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Hello, and welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we delved into Hearthstone’s new expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne. Also, Overwatch is getting Deathmatch modes, and we announced some exciting speakers for our GamesBeat 2017 conference.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Intel’s 2014 Gamergate mistake paved the path for Google’s memo mess
- PC Gaming Weekly: Watch out, Heartstone — here comes Artifact
- Overwatch deathmatch gameplay: The KDR matters again
- Hands-on with Twitch’s answer to Discord
- Watch a 360-degree-video tour of the California Extreme arcade-machine convention
- Watch Hearthstone’s Lich King respond to fan comments and GamesBeat disciples
- Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne — Blizzard shares insights on The Lower Citadel
- AR/VR Weekly: Social good dons a headset
- This indie game offers a counterpoint to the Google manifesto
- Enjoy the salty tears of Dota 2 fans upset about Valve’s Artifact card game
- GamesBeat 2017: 4 speakers to address the challenge of mobile gaming
- Why investment from traditional sports is so important to esports in 2017
- VR can be a mainstream tech — but it’s not ready yet
- What is the best way to game on a road trip? GamesBeat Decides
- GamesBeat 2017 will feature legendary Myst creators Robyn and Rand Miller
- Nintendo World Championships 2017 really wants you to go to Best Buy
- Hellblade begins with a metaphor of a life’s journey into madness
- Why I love the Radeon RX 580 for VR
- The 10 most exciting Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne cards
- Player creativity is the future of gaming
- Dropleaf has a dual-goal: Making it easier to find indie games and lift diversity
News
- Nvidia CFO: Cryptocurrency is helping drive demand for graphics hardware
- Nvidia earnings: Self-driving cars, AI, games, Nintendo Switch drive big quarter
- Microsoft ponders ‘bigger, more bolder changes’ to Xbox Achievements
- Hearthstone’s Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion is live
- Unity adds Max Levchin and Robynne Sisco to board as it readies for IPO
- Discord starts testing video chat and screen sharing with 5% of its gamers
- AMD launches 16-core Threadripper, ‘the world’s fastest PC desktop processor’
- The Overwatch League expands from seven to nine teams with new London and L.A. squads
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds gets 6 core-plus CPU optimization
- StarCraft II is now a laboratory for AI research
- Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne — when the expansion and solo quests will launch
- Call of Duty World League finals start this week with $1.5 million at stake
- Paragon’s The New Dawn update makes everything faster and reworks its card system
- Rez Infinite to debut on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR headsets
- RumbleMonkey lets Hearthstone gamers compete with each other for real money
- Kongregate announces $10 million console and PC game publishing fund
- Orwell: Ignorance is Strength turns its gaze to fake news
- Overwatch channels Russian hockey meme for Zarya’s newest voice line
- Here’s Intel’s $2,000 Core i9 CPU
- Valve announces Artifact, its Dota-themed card game
- Overwatch’s second Summer Games event is now live with swimsuits and dad shirts
- Ubisoft opens Stockholm office to plug into its studio-collaboration dev model
- Elgato introduces Green Screen and Cam Link dongle to improve Twitch videos
- Virtual blocks, virtual cons: Minecraft’s Minecon will now be just a streamed event
- Another Metroid 2 Remake developer is designing levels for Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Xbox Insider update focuses on customizing home screen and getting to content quicker
- UFO 50 riffs on the NES era with 50 games from creators of cult hits Spelunky and Downwell
- Horizon: Zero Dawn’s The Frozen Wilds expansion launches November 7
Mobile and social
- Overwolf acquires Clash Royale fan site StatsRoyale.com
- Ristar doesn’t have Sonic’s legacy, but it does have Sega Forever’s blessing
- GawkBox raises $3.7 million to let fans tip streamers by engaging with mobile apps
- Vainglory mobile MOBA maker, Super Evil Megacorp, raises $19 million
- Puzzle & Dragons maker GungHo taps Signal Studios to build mobile game
- What Angry Birds and Clash Royale taught us about surviving after your game goes viral
- Why Japanese mobile sensation Monster Strike failed in North America
Reviews, previews, and interviews
- West of Loathing review — a Southwestern tour of the moo-pocalypse
- Lawbreakers gameplay: Watch us play the new zero-gravity character shooter
- Upper Deck expands past tabletop games with Legendary DXP, a digital card battler
- Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 review — more great games in another OK package
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice review — an insane quest in a nightmare world
- Batman: The Enemy Within review — a riddle without a satisfying answer