#36 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Pixels’ chapter 2 release sees DAUWs drop 69%. HV-MTL Ethereum mechs are coming to arena shooter ‘Shatterline’. 'Notcoin' Launches Accelerator to boost next wave of Telegram crypto games. Rogue Company has scrubbed all Dr Disrespect DLC. TwitchCon 2024 reports the state of mobile gaming. PlayStation heading to Tokyo Game Show for the first time since 2019. Konami releases Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance but forbids the sale of it in Japan. UN is big on gaming, Playing for the Planet program is launched. David Hasselhoff the surprise face of new green gaming initiative. Warzone will go back to its original loot system for Black Ops 6. Apex Legends’ battle pass is getting more expensive. Xbox Game Pass also going up and a new standard tier on the way. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom blamed for 40% game spending drop. All this plus much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• World of Warcraft reveals new 6-month subscription offer

• Concord beta kicks off this week, PC system requirements revealed

• Xbox’s latest ad tells you that you don’t need an Xbox anymore

• Pokémon Go fans in China celebrate brief availability before its block

• How Japan has avoided the gaming industry’s persistent layoffs

• Portugal to hold parliamentary conference on esports regulation, recognition

Gaming News 🕹️

• Warzone will go back to its original loot system for Black Ops 6, it’s claimed

• NBA 2K League to undergo major revamp

• Ghost of Tsushima tops charts four years after launch

• Pokémon Sleep earns $100m in first year revenue

• GTA Online update pops a quality-of-life feature behind the GTA+ paywall, making it unavailable on PC

• Konami releases Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on GOG but bizarrely stops the Japanese game being sold in Japan

• Mihoyo has another hit on its hands, as Zenless Zone Zero hits 50 million downloads not even a week into its release

• PlayStation to attend Tokyo Game Show 2024 for the first time since 2019

• Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and launching a new ‘Standard’ tier

• World of Warcraft reveals new 6-month subscription offer

• Apex Legends’ new battle pass system charges go up and has players up in arms: ‘This is how you kill the game

• Xbox’s latest ad tells you that you don’t need an Xbox anymore

• Final Fantasy 14’s Dawntrail expansion has only been out a few days, and one of its new jobs is already being adjusted

• Indus Battle Royale will also launch on iOS, pre-registration open now the hotly-anticipated battle royale shooter is set to release soon

• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom partly blamed for 40% drop in US spending on games this year

• Pokémon Go fans in China celebrate as game briefly available - before the country is blocked again

• Fallout: London says "the end is in sight" as testing gets underway

• EA delisting three more older Battlefield games later this month

• Blizzard reveals all four skins that Overwatch 2 players will be able to add to their collection as part of the Transformers collab

• Will GTA 6 be on PC? - Heres what we know

• Bungie is making a drastic change in response to player complaints about timegating in Destiny 2

• Konami’s latest game turns the retro space shooter into a blockbuster

^{Continue catching up with gaming news right after our sections on Trends, Web3 Games, Industry News, Insights, Esports, and Events!}

Web3 Games 🎯

• Pixels’ chapter 2 release sees DAUWs drop 69% as bots get broken

• Immutable is the biggest gainer among gaming blockchains in June

• Blocklords unveils Dynasty companion app on Coinbase’s Base blockchain

• Why HV-MTL Ethereum mechs are coming to arena shooter ‘Shatterline’

• 'Notcoin' Launches Accelerator to boost next wave of Telegram crypto games

• Tomarket launches Telegram-based Drop Game to boost web3 mass adoption

• Telegram CEO Calls crypto game Hamster Kombat world's 'fastest-growing digital service'

• Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? It’s all still rumors—for now

• Solana Meme Mascot Mew joins Telegram game ‘PixelTap’ to defeat Doge

• Live-service shooter Rogue Company has scrubbed all Dr Disrespect DLC

• How Nyan Heroes is reimagining the hero shooter with feline fury and giant mechs

Trends 📈

• How Japan has avoided the gaming industry’s persistent layoffs

• Epic says its EU iOS app store is approved but that Apple wants a change to a button design

• Battlefield 2042 is hosting a Dead Space crossover event which would've been useful to both games a year ago

