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.
The news from the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles starts tomorrow with EA’s event, but this week had plenty going itself. The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red noted that hackers stole documents related to its next game, we got to play Epic Game’s Fortnite, and Nintendo announced some new Pokémon games … but not the one many were hoping for.
Enjoy, have a great weekend, and see you at E3!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: 17 of the most anticipated games of E3 2017
- PC Gaming Weekly: Magic in the making at Cryptic and Perfect World
- How to survive E3 2017
- AR/VR Weekly: Apple enters the fray
- Scorpio, Mario, and God of War — what matters at E3? GamesBeat Decides
- Girls in Tech’s Catalyst Conference aims to educate and engage tech women
News
- 505 Games and Roll7 unveil Laser League arcade multiplayer game
- Marvel Heroes Omega officially releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 30
- Game Insight’s Guns of Boom hits 5 million downloads and $1 million in revenue
- AMD’s Radeon GPUs are rare because they’re good at mining bitcoin copycats
- Bubsy is returning from mascot platformer hell to torment us all
- Amazon’s second esports tournament will feature Hearthstone and Vainglory
- Witcher studio latest target of growing cyber-ransom threat
- Microsoft files mysterious trademark for Direct Reality ahead of E3
- EA’s revamped EA Play at E3 focuses on streaming, sharing, and gameplay
- Shadow of War game trailer weaves Shelob into the story of Middle-earth sequel
- HTC doubles Viveport catalog, its Netflix for VR
- Turtle Beach debuts Stealth 600 and 700 wireless glasses-friendly headsets for consoles
- GG Media wants to talk esports on its dedicated news show 4Cast
- Logitech introduces dual-use gaming and music headsets
- Future Group inserts game characters into Street Fighter esports broadcast
- Magic: The Gathering is becoming an MMO
- Dissidia Final Fantasy NT brings the cross-over fighter to the PlayStation 4
- Oculus donates 100 PCs and virtual reality headsets to California libraries
- Yahoo Japan invests in The Venture Reality Fund
- Romania’s indies chase the global market
- PwC predicts moderate growth for U.S. video games, fast growth for VR and esports
- Mountain Dew sponsors global esports teams Dignitas, Splyce, and SK Gaming
- Ninja Theory’s Hellblade to debut on PS4 and PC on August 8
- Twitch’s deal with Optic Gaming is all about taking a shot at shooters (update)
- Jesse Schell: Predictions for VR and AR in 2025
- Battleborn can’t beat Overwatch, so now it’s free-to-play
- Nintendo announces Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon for 3DS, not Switch (update)
- Pokkén Tournament Deluxe is coming to Nintendo Switch
- Improbable hires game veteran Bill Roper as chief creative officer
- Smite’s new adventure gives the MOBA a dash of Diablo
- Google launches Interland online game to teach kids how to be ‘internet awesome’
- Game makers applaud Apple’s support for AR and VR
- Bunny girls aren’t in Final Fantasy XIV because of high-heel shoes
- SteamVR and external GPUs are coming to Mac
- Peter Jackson’s Wingnut AR demos augmented reality game at WWDC
- Monument Valley 2 unveiled at Apple’s WWDC event and it’s out now
- Metal 2 will give Mac OS gaming a big boost
- Facebook tries to woo gamers with E3 livestreaming
Mobile and social
- Pokémon Go turns 1 and challenges you to catch all these special events
- Kongregate surpasses 100 million mobile game downloads
- FoxNext promotes Rick Phillips to weave Kabam’s Aftershock and Fox together
- AdColony launches Aurora HD interactive video ads to engage mobile users
- Sensor Tower: Monument Valley 2 topped U.S. App Store four times faster than the original
- Transformers: Earth Wars gets 10 million downloads in a ‘strong first year’
- FoxNext acquires Aftershock, or what is left of Kabam
- HypSports bridges traditional sports and esports with League of Legends app
- Richard Garriott’s Portalarium to raise equity crowdfunding for Shroud of the Avatar
- Massless lets you write with a pen in virtual reality
- Qualcomm spells out the hurdles to ‘extended reality’ glasses
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Bloodstained is an old-fashioned ritualistic 2D horror fighting game
- Samsung’s new 49-inch gaming monitor is unnecessarily wide
- Blue’s wireless Satellite headset performs much better than it feels
- Fortnite hands-on videos: How the chopping, crafting, building, and shooting works
- Hands-on with the Hedgehog’s return to 2D in Sonic Mania
- How Epic Games brought Fortnite home from the wilderness
- Fornite’s action take on Minecraft launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on July 25
- Sprint Vector gets your heart racing in VR, but it’s too hard to climb
- Harmonix and Hasbro show off Dropmix electronic music party game
- Nintendo Switch’s Arms extends fighting fun to everyone
- Hands-on with Apple’s augmented reality demo of Star Wars Holochess