While gaming giants Sony and Microsoft have made M&A a critical part of their strategic growth plans, Nintendo has always seemed to be more reluctant to bring outside talent into the fold of its video game empire. Today, the company announced that it will be acquiring the developer behind Luigi’s …
Read More »Minecraft Earth will shut down in June – TechCrunch
Throughout 2019, Microsoft experimented with building a real-world, augmented reality Minecraft game designed in the same vein as Pokémon GO. Called Minecraft Earth, they finally opened it up to everyone in November of 2019. In just a few months, it’ll shut down and all player data will be deleted. So …
Read More »CD Projekt Red, Sony, Microsoft offer refund to Cyberpunk 2077 customers after bug complaints – TechCrunch
Sony has pulled “Cyberpunk 2077,” one of the most anticipated games in recent years, from its PlayStation Store after a flood of complaints and ridicule over compatibility issues and bugs from customers. The gaming giant said it is offering full refunds to any customer who purchased CD Projekt Red’s title …
Read More »Remote physical gaming site Surrogate.tv raises a $2.5M seed round – TechCrunch
I was made aware of Surrogate.tv’s work earlier this year when the site released a Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit tournament. Nintendo’s IRL take on its popular racing title was a great showcase for the technology — though, admittedly, there was enough lag in the remote operation to make control …
Read More »After lockdowns boost gaming marketplace Eneba, it raises $8M from Practica and InReach – TechCrunch
Eneba, a marketplace for gamers that sells games and other products, has raised an $8 million round of funding from Practica Capital and InReach Ventures. The funding is described as a “combination” of a seed and Series A round. Also participating in the funding for the Lithuanian startup was FJ …
Read More »DeepMind’s MuZero masters games while learning how to play them – TechCrunch
DeepMind has made it a mission to show that not only can an AI truly become proficient at a game, it can do so without even being told the rules. Its newest AI agent, called MuZero, accomplishes this not just with visually simple games with complex strategies, like Go, Chess …
Read More »How Niantic evolved Pokémon GO for the year no one could go anywhere – TechCrunch
Pokémon GO was created to encourage players to explore the world while coordinating impromptu large group gatherings — activities we’ve all been encouraged to avoid since the pandemic began. And yet, analysts estimate that 2020 was Pokémon GO’s highest-earning year yet. By twisting some knobs and tweaking variables, Pokémon GO …
Read More »Goodbye Flash, goodbye FarmVille – TechCrunch
While much of what made 2020 such an absolute nightmare will still be with us on January 1 (sorry!), we will really, truly be leaving Adobe Flash and FarmVille behind as we enter the new year. The end of Flash has been a long time coming. The plugin, which was …
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