Overwatch League receives 10 million views in the first opening week

The Overwatch League roared to life last week at the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, with four days of intense competition between all 12 teams of the world’s first major global city-based professional eSports league. Buoyed by a newly announced two-year deal with Twitch, the Overwatch League’s exclusive worldwide third-party digital broadcast partner, opening day drew an impressive average
audience per minute of 408,000, and an average of 280,000 per minute for the week. More than 10 million viewers tuned in over the four-day period via Twitch, MLG, and Chinese streaming partners ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV—not to mention the countless additional viewers at watch parties worldwide. On Twitch and MLG alone, the peak concurrent online audience of 437,000 hit during the highly anticipated day-one matchup between Dallas Fuel and Seoul Dynasty. In addition, tickets to Blizzard Arena Los Angeles were sold out for the entirety of opening week.

“We’re thrilled by the overwhelming response to the Overwatch League’s opening week of
play,” said Pete Vlastelica, President and CEO of Major League Gaming (MLG). “But this is only
the beginning. With more than 35 million Overwatch players, the Overwatch League has the
potential to become one of the most-watched leagues—of any kind—in the world.”

“Since we announced Overwatch League at BlizzCon 2016, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the day
when the global competitive Overwatch community could come together under one banner,”
said Nate Nanzer, Overwatch League commissioner. “Opening week was that coming-out
party—for the fans, both in-person at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles and tuned in by the millions all
over the world, and for the players, whose love for the game came through crystal clear.”

“We had high expectations for the inaugural broadcast of the Overwatch League on Twitch,
given our platform’s passionate fanbase for Overwatch" said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. “They really put on an amazing show and fans showed up en masse to support and celebrate
Overwatch. Based on the response from the community, Overwatch League is off to a great
start and we look forward to watching how the season progresses. This league demonstrates
the power and potential of esports, and we’re thrilled to continue expanding our partnership
with Blizzard.”

Viewers can tune in to catch all the action on

• Twitch
• www.mlg.com,
• The MLG app (on iOS and Android)
• www.overwatchleague.com 
• The Overwatch League app, which launched last week for iOS and Android.
• Blizzard gamers also can get easy access to the Overwatch League via a new Overwatch League tab in the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app.

The first season of the Overwatch League runs until June, with playoffs and finals scheduled for
July. For the inaugural season, all regular-season games will take place at the Blizzard Arena Los
Angeles, a state-of- the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California, custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment eSports events. Fans can purchase tickets to attend matches, which will be played each Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

A full schedule and information about ticket sales can be found at www.overwatchleague.com

See India's own eSports show, U Cypher Championship, from January 19, 2018 on MTV

eSports enthusiasts in India have a reason to rejoice as there will be an eSports championship show aired  on MTV everyday from 19 January 2018. The U Cypher championship will be aired at 10 PM (IST) and will show 6 teams, consisting of 84 players, fight it out in a variety of games including DOTA 2, CS:GO, Tekken 7 and more!



The 6 teams include:

• Akramaks
• Crusaders
• Marksmen
• Sherdils
• Yakshas
• Yodhas 

It is great to see the Indian video game scene upgrade from mobile games to full on eSports. The very fact that the show would air on television is going to really pave the way for gaming in India!

New Liverpool based independent game studio, Wushu Studios, working on new sci-fi based game

'Wushu Studios' is a brand new independent game development studio based in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle. Founded in August 2017, the team is helmed by veteran AAA developers behind the highly successful MotorStorm and Driveclub franchises, as well as fresh talent from around the world.

A few prominent people in the team include studio founder Alan McDermott (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation), Design Director Nigel Kershaw (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation, Deep Silver, Revolution Software), and Art Director Stuart Trevor (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation). Currently supporting a team of 11 and expanding, Wushu Studios formed with a goal of moving away from the AAA grind to create games with interesting mechanics, unique concepts and to deliver fun, refreshing gameplay experiences to players.

