Hello, and welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we got to check out the anticipated shooter Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is heading to mobile, and Overwatch released its 25th character.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Pittsburgh steels itself to become a regional game hub
- PC Gaming Weekly: Have you heard of … Roblox?
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds: Watch us earn chicken bucks
- GamesBeat 2017 announces three more decision makers from gaming’s past and future
- AR/VR Weekly: Headsets and glasses go beyond games
- Will Nintendo put out the Switch Online dumpster fire? GamesBeat Decides
- AR/VR Weekly: Back into the metaverse
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds hero spends whole match hiding in a car
- Why Discord is my new online home
- PC Gaming Weekly: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds could still get much bigger
News
- Final Fantasy’s card game is hot at tabletop shops, shipping 5.5 million packs
- Dragon Quest XI is coming to the West in 2018
- Electronic Arts is spending even more on ‘influencers’
- EA’s boss isn’t bullish on mass-market VR
- Electronic Arts’ digital sales jumped 23% over the last 12 months
- The Sims 4 sees 20% year-over-year surge in monthly players
- EA’s live-service games like FIFA and Battlefield boost Q2 numbers
- Overwatch’s Doomfist is now live
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is now standalone on PC and Xbox One
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds gets fix for aiming bug
- For Honor is getting two new seasons and dedicated servers
- New U.K. publisher No More Robots will launch Descenders free-riding game
- AMD launches its low-end Ryzen 3 gaming and VR processors
- Bethesda unveils Wolfenstein II — The Freedom Chronicles Season Pass
- HTC announces standalone VR headset for Chinese market
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds microtransactions lead to first major fan backlash
- AMD releases its biggest Radeon driver update of the year
- Walmart cancels every Super NES Classic Edition preorder
- Frontier Developments announces expo celebrating Elite: Dangerous and Planet Coaster
- Dying Light studio Techland launches Gemly, its Steam-like digital store
- Blizzard promises Overwatch League players at least $50,000 per year
- Former GDC boss Meggan Scavio will run an elite game academy
- Take This and Wired Productions team up to raise awareness about mental health
- Nintendo’s sales soar thanks to the Switch
- AMD CEO: Cryptocurrency mining and gaming will boost Q3 graphics shipments
- AMD posts a small Q2 loss despite its most competitive chips in a decade
- Devolver Digital backs another indie on Kickstarter: Torla, a surreal RPG
- Katie Stern is the Game Developers Conference’s new general manager
- PUBG guns for your wallet with early microtransaction test
- Grand Theft Auto: Online is Power Mad with its fancy new car
- Heroes of the Storm’s championships will let viewers tip teams for loot
- BrightLocker launches platform to connect developers with players
- CleverPet’s game console for dogs shows they can see colors
- Independent Games Festival is now taking submissions for GDC 2018
- Overcooked will appear on the Nintendo Switch’s menu July 27
Mobile and social
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War shines the Eye of Sauron on iOS and Android
- FoxNext Games’ Aftershock will make a Marvel mobile game as its first title
- Megacool raises $1.5 million to solve user acquisition with GIFs
- Sensor Tower: Pokémon Go iOS revenues soar thanks to legendary monsters
- Streamlabs brings its livestreaming app to Android
- Candy Crush Saga teams up with The Emoji Movie
- Scopely’s Walking Dead fans revolt over glitches
- Sensor Tower: Mobile game revenues grew 32% in Q2 as Asian titles surged
Reviews, interviews, and previews
- Sundered review — the beauty of exploration and death
- Wolfenstein II creative director reveals more about a Nazified America
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus dances between agony and ecstasy
- HyperX’s Alloy Elite mechanical keyboard keeps the Cherry switches and adds media controls
- Blindfold is a disturbing VR tale about the torture of journalists
- Sound BlasterX AE-5 sound card will get the most from your headphones
- Naughty Dog fleshes out its main female characters in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy features a vast level where you can roam with your jeep
- Pyre review — RPG dodgeball is as stylish as it sounds