Gaming
VCs discuss gaming’s biggest infrastructure investment opportunities in 2021
We last polled our network of investors on the topic of gaming infrastructure startups back in May just as it was becoming clear what pandemic opportunities were in store for…
Parsec raises $25M from a16z to power remote work and cloud gaming
Parsec, a startup that’s built streaming technology for both work and play, is announcing that it has raised $25 million in Series B funding. This brings Parsec’s total funding to…
Everybody thought the deal was done — Take-Two was supposed to acquire Codemasters for nearly $1 billion. Take-Two even reached an agreement with the board of Codemasters. But Electronic Arts…
Halo Infinite now scheduled for release in ‘Fall 2021’
We already knew that Halo Infinite was delayed until next year. Initially intended to launch alongside the new Xboxes, Microsoft announced back in August that it would instead ship in…
Cyberpunk 2077 draws criticism for seizure-inducing sequence with no warning or mitigation
One of the biggest games of the year, “Cyberpunk 2077,” is about to be released, but developer CD Projekt Red is already under fire for an early game sequence with…
Do people want their at-home fitness to come in video-game form? The incredible popularity of games like Ring Fit Adventure suggests yes. London-based startup Quell thinks it’s just the beginning…
Pokémon GO will bump its max level cap to 50 and add more Pokémon soon
Since launching four years ago, hitting level 40 in Pokémon GO meant hitting the top. You could still keep catching Pokémon and gathering XP, of course — but that shiny…
Demon’s Souls: The first truly next-gen game is a lopsided but impressive showcase
The next generation of gaming is here with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X — except it isn’t, because there are almost no next-generation games to play on them.…
Nintendo’s Mario Game & Watch is a choice gaming stocking stuffer
Nintendo will never stop mining its past for new nostalgia-based products, but at least it tends to do so with aplomb and occasionally even generosity. The former at least is…
PUBG announces India return plan with new game and $100 million investment
PUBG Mobile plans to return in India in a new avatar, parent company PUBG Corporation said on Thursday. TechCrunch reported last week that the South Korean gaming firm was plotting…
The PlayStation 4 will be able to play PlayStation 5 games remotely
Well, isn’t this a nice little surprise? This morning some PlayStation 4 owners are reporting the sudden and unexpected arrival of a new “PS5 Remote Play” app. While the app…
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Review: Sony’s PlayStation 5 is here, but next-generation gaming is still on its way
The new generation of consoles is both a hard and an easy sell. With a big bump to specs and broad backwards compatibility, both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are certainly the consoles anyone should buy going forward. But with nearly no launch content or must-have features, they also fail to make a…
PUBG Mobile plots return to India with Microsoft deal
PUBG Mobile, the sleeper hit title that was banned in India two months ago over cybersecurity concerns, is plotting to make a return in the world’s second largest internet market,…
A small wrinkle in the console wars. Sony took to Twitter today to note that the PlayStation 5 won’t be available for in-store purchase on launch day (November 12 or…
Nvidia reportedly bringing Fortnite back to iOS through its cloud gaming service
Nvidia is bringing Fortnite back to iPhones and iPads, according to a report from the BBC. The British news service is reporting that Nvidia has developed a version of its…
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Review: Microsoft’s Xbox Series X is ahead of its time
Arriving seven years after the Xbox One first launched, the new Microsoft Xbox Series X console lands in a different world and a very different Xbox ecosystem. Microsoft is embracing subscription bundling with its Game Pass service and cloud-streaming with xCloud; nevertheless, they are still committed to building huge metal boxes with tremendous power designed…
Zynga completes its acquisition of hyper-casual game maker Rollic
Zynga announced in August that it would be acquiring Istanbul-based Rollic, developer and publisher of hyper-casual gaming hits like Go Knots 3D and Tangle Master 3D. Today, it says the…
Supercell’s CEO talks about its majority owner Tencent, finding its next hit and more
Mobile games maker Supercell has been one of the great, understated breakthroughs of the European startup world. The Helsinki-based mobile games maker built an empire out of Clash of Clans,…
PowerZ is a video game focused on education founded by Shadow founder
Meet PowerZ, a new French startup founded by Emmanuel Freund, the founder of popular cloud gaming service Shadow, as well as former Shadow employees. The company wants to develop a…
Fresh off a $40 million Series A round, edge AI specialist Kneron today announced the launch of its newest custom chip, the Kneron KL 720 SoC. With funding from the…
Genki’s Covert Dock is the perfect dock for the Nintendo Switch — and other gadgets, too
The Nintendo Switch’s ability to quickly transition from portable to home console is definitely one of its major selling points, but Nintendo’s official dock never really made much sense with…
Gaming phones are a weird one. They make sense on paper to some degree. As we well know, everyone’s a gamer these days, and much or most of that gaming…
Over 2,500 games removed from Apple’s China App Store in early July, as crackdown begins
More than 2,500 mobile games have been removed from China’s App Store during the first week of July, according to a new report from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower.…
Gaming network Venn will launch with 20 hours of live programming on August 5, 2020
Venn, the company looking to be gaming’s answer to ’80s-era MTV, has revealed the first slate of shows to premier on the network when it launches August 5, 2020. Working…
Agora isn’t the only company headquartered outside the United States aiming to go public domestically this quarter. After catching up on Agora’s F-1 filing, the China-and-U.S.-based, API-powered tech company that…
Amazon and Zynga partner on Word Pop, a Words with Friends spinoff created for Alexa
Zynga’s popular game, Words with Friends, is coming to Alexa. The new voice-powered game will be known as Word Pop, and — sorry — you can’t actually play it with…
Nintendo has almost doubled the number of user accounts compromised by hackers in the past few months. The Japanese gaming giant originally said that 160,000 Nintendo accounts were compromised, exposing…
Carry1st has $4M to invest in African mobile gaming
Gaming development startup Carry1st has raised a $2.5 million seed round led by CRE Venture Capital. That brings the company’s total VC to $4 million, which Carry1st will deploy to…
Twitch announces a new Safety Advisory Council to guide its decision-making
Amazon-owned game-streaming site Twitch announced today the formation of a new group that will guide decision-making around new policies and products: the Twitch Safety Advisory Council. The eight-person council consists…
Fantasy sports startup Sleeper closes Series B led by a16z as it expands to esports amid pandemic
Sleeper is widening its ambitions to esports as the arena sports world goes into hibernation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While CEO Nan Wang has high hopes that the upcoming NFL…