The studio has already begun working on a new sci-fi IP that is claimed to be an 'unexpected take on the science fiction genre'. The prototyping for the same project began in September 2017 using Unreal Engine 4. Progress on the prototype has been extremely positive, and the team are working with a number of talented artists, including former senior BioWare concept artist Alex Figini.

“Our core team at Wushu have worked together closely on numerous projects over the years so there was no downtime in figuring out how to work together, we just fell straight into a groove kicking around game ideas that appealed to us as players and developers”, says studio lead Alan McDermott. “We firmly believed in the idea that our initial concepts needed to be gamepad experiences as quickly as possible, so we turned to Unreal Engine for it’s amazing rapid prototyping capabilities. This approach has helped us figure out which of our concepts would allow us to flex our creative muscle most. It’s definitely not what people will be expecting to see from us; it’s absolutely not a racing game!”

You can visit the official Wushu Studios website here - http://wushustudios.com/

Video game industry could generate $165 billion revenue against a hefty $2 billion investment in Games Report for Q1 2018

According to the recent Games Report Q1 2018 by Digi-Capital, video games software/hardware combined could be in the $165 billion to $170 billion range this year (if mobile outperforms again), and reach between $230 billion and $235 billion by 2022 if strong performance continues. If that happens then it might make game software/hardware bigger in 5 years than 150 countries’ individual GDPs today. Games software alone could drive around three-quarters of total market revenue in 5 years, with hardware taking the rest.

Three giant sectors to dominate market revenue

The report states mobile games software, PC games hardware and PC games as the three giants in the sector that could take just under three-quarters of total games market revenue by 2022. If mobile games software continues to outperform like recent years, it could deliver in the $55 billion to $60 billion range this year, and grow to $90 billion to $95 billion by 2022. PC games hardware sales could hit $30 billion to $35 billion in 2018, growing steadily to between $40 billion and $45 billion in the same time frame. Lastly PC games (online) could drive $20 billion to $25 billion this year, also growing steadily to $25 billion to $30 billion by 2022.

Fifteen sectors driving market growth (and decline)

Physical console game sales could still produce significant revenue by 2022, despite long-term decline. All the other sectors might be in the high to low single digit billions in 5 years, including steady growth in console games (digital sales), high growth in AR games (from a low base), long-term ex-growth in console games hardware, high growth in VR games (from a low base), solid growth in console games (online), steady growth in games advertising, low growth in PC games (digital sales), steady growth for VR hardware (from a low base), declining web games, strong growth eSports and declining PC games (physical sales).

At a platform level, mobile games could approach two-fifths, and PC games one-third of all games revenue by 2022. Console games remain huge fun, but could see less than one-sixth of all market revenue in 5 years. VR and AR games are both going to be big, but they’re not the same scale as the three major platforms. Web games are not growing, and eSports might still produce less than 1% of total industry revenue long-term.

USA, China, Japan and South Korea dominant

The US, China, Japan and South Korea together could take nearly two-thirds of global games market revenue in 5 years. But when grouped into regions with the 50 other games countries Digi-Capital covers, Asia should continue to be bigger than North America and Western Europe combined.
There are huge differences in games industry growth rates across countries, but at a regional level Asia’s combined scale and growth are driving the industry forward. Some of the highest revenue growth rates are also coming from countries which won’t hit the top 10 in 5 years, with several Eastern European, Latin American and Middle Eastern/African countries seeing significant revenue growth from a small base.

Record games investment in 2017

All of this scale and growth has led to two consecutive years of games investment growth, with VCs from Sand Hill Road to China pouring a record well over $2 billion into games startups in 2017. The biggest investments were in games core tech, mobile games and AR/VR games sectors. eSports also generated a huge amount of interest, but not the same level of investment.
In contrast, games M&A dropped back below $5 billion to its most recent low point of 2015 due to a lack of giant games acquisitions in 2017. To balance this decline, the games IPO market rebounded to a record high last year led by Netmarble, SEA (Garena) and Rovio. The next 12 months could determine whether the last decade’s 3 year games IPO cycles hold true, with one big year followed by two quiet ones. Altogether 2017’s total games market exits (M&A/IPO combined) delivered lower dollar value, but higher deal volume than the year before.

