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Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup. This time, BioWare is working on a new franchise, the game industry speaks out against Trump, and we play the anticipated role-playing game Torment: Tides of Numenera.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Announcing GamesBeat Summit 2017: How games, sci-fi, and tech create real-world magic
- The art of Fallout 4 gets its own print collection
- Fire Emblem 101: How Nintendo’s strategy franchise became a flagship series before mobile
- Cover your PlayStation 4 Pro in this real wood paneling, because you’re classy as hell
- How should Overwatch evolve in 2017? GamesBeat Decides
- Watch how Nintendo, Sony, and Sega opened up the first E3 in 1995
- Gaming-as-a-Service doesn’t have to mean more crunch time
News
- Devolver Digital will bring in games to GDC from devs who face Trump U.S. travel ban
- Hearthstone boss: Balance changes could be coming
- Indie platformer Little Bug reaches funding goal on Fig
- Small mistakes led to a $500 million verdict against Oculus
- Oculus’ John Carmack vents about $500 million ZeniMax jury verdict
- PlayStation Network is down for some on PS4
- Galactic Civilizations III’s next expansion is a Crusade
- Rocket League becomes real with new toy line
- Born from games, Skylanders Academy TV show gets extended for 3rd season on Netflix
- Sony posts healthy growth in PlayStation 4 sales for holiday quarter
- Blizzard Entertainment CEO weighs in as critic of Trump’s Muslim ban
- London’s Hutch raises $5.5 million for free-to-play racing games
- ZeniMax v. Oculus: Jury orders Facebook’s VR company to pay $500 million because Palmer Luckey broke his NDA
- Nintendo Switch’s online service could cost $30 a year or less
- GameStop is getting more PlayStation VR bundles
- Crytek cuts 15 more jobs from the publishing team at its Frankfurt office
- Activision Blizzard dives into consumer products division with ex-Mattel hire
- Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax acquires Doom co-developer Escalation Studios
- Nintendo will air its first-ever Super Bowl ad to support the launch of the Switch console
- Magic: The Gathering expands its Twitch presence to 36 Pro Tour and other events in 2017
- Kickstarter acquires video-streaming community platform Huzza, opens first office outside the U.S.
- Nintendo President spells out how Pokémon generated big financial results
- Nintendo still aims to ship 2 million Switch consoles by March
- Performance enhancers: Madden NFL 18 will run on Battlefield’s Frostbite graphics engine
- EA CEO unveils new BioWare game, Star Wars: Battlefront, Need for Speed, and more for coming year
- EA: Titanfall 2 didn’t meet sales expectations
- AMD CEO says Zen and Vega products are on track for big 2017 launches
- EA: ‘FIFA 17 was the best-selling console title in the world in 2016’
- AMD slightly beats earnings targets as revenue hits $1.1 billion in Q4
- Battlefield 1 helps EA beat quarterly earnings targets
- For Honor is having an open beta from February 9 to February 12
- The Elder Scrolls Online will finally visit the lands of Morrowind this June
- Call of Duty’s Sabotage expansion debuts on PlayStation 4 with 4 new maps and zany Zombie episode
- Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age launches July 11 for PlayStation 4
- Hoplon kicks off open beta for car combat title Heavy Metal Machines
- Nintendo reports big gains from Pokémon games in December results
- Insomniac CEO Ted Price pummels Trump’s Muslim ban in YouTube video
- Almost 10% of Resident Evil 7 users tried the game on PlayStation VR
- Namco founder, pioneer of Japan’s arcade industry, dies at 91
- Game Developers Conference will honor Prince of Persia creator and ex-White House game adviser
- Worms studio Team17 will publish indie sci-fi city builder Aven Colony
- Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin comes to PlayStation VR on February 21
- ESA trade group warns Trump White House that travel ban would disrupt game industry
- Brianna Wu appalled at FBI’s #GamerGate investigative report
- World of Warcraft showcased at Computer History Museum
- Andy Grove’s niece speaks out on behalf of immigrants
- Game developers rally against Trump’s Muslim ban
Mobile and social
- Fire Emblem: Heroes launches on iOS and Android as Nintendo unsheathes its free-to-play sword
- How Fire Emblem: Heroes adapted to its new mobile lifestyle
- Lannister Gold: Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead game maker Disruptor Beam raises $8.5 million
- Nexon launches retro arcade mobile game Evil Factory
- Rec Room social VR app creator Against Gravity raises $5 million
- Take-Two buys Spain’s Social Point mobile game studio for at least $250 million
- SuperData: Mobile games hit $40.6 billion in 2016, matching world box office numbers
- 1App put Android in the cloud so you can access apps instantly on any device
- FlowPlay launches Dynasty Football fantasy sports card strategy game
- Sensor Tower: Pokémon Go passes $1 billion in revenue on mobile devices
- Nexon acquires rights for Elsword Mobile game in Japan from China’s Kunlun
- Big online game publishers turn to Playwire to monetize through ads
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Fire Emblem: Heroes first impressions — a much better adaptation than Super Mario Run
- 1 Hour with Horizon Zero Dawn: A total noob’s perspective
- Punch A Nazi is a game that lets you wail on Richard Spencer, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Adolf Hitler
- Torment: Tides of Numenera is a pimple-poppin’ journey in the belly of a transdimensional beast
- Jagex creates RuneScape audio adventure with Amazon Alexa
- Fire Emblem: Heroes is ready to put Nintendo into the free-to-play spotlight
- Ark: Survival Evolved’s biggest update is like Iron Man vs. dinosaurs
- Doom creator’s 12-year-old son releases first game on Steam: Gunman Taco Truck