Games industry roundup: Mike Bithell talks John Wick Hex, Yogscast creator fired amidst harassment allegations, and Etheremon runs out of funds
While PocketGamer.biz focuses on the world of mobile gaming, it's always a good idea to keep an eye on the trends, controversies and opportunities of other sectors.
To that end, each week we round up the hottest stories as selected by our expert editorial team across our network of sites that includes PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockchainGamer.biz.
Looking for a mobile roundup? You can check out our Hot Five here. You can also catch up on all the news coming out of Asia in our East Meets West roundup here.
Learn more about all these sectors of the games industry at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong on July 17th and 18th.
Hottest stories
On PCGamesInsider.biz, Mike Bithell talks John Wick Hex and why Lionsgate was chosen to handle the popular IP. UKIE CEO Jo Twist says the UK government needs to step up on supporting the games industry, and Runescape developer Jagex talks banned accounts and keeping its community clean.
Meanwhile, on Blockchaingamer.biz, blockchain game The Sandbox releases a new promotional trailer, WAX's full blockchain protocol and mainnet are now live, and the Etheremon team takes to Medium to announce that development funds have dried up.
And on InfluencerUpdate.biz, The Yogscast drops one of its creators amidst sexual harassment allegations, Twitch's subscriber-only streams are clashing with some developer's terms of service, and educational body Media Smart is creating resources to teach influencer marketing in schools.
#1: PC game news and insights
Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site PCGamesInsider.biz for the last week.
Why Lionsgate handed indie developer Bithell Games the John Wick IP
Head honcho Mike Bithell tells us more.
'Our reputation can be eroded in a globally competitive industry. The emergence of a programme designed to poach talent and businesses from the UK should remind policymakers of this fact'.
Following terrible experiences in the past, CEO Robert Iger says it prefers to license out its IP to games firms.
Why Caged Element and Wired are supporting racing combat title Grip long after launch
Wired Productions MD Leo Zullo takes us behind the scenes.
RuneScape maker Jagex banned 587 player accounts during 2018
"While we welcome hundreds of thousands into the games on a daily basis, we only issued permanent bans against 587 accounts for persistent abusive behaviour."
#2: Blockchain game news and insights
Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site BlockchainGamer.biz for the last week.
Check out the latest teaser trailer from The Sandbox team
Out of many of the blockchain game titles that are out there, The Sandbox has certainly made efforts to stand out. One of the ways is through the core mechanics of its gameplay – which places a special emphasis on content creation.
Etheremon suspends any further updates as funds run dry
The Etheremon team took to Medium over the course of last week to report on the current situation of the game. Having included a range of monetized mechanics such as its adventure modes, the team has since announced that has run out of funds.
WAX’s full blockchain protocol and mainnet are now live
The time has finally come for the Worldwide Asset eXchange, or WAX as we better know it. What we’re referring to exactly is the introduction of its full blockchain protocol and mainnet, which officially launched on June 30th.
0xRacers – TRON dominates in pre-sale volume so far
0xRacers, the fourth title from the 0xGames team, has already managed to make some impressive headway in its pre-sale. Having kicked off its sale across three blockchains on June 25th, looking at DappRadar, we can already see where player interest is coming from.
CryptoThrone: Infinite World is due to launch on Ontology
The blockchain-powered community and protocol – MixMarvel – along with the blockchain game service provider, TonArts, have come together to announce the upcoming launch of CyptoThrone: Infinite World.
#3: Influencer news and insights
Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site InfluencerUpdate.biz for the last week.
Yogscast creator Caff dropped from company amidst harassment allegations
YouTuber and streamer Matthew Meredith, known as Caff, has been accused of sexual exploitation of his moderation team as well as a number of fans.
Media Smart recruits content creators to create educational influencer marketing resource
Media Smart, the advertising education programme, has launched an educational programme to educate children on the commercial links between creator and audience.
Twitch rolled out Subscriber streams last week - a new feature that allows broadcasters to host private streams just for their subs. However, some users are aware that the feature is actually against some developer's terms of service.
Dr Disrespect apologises for bathroom broadcast via personal Twitter account
Twitch streamer Guy Beahm, known online by his raucous persona Dr Disrespect, has apologised for a blunder at this year's E3 showcase.
You're not a real influencer unless you have over 30,000 followers, according to new ASA ruling
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)has declared that any creator with more than 30,000 followers will be deemed a celebrity.