games

Tencent, the Chinese games and social media giant, revealed a more than 50% drop in profits for the three months to June 2022, the second quarter of its financial year. The figures were affected by a slowing economy in China, an operating environment made harder by regulatory changes and a slowdown in video games as users adjusted to post-pandemic activity. …

CMC Pictures has picked up multi-territory rights to ‘Shadow,” the Zhang Yimou-directed action drama that premiered this week at the Venice Film Festival. The film continues its run this week at the Toronto Film Festival. The China-based CMC Pictures has acquired rights in Southeast Asia (including Hong Kong/Macau, but excluding Taiwan), India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Africa …

U.S. games developer Blizzard Entertainment and China’s NetEase said that licenses covering the Chinese distribution of games titles including “World of Warcraft,” the “StarCraft” series, “Hearthstone,” “Heroes of the Storm,” “Overwatch” and “Diablo III” would expire in January 2023 and not be renewed. Netease has distributed the titles since 2008. Blizzard said that the two could not reach a deal “that is consistent with Blizzard’s …

Note: This article is based on content from Variety Intelligence Platform’s special report “2023 Media & Tech Trend Tracker,” available exclusively to subscribers. Sony Interactive Entertainment in February announced PlayStation Playmakers, a new initiative to partner with names like LeBron James on promoting the console brand. For anyone else in gaming, this move would come across as a plea for …

FoxNext Games has acquired game developer Cold Iron Studios, which specializes in massively multiplayer online games and is developing a shooter title set in the “Alien” cinematic universe for consoles and PCs. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed. FoxNext Games, part of 21st Century Fox, is acquiring Cold Iron from games publisher Perfect World Entertainment. The deal builds on FoxNext’s …

Two former Apple TV designers have raised a big bucket of venture-capital money to launch Caffeine: a startup looking to take on Amazon-owned Twitch with a new social-broadcasting service. The duo, Ben Keighran and Sam Roberts, formed Caffeine in April 2016. They’ve announced a total of $46 million in two rounds of funding led by Silicon Valley VC firms Andreessen …

“Alien” fans now have a chance to step into the world of the franchise and fight the Xenomorphs firsthand: “Alien: Descent,” a new location-based virtual-reality experience from FoxNext, opened its doors at The Outlets at Orange mall in Orange County, Calif., on April 26. “It’s frickin’ cool,” boasted FoxNext president Salil Mehta about the experience. “From the moment you walk …

Augmented reality game, “Pokemon Go” may be able to launch in China, some 18 months after the craze swept the rest of the world. This year will also see Sony’s games unit ForwardWorks distributing smart phone games in the parts of Greater China — Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau – beyond the reach of mainland Chinese regulators. Chinese games publisher, …

One of the best things about Cyber Monday is all the money you’ll save, especially when it comes to gaming. We rounded up the best deals on all sorts of PlayStation 5 games and accessories. In fact, you can save up to 86% on hit games, including “Diablo IV,” “Sonic Superstars,” “Elden Ring,” “Horizon Forbidden West” and much more. Prices …

Andrew House, after leading Sony’s PlayStation group for the past six years, is leaving the company at the end of the year, the Japanese conglomerate announced Tuesday. John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera, currently deputy president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, will take over the reins as president and CEO of the PlayStation division, effective immediately. Kodera reports directly to Kazuo Hirai, president and …