Betawatch: Star Citizen’s alpha 3.18 has been quite a trainwreck

Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here. Newzoo and Mobile Premier League (MPL) released a report this week about paid competitive games (PCG). According to the report, this new subsection of mobile games represent a new and growing form of game monetization. By the report’s definition, PCGs are skill-based mobile games that offer monetary rewards, and players earn those rewards by participating in PvP contests. It’s separate from play-to-earn games, though both categories reward players with monetary prizes. P2E games tend to reward players with cryptocurrency while PCGs offer real money. PGCs account for 7% of the global consumer spending on games, and Newzoo expects it to rise to 14% by 2024. Notably, PCGs are formatted as ”skill-based”

Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here. It’s a strange week when the announcement of Counter-Strike 2 is the highlight. We had a lot of interesting news from GDC, and peeks at upcoming games like Redfall and a TMNT game adaptation of The Last Ronin. But I’ve been in a mood to talk about games themselves. So indulge me while I talk about a title that got eclipsed when Resident Evil 4 Remake dropped into my lap: Like A Dragon: Ishin! I returned to playing the game after RE4R and have a few thoughts about it. Ishin takes place in Bakumatsu-era Japan, and follows a fictionalized telling of real ronin Ryoma Sakamoto. He, like every other character in

Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here. Gordon Moore, the elder statesman of the technology industry, passed away today at the age of 94. He was one of the nation’s greatest citizens as a pioneer of the semiconductor industry and chairman emeritus of Intel, which he cofounded in 1968. He was known for formulating Moore’s Law in 1965. He predicted that the number of components on a chip would double every couple of years or so. That prediction has held up remarkably well for about 58 years. In 1965, chip makers could fit about 64 transistors on a chip. By 1971, Intel could fit 2,300 transistors on its first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. Nvidia can now put 80

Join top executives in San Francisco on July 11-12, to hear how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success. Learn More Once again, AI news topped the tech headlines this week — in particular, the generative AI market is becoming increasingly competitive, with both new and well-established enterprises making significant investments. This includes GitHub’s new Copilot X; startup Codium AI’s new code-integrity tool TestGPT; and a whole slew of new tools, services and capabilities from Nvidia. Still, skepticism remains, with OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman even expressing apprehension. Not topping the list (but still noteworthy AI news): Databricks released its GPT-like Dolly; OpenAI turned ChatGPT into a platform overnight with several new plugins; OpenAI rival Character AI announced a $1 billion valuation; and Google released Bard, a

LOUD remain at the top of the VALORANT world, having been crowned the game’s second-ever world champion in 2022 and just missing out on making history in the LOCK//IN finals earlier this month. Heading into the first-ever VCT Americas season, LOUD is a heavy favorite to qualify for both Masters Tokyo and Champions 2023 with its South American roster not missing a beat despite replacing two of its players. Aside from boasting one of the most well-respected lineups in the world, however, LOUD has demonstrated time and time again how there are levels to their approach to the game from a strategy standpoint, and the team recently showcased this on Lotus. During LOCK//IN, LOUD actually didn’t play the newest VALORANT map until its very final best-of-five series. Despite

It’s the end of an era for movie fans, as Mondo will reportedly no longer produce unique and stylish movie posters. Mondo’s parent company, Funko, has apparently laid off most of the staff at the Austin-based company and killing off its poster division. [Update: While the layoffs have been confirmed, a representative also told GameSpot that Mondo’s poster business will continue.] According to sources who spoke to TheWrap, Mondo co-founders Rob Jones and Mitch Putnam were also laid off and the company’s division for cutting-edge experiences and products, The Lab, has been shut down. Only the toys and records divisions remain, but as the sources explained, it’s not clear how long they’ll be around for. Senior creative director Eric Garza has also been let go. Funko purchased Mondo