Permanently. No three strikes rule. No cool down. Just an outright permaban. And that's awesome. Writing on the forums, community manager Lylirra says that if a player is using hacks, bots or anything that gives her or him and unfair advantage, the banhammer will strike swiftly. If you spot someone cheating come the game's May 24th release, send any and all information regarding such to hacks@blizzard.com.
'World of Warcraft' keeps growing with 'Legion' in August
Blizzard will launch World of Warcraft's sixth expansion, Legion, on August 30th, unleashing hordes of hellish beasts and fresh quests into the game world. Legion adds the Demon Hunter hero class, customizable artifact weapons and a new continent called the Broken Isles, among other updates. Pre-orders are live now in two flavors: the $50 Standard Edition or the $70 Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes an adorable demon dog as a pet, the Illidari Felstalker mount, and in-game goodies for Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 (all of which are Blizzard properties as well).
Fans persuade Blizzard to pull sexualized 'Overwatch' pose
Sometimes a beta test is more than a glorified demo that the marketing department pushes for to drum up pre-orders. Fans of Overwatch, Blizzard's colorful new shooter, discovered just that recently. Over on the game's official forums, a user noticed that one of Tracer's -- more or less the figurehead for the game -- victory poses put her in a position that forum-goer "Fipps" thought wasn't befitting of the character. In it, she's glancing over her shoulder, her butt framed by a few straps over her leggings.
Activision officially owns the maker of 'Candy Crush Saga'
It's official: Activision Blizzard is committed to mobile gaming in a big way. The company has closed its $5.9 billion acquisition of King, making it the owner of Candy Crush Saga and giving it 310 million extra users. King will continue to operate independently, but make no mistake -- this is about filling a gap at a game publisher whose moneymakers are mostly limited to consoles and PCs. Between this, the purchase of MLG and the creation of a video studio, it's evident that Activision wants to have all the bases covered.
'Hateful Eight' producer joins Activision's film and TV division
Veteran Hollywood producer Stacey Sher is the latest executive addition to Activision Blizzard, the company behind major franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Skylanders, Hearthstone and Destiny. Sher is Co-President of Activision Studios, the company's new film and TV division, where she'll work alongside former Disney executive Nick van Dyk. Sher's credits make it clear that Activision Studios isn't exactly the Mickey Mouse Club: She's worked on Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Garden State, Erin Brockovich, Along Came Polly, Get Shorty and Reno 911, among others.
It's official: Activision buys legendary eSports company MLG
Mike Sepso co-founded the eSports organization Major League Gaming in 2002. In October 2015, he left MLG to work for Activision Blizzard -- the studio behind Destiny, Call of Duty and Hearthstone -- as Senior Vice President of its new competitive-gaming business led by former ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein. In the division's first major move, Activision today announced its purchase of MLG's eSports staff and assets in a deal reported to be worth $46 million. Sepso just helped Activision acquire the business he founded 13 years ago.Did he ever dream of ending up in a situation like this?"No one could have put that together," Sepso tells me, laughing. "And if you'd asked me four months ago, I would have said no."
Report: Activision buys eSports staple MLG for $46 million
Call of Duty and Hearthstone studio Activision Blizzard has acquired a majority of Major League Gaming's assets in a $46 million deal that essentially dissolves the professional gaming organization, eSports Observer reports. MLG Co-Founder and CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has left his role and is replaced by former CFO Greg Chisholm, the site says. Neither company has confirmed this report, though we've reached out to both and will update as we hear back.
The first full 'Warcraft' movie trailer is, in a word, epic
Whether you're a veteran World of Warcraft player, a Hearthstone newbie or someone who loves a great fantasy story, the trailer for Legendary Pictures' Warcraft is captivating. Warcraft is due in theaters on June 10th. It's Activision Blizzard's first foray into movie-making -- but it's definitely not the last. The company today announced its own, in-house film and TV business, Activision Blizzard Studios. It's already working on a Skylanders cartoon series and films based on the Call of Duty franchise. Warcraft doesn't fall under this new studio's umbrella.
Activision starts a studio for 'Skylanders,' 'Call of Duty' TV and film
Activision Blizzard today launched a studio in charge of taking its franchises from the console to the silver screen, starting with a film franchise based on Call of Duty and an animated television series all about Skylanders. Under Activision Blizzard Studios, Skylanders Academy is in production now with showrunner Eric Rogers, who is best known as a writer for Futurama. It features the voices of Justin Long as Spryo, Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald as Glumshanks. Details are scarce for the Call of Duty film project, but in a press release Activision calls out Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3 as examples of the series' potential. Plus, it notes a possibility of television adaptations for the franchise.
Activision buys 'Candy Crush' developer King for $5.9 billion
Say what you will about the quality of Activision's output, but the company makes incredibly smart business moves. Like the announcement that it purchased Candy Crush studio King Digital Entertainment for a cool $5.9 billion. For comparison's sake, Amazon paid a paltry $970 million for Twitch while Facebook spent $2 billion on Oculus VR and $19 billion on messaging platform Whatsapp. Oh, and Minecraft only set Microsoft back $2.5 billion. Bobby Kotick and Co. definitely think this is a big deal, and considering just how many people play the mindless puzzler this is likely a smart investment.
