We’ve been diligently following the development of virtual worlds, also known as the “metaverse,” on TechCrunch. Hanging out within the virtual worlds of games has become more popular in recent years with the growth of platforms like Roblox and open-world games like Fortnite, but it still isn’t a mainstream way to socialize outside of the […]
As a former Jam City executive, Jill Wilson led teams behind some of the top-grossing gaming franchises, like Cookie Jam and Panda Pop. Now she’s running her own startup, Robin Games, where a team of mostly women is working to create a new niche in mobile entertainment they’re calling “lifestyle gaming.” As the name implies, […]
Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between. Today we’re taking a look at the world of esports venture capital investment, largely through the lens of preliminary data that we’ll caveat given how reported VC data lags reality. That phenomenon is likely doubly […]
Dave Struzzi is the founder of Fame Arcade, a consultancy that works with innovative technology brands. His book, “App Store Fame and Fortune,” was among the first to explore best practices for mobile app marketing. As organizers cancel events with massive attendance, like SXSW (400,000 attendees), E3 (66,000), GDC (65,000) and Mobile World Congress (100,000), […]
GDC’s top sponsors continue to pull out of attending the San Francisco gaming conference. Today, Amazon announced it would no longer be sending employees to the event. In an update, the team shared that they would instead be hosting a “global online event” to share news that they had been planning to detail at the […]
The era of social distancing is going to put a lot of existing systems to the test. Nintendo’s online services for the Switch have been experiencing outages in the U.S. and parts of Europe. The company noted the issues on social media, adding that it’s “looking to rectify the situation as soon as possible.” The […]
There will be no E3 this summer. And quite frankly, the future of just about every conference for the year looks to be in jeopardy, at best. Understandably, Microsoft is releasing most of the Xbox Series X info online in the meantime. A few weeks ago, it offered some key insights into the next-gen console; […]
Another major tech show has fallen victim to COVID-19 concerns. Rumors around E3’s cancellation began swirling last night, with a number of publications reporting from sources close to the show. The governing body, the Entertainment Software Association, made the news official. In a statement provided to TechCrunch, the ESA noted: After careful consultation with our […]
Blade, the French startup behind Shadow, announced plans to overhaul its subscription tiers back in October. The company is now bringing the new plans to the U.S. with a new entry tier at $11.99 per month as well as more powerful options in the coming months. Shadow is a cloud computing service for gamers. For […]
Toys are better now. There, I said it. Don’t get me wrong, I treasure the tub of action figures gathering decades of dust in my parents’ attic, but get a load of this Super Mario Lego play set. I would have happily used up all the nights of Hanukkah on the thing. Caveats: I haven’t […]