A new MMO that is not fantasy or Sci-fi but Fuedal! Life is Feudal: MMO enters Steam Early Access

While it is common for MMO games to either fall into the fantasy or sci-fi category, it is amusing to see an MMO just be kind of normal. From developer Bitbox comes 'Life is Feudal: MMO' a grand-scale group-focused game. In case you find the idea intriguing then the game is now available on Steam's Early Access platform. The game will be distributed by Xsolla


Get on the Early access train by following the link - http://store.steampowered.com/app/700030/Life_is_Feudal_MMO/

The Steam version contains all the features and content of the currently active Open Beta version, which means Steam users can join the tens of thousands of Open Beta players already building homes, keeps, and castles in the game. They will also be able to work with those same players to forge alliances that will over time form mighty guilds who control vast kingdoms. There's a place for every type of player in Life is Feudal: MMO, from the butcher or baker, to the royal guard, regal knights, vassals and kings or queens.

Life is Feudal: MMO places players in a highly realistic, non-fantasy, medieval world where danger lurks around every corner. Players need to work as a team to gather resources, build shelter, craft tools and form a fully functioning feudal society in an unforgiving archaic world. Players may find a place in society as a vassal, a knight, a farmer or even royalty, as their guild builds and expands their medieval societies.
While players may start their adventures alone, as they gather and craft supplies needed to make it to the next day, they will quickly meet up with others to form groups, then guilds, and finally work their way up to complete medieval societies and nation-states.

From Other Suns now available on the Oculus Rift, free trial for the weekend

Gunfire Games has announced that their VR game, From Other Suns is now available on Oculus Rift. The game is price USD $ 39.99 and you can even try it for free during the weekend by downloading the Oculus Rift desktop.

It features a number of locomotion options ranging from comfortable to full locomotion.  It was designed from the ground up to offer an immersive experience for a 1-3 players, offering a VR experience unlike any other!

From Other Suns Story

It was supposed to be a simple job. Test an experimental folding drive to travel beyond the fringes of explored space. Return safely for a big payout, and retire on a small colony to never be heard from again. Things don’t always work out as planned. On the return trip, something followed you back. Now it’s a race to make it back to Earth before the ancient alien threat wipes out everything in its way - including you.

There's danger at every jump on this side of the galaxy. Ruthless pirates, lethal robots, and deadly aliens all stand in your way. You and your friends will tour the sector, upgrading your ship, stockpiling weapons, and fighting for your lives.

From Other Suns Gameplay Features:

• Co-Op or Single Player – Built for 3 player drop-in co-op action or a great solo experience.
• Be the captain – Manage your own ship and its crew, upgrade your systems and weapons while negotiating with merchants and avoiding pirate raiders.
• Huge Gun Variety – Over a dozen unique weapon types, with over 2,000 possible variations
• Randomized Universe – No two playthroughs are the same! From encounters to locations, never have the same experience twice.
• Rogue-lite – Run out of crew members and your mission is over! A running tally of achievements allows you to work towards unlocking powerful weapons and better ships, allowing you to progress further on each subsequent playthrough.

Get up to 60% discount on PlayStation games in India till 19th January 2018!

Sony PlayStation India has a delightful sale going on at the moment during which you can get games for Sony consoles at up to 60% discount from the PlayStation Store. These offers are only valid till 19 January 2018!

You can head to the PlayStaion Store and get a full list of what all is up for grabs at these slashed rates - https://goo.gl/8bbwG7

But here are some games that caught our attention:

Game	Original Price	Price after discount
Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)	Rs 2,279	Rs 1,999
Gran Turismo Sport Delux (PS4)	Rs 4,499	Rs 2,750
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (PS4)	Rs 3,999	Rs 998
Hitman GOTY (PS4)	Rs 4,995	Rs 2,997
Persona 5 Bundle (PS4)	Rs 4,162	Rs 2,081
Minecraft Story Mode Bundle (PS4)	Rs 2,750	Rs 1,248
BioShock Trilogy Pack (PS3)	Rs 2,499	Rs 599