Join independent journalists and industry decision-makers at GamesBeat NEXT, returning to San Francisco November 2–3. The event brings together 500 executives, founders, investors and tech leaders shaping the $200 billion interactive economy for candid discussions on gaming, entertainment, technology and AI, plus executive networking and opportunities to build partnerships and close major deals.
Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, Nintendo reveals the New 2DS XL, the PlayStation 4 hits 60 million sold, and Star Wars gets a match-3 puzzle game.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: How Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency changed games
- PC Gaming Weekly: Why we think PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is special
- Watch VR horror game Wilson’s Heart disappoint Conan with its lack of sex
- How Bravely Default’s epic soundtrack empowers players
- AR/VR Weekly: These are the voyages of the Starship Virtual Reality
- Watch our PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds team-building exercise fall apart
- What should you expect from EA at E3? GamesBeat Decides
- Grand Theft Auto V vs. Google Earth reveals Rockstar’s attention to detail
- Final GamesBeat Summit 2017 agenda: Inspiration for sci-fi, tech, and games
- Watch us try to do a perfect run in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s 200cc mode
- A trio of visionaries will explore the future of augmented reality
News
- Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS passes 2 million sales
- Sony sold 60 million PS4s to date, including 20 million in past year
- Nintendo to launch new 2DS XL handheld on July 28
- Bluehole updates PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to fix loot balance
- SuperData: Digital gaming brought in $8 billion in March
- Intel CEO says higher-than-expected prices helped drive Q1 profit growth
- Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division generated $1.9 billion last quarter
- Intel slightly beats analyst expectations with revenue of $14.8 billion and earnings of $3.2 billion
- Razer says its wireless Lancehead mouse is reliable enough for esports
- AMD’s Radeon software adds Quake Champions promo link to your PC’s desktop
- Nintendo’s hardware chief Genyo Takeda is retiring after 45 years
- For Honor’s second season adds new heroes and maps
- Bitkraft Esports Ventures will invest in esports startups
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Nintendo Switch sell more than 2.7 million units
- Stardock plans Crusade update for Galactic Civilizations III on May 4
- Jet Set Radio’s beloved street skating comes back in Hover: Revolt of Gamers
- Call of Duty: WWII’s beta test is a preorder bonus
- Team Liquid renews its Twitch partnership
- Your Hot Wheels toys are taking on Forza Horizon 3 in a new expansion
- Danger Zone wants to bring back the joy of Burnout’s car crashing
- AMD’s latest $1,000 Radeon Pro Duo puts 2 Polaris GPUs into one card
- Heroes of the Storm 2.0 is live with its free heroes and new loot chests
- Overwatch’s D.Va joins Heroes of the Storm
- Night Trap, the cheesy FMV horror game that riled Congress, is back
- Paragon’s new update drops just as Blizzard preps Heroes of the Storm relaunch
- AMD debuts a VR experience around big India movie release
- Inspired by X-COM, Snapshot Games is creating Phoenix Point for fall 2018
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite launches September 19 and shows off its story mode
- MarcoPolo Learning raises $8.5 million and cuts deal with Boat Rocker Media
- GameInfluencer raises funding for influencer marketing platform
- Bravely Default developer Silicon Studio moves into game engines with open-source Xenko platform
- Vanquish tease hidden in Bayonetta’s PC update
- Nintendo’s Zelda: Breath of the Wild prototype gets a fan remake
- Elite: Dangerous and Planet Coaster parley digital success into retail game releases
- Mad Max developer Avalanche scores $10 million from Nordic film giant
- Digital Domain releases camera and tools to create virtual reality experiences
- HP moves into VR and AR with investment in Venture Reality Fund
Mobile and social
- Star Wars: Puzzle Droids is the match-3 mobile game we were all expecting
- Pine Street Codeworks makes a prize-winning game out of matching soap bubbles
- Pictionary’s first mobile app lets you sketch on the go
- Classic game Riven follows Myst onto Android smartphones
- GSN chief to step down after a decade making games and TV shows
- Newzoo: Mobile game revenue will grow 66% from $38 billion in 2016 to $65 billion in 2020
- How Jam City CEO Chris DeWolfe sees the freakin’ mobile game world
- Jam City launches another freakin’ Family Guy match-3 mobile game
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Animating the faces of fear and courage in Call of Duty: WWII
- How Sledgehammer Games re-created the sounds of war for Call of Duty: WWII
- Ophelia tries to save Hamlet in the alternate universe of Elsinore
- Sledgehammer grapples with playing the Germans in Call of Duty: WWII
- Call of Duty: WWII’s story will show the honest side of heroism
- Call of Duty: WWII — punch (or shoot or blow up) these Nazi zombies
- Call of Duty: WWII’s trailer gives the Fighting First a starring role
- Why Sledgehammer’s founders wanted to take Call of Duty back to World War II
- Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty: WWII will be an unflinching and respectful combat experience
- The HyperX Pulserfire is a comfortable plug-and-play gaming mouse
- How Ubisoft crafted Star Trek: Bridge Crew into a multiplayer VR game
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew makes zapping Klingons in VR a hoot
- MSI’s latest gaming laptop with Kaby Lake is a multitasking beast