The Transformers franchise — which spans toys, movies and TV shows — will be adding a brand-new game to the mix next year. Hasbro, owner of the Transformers brand, has pacted with game developer Kabam for a massively multiplayer mobile game featuring the alien robots. Set to debut worldwide in the second quarter of 2017, the free-to-play app will let fans …
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The Tribeca Film Festival has caught the video-game bug in a much bigger way: This year, it’s launching the Tribeca Games Festival, a two-day event kicking off with a keynote conversation with legendary game creator Hideo Kojima. The inaugural Tribeca Games Festival, taking place April 28-29, also will feature conversations with Ken Levine, director and writer of the “BioShock” series, …
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Super League Gaming, which hosts eSports competitions in movie theaters and online for amateur video-game players, has banked $15 million in Series C funding from investors including Viacom’s Nickelodeon, DMG Entertainment, and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik. DMG’s backing of Super League was previously reported by Variety. Others participating in the round include SoftBank’s ISAT fund, Toba Capital, eSports …
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Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes’ popular pothead characters, Jay and Silent Bob, are getting their own video game. Fans of the marijuana dealers’ movies are in luck. “Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch” launched a crowdfunding initiative Tuesday on Fig with a goal of $400,000. The game itself is a co-op side-scrolling brawler that lets you play as Jay …
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Disney will discontinue the Club Penguin subscription social game for desktop and mobile devices, which has been running for 11 years, and at the same will launch a new mobile game featuring the cartoon aquatic birds in March. The Mouse House acquired Club Penguin in 2007 in a deal reportedly worth up to $700 million. At one point, Club Penguin …
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“Pokemon Go,” the augmented-reality game that lunged out of the gate in a monstrous burst this summer, has fallen back to Earth. The mobile game from Niantic Labs, which lets users catch virtual demons that appear in the area around them, became the most popular game app in U.S. history just one week after it was released in July. However, while “Pokemon Go” remains the …
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Microsoft this spring will roll out a “Netflix for games” subscription service — Xbox Game Pass, priced at $10 per month — with unlimited access to more than 100 titles. Initial games set to be available in Xbox Game Pass include “Halo 5: Guardians” (pictured above), from Microsoft’s 343 Industries; 505 Games’ “Payday 2”; 2K’s “NBA 2K16” and Namco’s “SoulCalibur …
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ESports, the fast-growing video games as a spectator, has more fans globally than the NBA or Major League Baseball — but marketers and media companies have yet to fully tap into the sector’s opportunity. Machinima, the YouTube-centric media company catering to gamers and fan culture, has launched an in-house eSports consulting division, MACH-1, to provide proprietary research and analytics, strategic planning and campaign …
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A new mobile multiplayer strategy game based on Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” comic series will be marching out next year, with a storyline centered on the rebuilding of human civilization after a zombie apocalypse. “The Walking Dead: March to War” is slated to launch on Apple’s App Store and Google Play set for release in early or mid-2017. The …
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LONDON — TV production and distribution powerhouse Endemol Shine Group is pushing further into the gaming world with the launch Thursday of a new games developer and publisher, Good Catch. The wholly owned offshoot is expected to come up with both original and IP-based games to add to a stable that includes “Pointless Quiz,” a trivia app keyed to the …
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