#23 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

LEGO Fortnite players can now create their own islands. Dedicated Esports Island coming to UAE. New Marvel game is expected to be a 6v6 shooter. Sony Group becomes the founding partner of the Esports World Cup. The receiver of first Neuralink brain implant uses it to play games all night. Sentinels are the first two-time Valorant Masters champions. Sony will use your gameplay clips to help other players in PS5 update. Gunzilla Games raises $30M to support Off the Grid development, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer says the multiplatform 'brand pivot' is partly driven by Gen Z habits. Plus much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Final Fantasy 16 coming to platforms other than PS5 and PC

• LOL Esports launches new franchise business model

• Game developer reports she was drugged while attending GDC

• Xbox Chief shares what he’d like to see in an Xbox handheld

• Sony renews trademarks for two classic PS2 games

• Mobile gamers plan to spend less on in-app purchases

• Publishers questioning support for Xbox amid flatlining sales

• Significantly more market consolidation expected in esports

• The Elder Scrolls VI Preview: Everything You Need to Know

Gaming News 🕹️

• Warzone Mobile launches worldwide - Here's what to expect

• Phil Spencer has discussed what he’d like to see in a potential Xbox handheld

• LEGO Fortnite players can now create their own islands

• Horizon Forbidden West's solid PC debut not enough to beat Zero Dawn

• Fallout 76: Atlantic City: America's Playground - Official launch trailer

• A new Marvel game is expected to be a 6v6 hero-based shooter

• Princess Peach: Showtime! is clever and playful, but Peach deserves more

• Epic Games unveils Unreal Engine 5.4 preview at State of Unreal

• Big PS5 update lets Sony use your gameplay clips to help other players

• Judas First Details: How Ken Levine Is building on BioShock with 'Narrative LEGOs'

• Destiny 2 is bringing back 12 fan favorite guns, and monsters like The Recluse and Luna's Howl

• The Elder Scrolls VI Preview: Everything You Need to Know

• PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade is getting a free demo later this week

• Final Fantasy 16 could be coming to platforms other than PS5 and PC

• Marvel Studios has reportedly made a huge change to the MCU's future

• The Best Cloud Gaming Services, Ranked

• Sony renews trademarks for two classic PS2 games

Non-Fungible Conference is “so back” in Lisbon: 28-30 May
Celebrate the NFT culture

The Non-Fungible Conference (NFC), leading conference on Web3 and NFT, returns to Lisbon on May 28th, 29th, and 30th, 2024. The 3rd edition of the event in the Portuguese capital will gather key leaders of the Web3 universe to celebrate art, fashion, gaming and much more at the iconic Carlos Lopes Pavilion in Parque Eduardo VII, Lisbon. In 2023, over 4400 participants, 200 speakers, 70 sponsors, and dozens of international artists, brands, and media attended this experimental event.

Trends 📈

• Sony could be working on a holographic display for Its PlayStation consoles

• Fandom study shows entertainment fans switching to gaming

• Esports now a part of East Liverpool Schools extracurricular program

• Significantly more market consolidation expected in esports

• Preserving old games: They were great then and they're great now, and companies have begun to realize that

• First Human Patient to receive a Neuralink Brain Implant used it to stay up all night Playing Civilization 6

• League of Legends esports launches new franchise business model

• 32% of mobile gamers plan to spend less on in-app purchases in 2024

• Coalition Of Parents In Esports ( COPE)

• Video games industry is targeted and how games companies can protect themselves from cyber attacks

Web3 Games 🎯

• Axie Infinity's biggest guild Is transforming into a protocol for ‘Pixels’ and beyond

• OKX reveals crypto gaming launchpad in conjunction with Immutable

• The Sandbox reaches 1,000 user-generated experiences

• Yield Guild Games’ token debuts on the Ronin network to foster Web3 gaming growth

• Gunzilla Games raises $30M to support Off the Grid development

• Magmic launches MLB Idle Tycoon Web3 game

• Japanese game developer Square Enix Invests in Web3 Games Platform HyperPlay

• Own Your Game: Understanding Asset Ownership in Web3 Gaming

• DeFi farming game 'Crypto Valleys' is giving players juicy YIELD on Ethereum L2 Blast

• SWAYE unveils ‘Web3's most-accessible game: The OG Battlefront’ on Sui

Industry News 🛡️

• Gaming’s user acquisition problem attracting and retaining players isn’t as easy as it used to be

• A $280M esports island is coming soon at the heart of the UAE

• Some publishers reportedly questioning support for Xbox amid ‘flatlining’ sales

• The State of Unreal keynote didn't just show off Unreal Engine 5.4 graphical goodies, but major performance optimizations too

• Game developer reports she was drugged while attending GDC

• Xbox boss Phil Spencer says multiplatform 'brand pivot' partly driven by Gen Z habits 

• We finally know WoW subscription numbers thanks to a Blizzard GDC talk

• Epic Games Store confirmed for iPhone and Android, but you still might not be able to get it

• The incredible growth of eSports and its statistics

• BISim introduces cheaper game engine for defense simulations

• Japan aiming to support indie devs with new acceleration program

• We asked indies at Day of the Devs how to survive the game industry hellscape

• Developers screaming in a public park to protest the state of the industry - everything is not fine

• Independent Games Festival starts with sober message on game industry layoffs

• Africa game industry expected to surpass $1B in 2024, with 92% favoring smartphone games

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• Mobile Gaming is having a moment—and Backbone wants to unite it

• New Xbox console ready to rival Switch: Microsoft "already has handheld prototypes

• PS5 Pro PSSR can vastly improve image quality of existing PS5 Games; console offers 1.2GB more RAM for games

• Razer's Blade gaming laptops have lost their edge

• MSI Codex R2 desktop PC review: Air-cooled, mainstream gaming

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• VCT 2024: Masters Madrid sets new Valorant esports viewership record

• Emo joins Bleed Esports ahead of PGL Wallachia

• Sentinels are the first two-time Valorant Masters champions

• Portal announces mainstream Esports activation with DOTA2

• Man City esports make history with ePremier League Finals win

• PMGO 2024 Prelims: All 16 invited teams revealed

• Vitality and Cloud9 qualify for Copenhagen Major Playoffs

• Sony Group becomes Founding Partner of Esports World Cup

• Europe League 2024 Stage 1 Day 3 Preview: Team BDS back in action following dominant performance against G2

• Copenhagen Major Playoff Matchups: Vitality and Cloud9 to kick things off

Tournament, League & Season News 🏅

• Apeiron x Talon Nova Tournament: Schedule, prize pool

• GeoGuessr World Cup 2024 to take place in Stockholm City Hall

Events 🗓️

• MGI Conference 2024 March 27 - March 27

• London Games Festival 2024 April 9 - April 27

• HIT Games Conference Istanbul 2024 April 18 - April 19

• Reboot Develop Blue 2024 April 22 - April 24 

• W.A.S.D 2024 April 25 - April 27

• Game Music Festival 2024 May 4 - May 4

• Digital Dragons 2024 May 19 - May 21

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• How to make a game pass on Roblox: A complete step-by-step guide

• How to Get Groot in Fortnite

• All Valorant Clove abilities explained

• The 7 best hidden items you must find in Dragon’s Dogma 2

• Overwatch 2 Mythic Prisms explained: How they work and how to unlock them

Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest news and announcements!

This round is over..
We are reloading our ammo with esports, industry, gaming news and trends intel for the next newsletter..

See you same time next week!

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