25 September, 2020 | By Anzu
Get yourself a proper course on the latest developments in the world of video games and esports,
presented in the form of our weekly news digest.
Raising Good Gamers has unveiled its advisory board, which includes 31 individuals from a wide range of companies, and outlined its roadmap, reports Gamesindustry.biz. In retrospective, the initiative was launched this summer by non-profit organisation Games for Change. Raising Good Gamers aims at creating a "more diverse, inclusive and positive online environment for youth," and it now has the support and expertise of companies such as EA, Epic Games, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Mojang, Niantic, Riot Games, Roblox, Supercell, and Ubisoft as part of its advisory board. A range of other organizations, as well as "teen ambassadors whose voices will be at the centre of the coalition” will also be part of the board. Raising Good Gamers will initially focus on taming toxicity, encouraging positive behaviours, and sharing best practices, but also has an intention to drive fundraising efforts.
One more promising beginning: Mike Morhaime, the cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, has launched a new game company called Dreamhaven, and it has established two new game studios: Moonshot and Secret Door. After having left Activision Blizzard in 2018, Mike will be the CEO of Dreamhaven, while his wife Amy will head operations. They have hired a number of industry veterans to help run their studios, which will work on separate games. May sound ambitious at first, especially not knowing even the genres of the games they’ll be working on, but VentureBeat cites Morhaime saying that they’re “trying to create a haven for creators who want an environment that is development friendly, values product, and player experience” and that they believe “Dreamhaven can be a beacon of hope to others in the industry who share the same values and philosophies.” And that happens to be everything we needed to hear for now.
PUBG MOBILE has recently announced a new professional league for the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. The EMEA League is to replace the PUBG MOBILE Club Open (PMCO) regional finals, with $100,000 in prize money and three spots to the PUBG MOBILE Global Championship up for grabs. The League will kick off on October 16th and draw on the best performing teams from Europe, Turkey, CIS, Germany, Middle East & Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Creating a more structured league that brings together top teams from a swathe of regions will be good for improving the overall quality of play, and will also create a clearer pathway to the Global Championship, concludes Esports Insider.
We know what you did last summer! Riot Games has reported viewership figures for the 2020 Summer Split of the League of Legends Championship Series. The publisher described it as the most-watched Summer Split since 2016, attributing part of this growth to the revamped double-elimination format used during the playoffs. Peak viewership for the season reached 551.68K, up 12.4% from 2019. Riot saw strong viewership growth in multiple regions this summer. The League of Legends European Championship reached an AMA of 819.4K, growing 70% year-over-year with a peak viewership of 952K. Given these viewership trends, as well as the fact that Worlds is one of the few live international championships to take place in 2020, Riot is likely to report record viewership once again for the World Finals at the end of October. More details on the Esports Observer.
And last, but not least! Polygon tried to answer the biggest question that has been worrying gamers around the world -- Why did Microsoft acquire Bethesda and its parent company, ZeniMax? Why did the latter decide to sell? If it doesn’t ring a bell so far, Bethesda produces some of the most popular franchises in the history of video games, including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Doom. The article speculates on the reasons and future developments of this story, leaving you with a feeling of all stars aligned.
Anzu.io is an in-game advertising platform that brings real-world brand ads to video gaming and esports. Backed by BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, WPP, and Axel Springer Digital Ventures, Anzu redefines digital advertising through seamless integration of non-intrusive ads into the gameplay. Bringing real-time data and programmatic to the video gaming world, the platform promises native advertising, brand safety and ad viewability. Follow Anzu on
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