Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, Steam competes with Twitch, the next Assassin’s Creed gets leaked, and Hearthstone’s next expansion gets a release date.
Happy reading, and enjoy your weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Will Hollywood brands bring salvation from the rising cost of acquiring mobile gamers?
- The 3DS 2014 report card: Games carry the day
- How Paradox Interactive empowers its leaders to find their voices
- Thwarting the hackers: How game publishers are avoiding security meltdowns
- PlayStation: 20 years, 20 defining games
- World of Warcraft designer shares tips and secrets as new raid, PvP seasons open today
- Four things I learned about French geek culture at the Toulouse Game Show
News
- Street Fighter V is exclusive to PS4 and PC
- DC Universe Online grows to 18M players, with PlayStation 4 leading the way
- Hearthstone’s Goblins vs. Gnomes cards now available in Arena mode
- It’s not all China: Vietnam, Indonesia lead a booming Southeast Asia games market
- Sega’s Creative Assembly launches Wrath of Sparta expansion for Total War: Rome II
- Pokémon going strong: Nintendo ships 7.7 million Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire copies worldwide
- RuneScape players raise $160,000 for charity by dropping coins in a virtual wishing well
- 2K launches brand new console game studio Hangar 13
- PewDiePie creates a generational divide between 4th graders and toddlers in ‘South Park’
- YouPorn now sponsors an e-sports team
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U error codes still affecting many gamers — Nintendo working on a fix
- Sega’s Creative Assembly dives deeper into free-to-play games with Total War Battles: Kingdom
- Games could become the largest ad platform for brands, EA exec says
- Target Australia pulls Grand Theft Auto V from stores following online protest
- Sony unveils a special PS4 20th anniversary ‘gray’ edition
- Veteran exec Gideon Yu joins gaming gadget maker Razer’s board
- Assassin’s Creed leak takes the spotlight away from Unity’s troubled launch
- Hearthstone’s Gnomes vs. Goblins expansion releases Dec. 8
- Twitch on Steam Broadcasting: ‘It’s validating’
- Steam Broadcasting: Watch out, Twitch — Valve’s getting into livestreaming
- ‘Between Shu Ferns’: PlayStation’s American team channels Zach Galifinakis in new video
- New ZX Spectrum gaming computer comes with 1,000 built-in retro games
- DeltaDNA offers discount to indie game studios for its monetization tools
- Xbox Live down intermittently — hackers take credit
- South Park’s next target: YouTube gaming sensation PewDiePie
- Epic sends out alpha tests for Fornite — here’s how you can play this PC shooter tomorrow
- Here’s how to get Wii U’s GameCube Controller Adapter working on Windows
- Destiny update 1.1 goes live for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 today
- Telltale unveils the first episode in its six-part Game of Thrones game series
- An interview with Remedy’s chief in a Finnish sauna 300 feet in the air
Mobile and social
- Norwegian indie game studio pushes cartoon violence with Fun Run 2
- Pocket Gems launches Night at the Museum: Hidden Treasures mobile game
- Pixelberry embeds SAT vocabulary lessons in its High School Story mobile game
- Animoca Brands launches two mobile games based on Japanese cartoon Astro Boy
- New App Annie product offers detailed demographics of over a billion app users
- Angry Birds maker Rovio reduces layoffs to 110 and will close a studio
- World of Tanks Blitz launches on Android with cross-platform iOS gameplay
- Final Fantasy publisher launches its next mobile game in select test markets
- China’s Cmune capitalizes on its mobile shooter success with launch of innovative Bullet Rush
- Samurai Siege developer Space Ape Games raises $7M in latest funding round
- Mobile games are high on holiday wish lists for moms
- Ad2games finishes $9 million financing round
- Wargaming enlists Dmg for World of Tanks: Blitz launch on Android
- Kabam extends its Marvel deal for a second superhero mobile game
Previews and interviews
Reviews
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection is must-own multiplayer … months from now (review)
- Rollers of the Realm’s great ideas get flattened (review)
- Game of Thrones’ intrigue, violence, and tough choices hit you even harder as a game (review)
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is Nintendo’s cutest risk ever (review)
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix proves the series’ worth, even if it makes little sense (review)