• Android VR Game downloads up 40% YoY, setting new benchmark

• VR games showcase with ‘major’ reveals announced for August 2024

• No, Nintendo Will not use AI in its upcoming titles, president says

• Kristian Segerstrale: Cross-platform, not new platforms, will drive growth

• Jeremy Forrester at TwitchCon 2024: “The state of mobile gaming is fantastic”

• Tiny Garden plants a charming, cozy farming sim inside virtual Polly Pocket toys

• Escape from Tarkov is offering players in-game currency as a bounty for reporting cheaters

• Final Fantasy 14 is reportedly coming to mobile

• The Steam Deck has ruined console gaming for me

• Ubisoft's Watch Dogs film has started filming

• Valve rumored to be working on Android emulator for Steam

Industry News 🛡️

• 100 Thieves, Google Play and Niantic partner for Pokémon GO event

• Star Sports Network acquires Esports World Cup broadcasting rights

• Kwalee teams with Fahy Studios to grow gaming in the Middle East

• Infinite Reality raises $350M and acquires Roblox game developer Landvault for $450M

• Amir Satvat forecasts 4,463 more game workers will be laid off in 2024, but rate is slowing

• Women Create Games Forum announces speaker lineup and date

• Roblox names Xbox, Netflix alum Jerret West as CMO

• Embracer-owned studio Piranha Bytes has been shut down and former devs form Pithead Studio

• Brightmine: UK games industry's gender pay gap is 17.1%

• David Hasselhoff surprise face of new green gaming initiative

• UN Program Playing for the Planet explains how gamers can help fight climate change

• Team Liquid teams get OK to wear Pride jerseys at Saudi Arabia’s Esports World Cup rainbow comes to Riyadh.

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• Asus is adding RGB Windows Dynamic Lighting support to its latest motherboards

• Sony's Hot/Cold PlayStation Controller appears online

• AbleGamers Brazil President details inspiration behind UMAGIC controller

• 12 best graphics cards of 2024: the GPUs to recommend to any PC gamer

• The best Intel processors for 2024

• Razer Huntsman V3 Pro keyboards receive firmware update with Snap Tap Mode for quick directional changes

• Nintendo Switch 2 to get rid of the fan, have an extremely low TDP, but run faster in the dock

• M1 Pro: A versatile and portable dual monitor that supports touch input

• This foldable keyboard is hiding a full-fledged PC under the hood

Events 🗓️

• BitSummit Japan 2024 July 19 - July 21

• Philippine GameDev Expo 2024 July 26 - July 28

• SIGGRAPH 2024 July 28 - August 01

• BGA at Gamescom Cologne - Germany August 21 - August 21

• BGA at Token2049 Singapore September 18 -19

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• Esports World Cup breaks 1m viewers in League of Legends, trails in Warzone

• Esports World Cup partners with Amazon and Jameel Motorsport

• Aramco, HONOR and Unilever join Esports World Cup as partners

• Portugal to hold parliamentary conference on esports regulation, recognition

• These 27 brands are sponsoring the 2024 Esports World Cup

• CS2 fans left totally confused after snax joins Taz at G2 Esports

• Overwatch 2 mid-Season 11 patch notes – Tank Hero buffs & everything you need to know

• Garena Free Fire's Esports World Cup debut takes place very, very soon

• T1 wins at Esports World Cup, secures League of Legends victory

…Gaming News Continued 🕹️

• The Simulation Creative Director explains Its approach to horror

• Minecraft, Candy Crush and Goat Simulator among games that represent Sweden's cultural heritage

• OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast hasn't been for sale in 14 years, but a fan is still updating it

• Helldivers 2 players are escaping death by performing aerial salutes and hugs

• 2XKO gets a new fighter with Braum, a hard-hitting defensive powerhouse

• MW3 Minot Hawthorne error reappears, player accounts appear to reset to level one

• XDefiant finds a perfect middle ground between Call of Duty and Overwatch

• Disney Pixel RPG is an upcoming retro-inspired title from GungHo Entertainment the developers for the game, slated to release this year

• Falcom announcing new remake this year, confirms President Toshihiro Kondo

• Nvidia is offering up free copies of Black Myth: Wukong with RTX 40 GPUs

• Concord beta kicks off this week, PC system requirements revealed

• Elden Ring's latest patch says your mouse might be to blame for performance issues

• The Witcher 3's cut boat races are now playable thanks to modders

• Total War: Pharaoh - Dynasties free final update arrives later this month with major additions

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