News Digest 44: Top Gaming News This Week
25 June, 2020 | By Anzu
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It’s always buzzing in the world of video games and esports! Transitions, collaborations, deals… it’s hard to find any other industry that can be compared in momentum and striking creativity, especially when it's an industry already bigger than Hollywood! See for yourself in our weekly news digest.
Microsoft is shutting down Mixer and moving most of its streamers to Facebook Gaming as part of a new strategic partnership with the social media giant. The major streamers locked into exclusivity deals with Mixer — including stars like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Cory “King Gothalion” Michael, and Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek — will be released from their contracts, and Microsoft says it’s up to them where they decide to go. Remind yourself of how Blevins’ leaving Twitch last August kicked off the war for live-streaming talent and find more details on why Mixer “started pretty far behind” on the Verge.
The esports organization Fnatic and catwalk powerhouse Gucci are teaming up for a limited time apparel drop on June 25 at 9pm BST/4pm ET, reports AllGamers. There are no details of what to expect in the fashion collab just yet, but given Gucci's prestige as a mainstay on red carpets and catwalks across the world, it's likely to be pretty special. However, that's not the only upcoming limited-time drop for Fnatic apparel. French streetwear brand Champion will be revealing their collaboration with the esports organization on July 27, and yet another unnamed collaborator will be getting their chance in August. You can check out the drops, and likely the links to their collections as they go live, here.
The Epic Games Store reached 61 million monthly active users thanks to its successful promotional campaign, The Vault. The campaign started on May 14th and was comprised of a series of game giveaways that included some of the industry's biggest franchises -- Grand Theft Auto 5, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection and Civilization 6 were all made freely available to users. Despite the records during the Vault campaign, including 13 million average peak concurrent users on PC, these numbers are still significantly lower than those on Epic’s main rival Steam, reports GamesIndustry.biz.
Creator platform Overwolf has acquired CurseForge, the biggest repository of mods for video games, from Amazon’s Twitch division. The move helps Tel-Aviv, Israel-based Overwolf expand from a platform for in-game apps for creators into helping authors of mods — or custom levels for games like Half-Life or StarCraft II — with a hub for mod tools for development and monetization. Find more exciting details on the transition and what it brings to all parties involved on VentureBeat.
And now for some more unprecedented news! Esports and media organization FaZe Clan acquired a stake in New York-based dietary supplements company CTRL Holdings LLC, which marks FaZe’s first time taking a co-owner position with another brand. CTRL (stands for Catered to Real Life) sells a line of powdered meal replacement shakes and was founded by Sundance DiGiovanni and Glenn Delgado from Major League Gaming teamed with former professional gamer and Team Envyus founder Skyler Johnson. As part of its co-ownership, FaZe Clan will support CTRL with its marketing resources and be involved in guiding the brand’s direction. Furthermore, both companies will collaborate on creating new flavors for their meal replacement shakes, reports the Esports Observer.
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