Blizzard rolls out Battle.net voice chat starting with 'Overwatch'
Blizzard has been in the online gaming business for decades with massively popular games like StarCraft and World of Warcraft, but it's never implemented a native voice-chat system in its Battle.net client. Now, it appears that's about to change. Blizzard is testing out voice chat in the beta for its new team-based shooter, Overwatch, and it sounds like the studio has plans to eventually launch voice chat for all of its games. In the Overwatch beta FAQ, Blizzard calls the system "Battle.net voice chat," rather than something Overwatch-specific. Plus, it notes, "With voice chat still in its early development and testing stages, it's too early to say which Blizzard games will be supported and when." Prepare your vocal cords, players: The Overwatch closed beta begins on October 27th.
'Diablo 3' getting free-to-play features, but not in the US or Europe
Blizzard may have shut down the Real Money Auction House after contention from the community, but it's opening up a new way to potentially use real money for in-game items. The difference here is that it's doing it in territories that are pretty accustomed to this sort of thing already -- most likely China. On the developer's American and European forums, an employee writes that an upcoming patch will add a new currency ("platinum"), timed experience boosts, cosmetic items, character slots and a tweaked UI to handle all of the above. Basically, the type of microtransactions that are fairly common in free-to-play games. As Gamasutra notes, Blizzard already has a partnership with NetEase (a Chinese internet company that has a web portal and its own massively multiplayer role-playing game), which operates a version of Diablo 3 in the country. All that to say, this makes sense for Blizzard.
Activision Blizzard completes buyback from Vivendi Universal in multi-billion dollar deal
Activision Blizzard recently bought back a controlling stake in itself from Vivendi Universal. The reacquisition was a joint effort by the company itself and an investment group that includes Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Chairman Brian Kelly. When the dust settled, Activision Blizzard picked up 429 million shares and other assets for around $5.83 billion, while the investment group snagged 172 million shares -- an almost 24.7 percent stake -- for approximately $2.34 billion. The deal leaves a majority of the remaining 690 million shares in the hands of the public, while Vivendi is hanging onto 83 million shares, or about 12 percent. For his part Kotick is optimistic about the firm's independence, even stating that he expects that the company's developers will benefit from a "focused commitment to the creation of great games." Let's just hope that this newfound concentration bodes well for the company's historically doomed subsidiaries.
Guitar Hero to be resurrected, retooled, and launch reunion tour
Stop mourning wannabe rock stars -- Guitar Hero is coming back. We heard the rumors of its demise were greatly exaggerated, but now word has come straight from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick that the game is currently being reinvented for a modern, more demanding audience. As he told Forbes, "we're going to take the products out of the market, and we're not going to tell anybody what we're doing for awhile... we're going to use new studios and reinvent Guitar Hero. And so that's what we're doing with it now." So there you go -- Guitar Hero's retirement was only temporary. Like any good performer it'll be back before you've even had a chance to miss it. Looks like the franchise will keep rocking out well past its prime. What's the console equivalent of playing a state fair?
GameString demos its streaming, custom World of Warcraft UI by raiding on an HTC Desire (video)
We're still not ready to apply the label "Gaming 3.0" here (or to anything, for that matter), but despite its boasts, GameString's making a compelling case for cloud-based play time. We've already seen the company bring World of Warcraft to Google TV, but now the company's showcasing its take on a challenge we've seen a few times before -- streaming a playable version of WoW to a mobile phone. (Gotta get 'em out of the house somehow.) The trick here is a streamlined UI overlay that makes for a every touch-friendly experience; there's translucent "thumbstick" spots and larger buttons for spells. The setup in question here is its Adrenalin Host Server from approximately 80 kilometers away (geographically) and an HTC Desire running over a home network that's 2Mbps down / 2Mbps up. And while there's some notable lag and parts of the interface that's still too tiny to really use, it's still an Alpha build that seems functional for all but the most intense of moments. See it for yourself after the break.
Australian Attorney General Atkinson plans appeal of Modern Warfare 2 rating
In a statement to AU GameSpot, South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson said he plans to appeal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's MA15+ rating in the region. If successful, the game will be banned in Australia and this would be Atkinson's first time intervening on a rating by the Classification Board. Atkinson explains, "I worry about any game that encourages gamers to perpetrate extreme violence and cruelty on screen, but this game allows players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians." Those points for killing civilians aren't the only ones Atkinson is missing. The anti-game antics of Atkinson are coming dangerously close to reminding us of the United States' disgraced, former attorney Jack Thompson. The Age reports Atkinson was recently on Aussie national radio and expressed that the Classification Board in Australia "does everything" to "get games in under the radar, and film, generally." Later, he stated that he has "no trust" in the board to apply guidelines, thus drawing up guidelines for games to have an R18+ classification "would be to draw them up in sure and certain knowledge that they would be stretched and then broken." So, games aren't being rated properly, but he won't support an R18+ rating. Feel free to drop your "facepalm" reactions below in the comments. Source -- Atkinson confirms MW2 appeal [AU GameSpot] Source -- No confidence [The Age]
