games

Panda TV, the Chinese live-streaming platform backed by young tycoon Wang Sicong, the son of Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin, is to close down. It ran out of cash and will lay off its entire workforce. There have been rumors for weeks of dire financial problems at the company and layoffs of about 500 staff. Company CEO Zhang Juyuan confirmed …

Harry Potter’s wizarding world will be coming to an augmented-reality mobile game from Niantic Labs, the company behind AR game hit “Pokemon Go.” Niantic announced that it is developing the augmented-reality game, “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s WB Games San Francisco division and its newly created Portkey Games label. For now, there aren’t many additional details about the …

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s” official unveiling occurred in the lead-up to E3, and we heard more about the stunning open-world game set in Ancient Greece during the big show. Now, Variety can offer a chance to check out the main theme music for the game. The track is called “Legend of the Eagle Bearer,” and was composed by the composer and producer …

Netflix has booked “The Final Table,” a high-end cooking contest that pits 24 international star chefs against each other in creating dishes from around the world. The streaming giant has also lined up “Death by Magic,” featuring a British magician who travels the globe performing stunts that stymied – and killed – other illusionists. Unveiling sneak peeks of both shows …

China’s social media and gaming giant Tencent is bidding to buy control of Funcom, developer of the “Conan” and “Dune” games. The bid values the Norwegian company at $148 million. Tencent already owns 29% of Funcom, and its bid has been unanimously approved by Funcom’s board of directors. No management changes are planned. The shares of Funcom are listed on …

French sales company Pyramide International has scored multiple sales on Palestinian auteur Annemarie Jacir’s “Wajib,” which is Palestine’s submission for the foreign-language Oscar and just had its Middle East bow at the Dubai Film Festival. The wry comedy toplining prominent Palestinian actors Mohammad Bakri and Saleh Bakri, working together for the first time, has been acquired by Satine Films for …

Do you want to believe? Fans of “The X-Files” will soon get the chance to uncover an extraterrestrial mystery like Mulder and Scully in a new mobile game. “The X-Files: Deep State” mystery-investigation puzzle game is slated for release in February 2018, coinciding with season 11 of the TV series, set to premiere Jan. 3 on Fox. The game — …

“The Legend of Wright” is a hand-drawn indie RPG slated to launch to Xbox One in Spring 2020, it was announced during today’s E3 press conference. In development from Japanese indie studio Desk Works, “The Legend of Wright” is filled with doodles that appear to come alive, and transform into in-game items and characters. Its art design appears to be …

Shania Twain — on the heels of releasing “Now,” her first studio album in 15 years — is making a guest appearance in free-to-play simulation and home-decorating mobile game “Home Street.” Twain’s animated character will appear in “Home Street” throughout November. The in-game character will lead players through stories, while two music videos from her new album will play on a …

Madrid-based Onza Distribution, producer of “The Department of Time,” has acquired international distribution rights to four-part doc series “Palomares: The Atomic Bomb Fiasco,” a stranger than fiction doc thriller about how in 1966 the U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped four hydrogen bombs on Spain. Directed by Alvaro Ron (“Velvet Collection,” “Hernán,” “The Hunt: Monteperdido”), “Palomares” details, partly through an interview …