Video Games
Roblox, a company that describes itself as a "metaverse" where players can make their own avatars and environments, saw its shares surge nearly 55% to $69.50 after the IPO. Roblox valuation is currently more than $45 billion.
The company generates nearly all of its revenue from the sale of its Robux currency, which can be used to purchase in-game virtual objects. Last year the total revenue was nearly $925 million, up 82% from 2019.
Roblox announced earlier this month that it now expects sales to rise about another 60% this year to a range of $1.44 billion to $1.52 billion.
Innersloth's multiplayer social deduction game developed "Among Us" is now available on Nintendo Switch, featuring cross-platform play. "Among Us" will be available for $5.
Video game giant Electronic Arts announced it would buy Britain's Codemasters, known for its F1 and Dirt racing game franchises., in a deal worth $1.2 billion. EA's move has come as a surprise - most people thought Take-Two's proposal last month (had offered a package worth $973m) was pretty much a done deal, and Codemasters itself had supported the earlier buy-out plan.
There is still a chance that Take-Two could respond with a better offer, and spark a bidding war between the two US gaming giants. This particular race is not won quite yet.
"We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans," said EA's CEO Andrew Wilson.
According to Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, there is a "very considerable" demand for its PlayStation 5 (PS5) console via pre-orders. The next-generation console will be launched on November 12.
Sony pre-sold as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours in the United States as in the first 12 weeks for its predecessor PlayStation 4 device, said Ryan in an interview Wednesday.
Sony, which went on to sell more than 100 million PS4 units, aims to persuade its user base to upgrade to its new device to play titles like “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” with enhanced graphics, sound and feedback via a new controller.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 will launch for PC on August 18, the first release of the franchise since 2014.
The game will come in three versions:
- The standard edition ($59.99) includes 20 planes and 30 airports.
- The deluxe edition ($89.99) adds five planes to the fleet and five additional international airports.
- The premium deluxe edition ($119.99) has a total of 30 planes and 30 airports.
It is possible to pre-order the game now on Windows 10, or pre-install with Xbox Game Pass for PC.
A sealed copy of "Super Mario Bros." sold for $114,000 at an auction on Friday, becoming the highest-selling video game ever. The winning bid came from an anonymous bidder.
"The demand for this game was extremely high, and if any lot in the sale could hit a number like that, it was going to be this one. We knew this would be a strong live session, but I don’t think anybody could have anticipated how much bidding action there was on Heritage Live! and the phones," so Valarie McLeckie, Heritage Auctions Video Games Director.
Sony has invested $250 million for a 1.4% stake in Epic Games. With the new investment, the developer behind Fortnite and the Epic Games Store has raised $1.83 billion to date and it is valued at $17.68 billion.
"The investment cements an already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces the shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services," stated Sony, in a press release.
Following the news that AT&T is considering parting ways with Warner Bros., Microsoft is considering acquiring the game division.
The Information reported that Microsoft is not the only one interested in the company; EA, Take-Two and Activision Blizzard are also considering buying WB Interactive and its several development studios (Avalanche Software, Monolith Productions, NetherRealm Studios, Rocksteady Studios, TT Games, and many others).
Xbox Game Studios, a subsidiary of Microsoft, will be showcasing first-party exclusive games developed for the upcoming Xbox Series X. Francises like Halo, Gears of War and Forza are certain to be present, but it's noteworthy that Xbox Game Studios is comprised of 15 game development studios- all just as likely to make appearances.
Video game company Ubisoft has publicly responded to recent allegations of sexual harassment and assault against multiple of the company's employees, including community manager Andrien Gbinigie and creative director Ashraf Ismail.
In its statement, Ubisoft said that it had "started by launching investigations into the allegations with the support of specialised external consultants" and that "based on the outcomes, we are fully committed to taking any and all appropriate disciplinary action."
La Liga will be exclusive to the FIFA game franchise until 2030, Electronic Arts announced it today. The new 10-year agreement is the longest renewal in the partnership between Electronica Arts and La Liga.
The announcement also includes a commitment to grow fandom and esports participation through LaLiga’s official esports competition, eLaLiga Santander.
At its PlayStation 5 gameplay even, Sony announced the release of "Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the sequel of 2018's Spider-Man.
The game, expected to be launched alongside the PlayStation 5, will be released in "holiday 2020", so approximately between October and December 2020.
KSP sequel 'Kerbal Space Program 2' won't be launched until autumn 2021. Private Division, publisher and maker of KSP, announced the delay on Twitter in late May.
"As you all know, we've been working hard to make the best and most authentic KSP sequel possible. This is an ambitious goal. We are making a big, expansive game loaded with new features, but doing so will take longer than we previously anticipated," Private Division wrote in a tweet, explaining that the challenges the company faces amid the COVID-19 outbreak have resulted in "many unique challenges that require more time to safely iterate, create, test and make KSP2."