Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! Pokémon Go continues to take over the world, and the servers still struggle to keep the popular game running. Overwatch also released its first new hero, and we’re learning to like Cortana on Xbox One.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: A report from the stormy seas of gaming at Casual Connect
- Karazhan: A primer for Hearthstone’s (fingers crossed) next adventure
- GamesBeat 2016 panel to explore how to make the next Pokémon Go augmented reality game
- See 5 classic video games transformed into a stop-motion film using odd items
- Venture investors will show the way forward with game investments at GamesBeat 2016
- World of Warcraft guide: Here’s your Legion to-do list
- Watch us play Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine in VR
- GamesBeat 2016 will take on opportunities in esports
- I’m learning to like Cortana on Xbox One
- Sequel creator Omar Siddiqui to reveal the new world of game bots at GamesBeat 2016
News
- Overwatch is getting a $300,000 tournament, with finals broadcasting on TBS
- Nvidia’s new $1,200 Titan X graphics card runs at 11 teraflops
- June 2016 NPD: Interactive gaming-toy sales plummet 21% in June
- Otoy gets cinematic VR to run on low-power PowerVR graphics chips
- June 2016 NPD: Overwatch still No. 1 during summer drought
- AMD’s growth in the second half coming from game console chips
- ‘Now you’re playing with power!’ NES Classic Edition gets nostalgic ad from Nintendo
- Warframe hacked — 775K player email addresses now in cyberattackers’ hands
- Metroid Prime: Blast Ball is available for free on the 3DS ahead of Federation Force
- Civilization VI preorders net early access to the Aztecs
- Nvidia can reduce VR graphics processing requirements by up to 3 times
- Pokémon Go publisher agrees to do live-action ‘Detective Pikachu’ movie with Legendary
- Plantronics Rig 800 has 24 hours of battery life for your marathon gaming sessions
- Riot Games investor Mitch Lasky is wary about funding VR
- Nebula Awards sponsor Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association now accepts video game scribes
- SuperData: Esports is now a $892 million market, but growth is slowing
- Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 coming for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam in September
- Former Xbox manager joins HTC to run Vive content marketing
- Games built on Unity reveal massive growth for BRIC, Samsung Android dominance, and more
- Hearthstone’s next adventure sure looks like Karazhan
- MaxPlay nears closed beta for cloud-based collaborative game and VR engine
- Extreme skier Matilda Rapaport dies in avalanche filming promo for Ubisoft’s Steep
- Microsoft’s Xbox and gaming sales decline 9% on eve of Xbox One S release
- Microsoft reports $22.6 billion in Q4 2016 revenue: Azure up 102%, Surface up 9%, and Phone down 71%
- Overwatch servers slammed after release of new character Ana
- Overwatch gets big July update: Here’s what’s new and different
- Overwatch’s first new hero, Ana, is now live
- Ubisoft’s sales were a record 75% digital last quarter
- Ubisoft’s Q1 revenues up 44% from last year at $153 million as Vivendi takeover lurks
- Final Fantasy IV and its legendary soundtrack turn 25
- New Pokémon revealed for Sun and Moon
- Pokémon Go causes GameStop sales to jump 100% in some stores
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft encourages players to battle friends this week
- Minecraft: Story Mode’s Access Denied episode hits July 26
- Star Wars: The Old Republic is getting a new expansion later this year
- Microsoft confirms 2TB Xbox One S launch for August 2, priced at $400
- Deus Ex Breach offers an arcade-like mode for stealing corporate secrets
- EA unveils Star Wars Battlefront: Death Star DLC for September
Mobile and social
- Pokémon Go servers down again — app is experiencing ongoing connection errors
- Diving into the Samsung app store: buff gods, a dull airport, and the solitaire abyss
- Here are the apps that may be suffering from Pokémon Go’s popularity
- Dots & Co. is the next mobile puzzle game from the makers of Dots
- Businesses are already profiting from Pokémon Go
- Apple could make $3 billion from Pokémon Go in the next 2 years
- Cemeteries top the ‘weird places I found Pokémon’ charts
- Pokémon Go gets a location-based chat app from Razer
- HelloVR unveils its MetaWorld for social virtual reality experiences
- Sensor Tower: Pokémon Go has already passed 30M downloads and $35M in revenue
- N3twork’s Neil Young believes $10 billion mobile game is inevitable
- China surpasses the U.S. in iOS game revenue for the first time
- Glu Mobile launches Tencent’s WeFire shooter as Rival Fire in the West
- SGN chief bets on the rise of Hollywood franchises in mobile games
- Pokémon Go servers down intermittently following Canadian release
- Release of Pokémon Go delayed in France following attack in Nice
- LureDeals is a startup that wants to turn Pokémon Go players into your customers
- Kabam lays off 25 people at its San Francisco mobile game studio
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Monster Hunter Generations impressions: a small step forward for hunterkind
- A closer hands-on look at the oppressive atmosphere of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Deus Ex Go mobile puzzle game will have its own narrative and abstract graphics
- How Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is balancing stealth, action, and story
- Watch Dogs 2’s San Francisco brings out the playful side of the hacking series