Games industry roundup: Inside Superhot's success, Theta Labs and Animoca raise funds for blockchain, and YouTube Gaming shuts down
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
Over on PCGamesInsider.biz, there's an interview with the team behind Superhot about the game's runaway success, Sharkmob's CEO discusses Tencent's acquisition of the studio, and there's a report into the key takeaways from this year's Digital Dragons event.
BlockchainGamer.biz reports on new funding for Theta Labs and The Sandbox, while F1 Delta Time's first NFT car auction has finished with a $110,743 sale.
InfluencerUpdate.biz meanwhile has an influencer marketing case study with watch manufacturer Daniel Wellington, as well as stories on YouTube Gaming's shutdown and the new website builder from Streamlabs.
#1: PC game news and insights
Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site PCGamesInsider.biz for the last week.
How Superhot sold over two million copies and where its developer goes from here
Business developer Tomasz Kaczmarczyk discusses the success of the hot IP.
It seems like Ubisoft is looking into opening a studio in Krakow
French publishing giant reportedly investigating the possibility, speaking to educational institutions.
On Monday May 27th and Tuesday May 28th, the Polish games industry descended upon Krakow's ICE Congress Centre for Digital Dragons 2019.
Why Tencent acquired Malmo's Sharkmob, the new studio founded by Ubisoft Massive and IO vets
CEO Fredrik Rundqvist goes into more detail about the big deal.
Follows a launch that broke a lot of records for the strategy franchise.
#2: Blockchain game news and insights
Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site BlockchainGamer.biz for the last week.
Theta Labs secures new funding led by Samsung NEXT and Blockchain
Theta Labs has managed to close brand new funding thanks to a round led by Samsung NEXT and Blockchain. According to Mitch Liu, the CEO of Theta, the collaboration with these two companies is part of a longer-term re-alignment strategy.
F1 Delta Time’s first NFT car auction completes at $110,743
In a dramatic auction on the OpenSea marketplace, Animoca Brands’ sold the first NFT car from its official F1 game Delta Time for 415.9 Wrapped ETH, worth $110,743.
Hashed leads $2.5 million investment into blockchain UGC platform The Sandbox
Forthcoming blockchain user-generation content and gaming platform The Sandbox has announced it’s raised $2.5 million.
A list of all blockchain games in Alpha, Beta and Pre-sale
Nothing is more exciting or more dynamic than the blockchain games market.
Enjin showcases receiving and using ERC1155 tokens in EnjinCraft
It was only a couple of weeks ago when Enjin introduced ERC1155 tokens to Minecraft in a big way. Known as EnjinCraft, it serves as one of the first use-cases for multiverse-integrated assets.
#3: Influencer news and insights
Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site InfluencerUpdate.biz for the last week.
Traditional media has the upper hand over creators on YouTube's trending tab
It looks as though established media outlets are having an easier time hitting YouTube's trending section than creators loyal to the platform, according to a study by Coffee Break.
Streamlabs launches Creator Sites builder to help streamers grow and monetise their content
Streamlabs has unveiled a new website builder that lets streamers build sites for their brands.
YouTube Gaming being shut down for good on May 30th
Google closed its separate YouTube Gaming app at the end of May. All of YouTube's gaming content has been migrated back into the main platform and all of its creators can still be found there.
Case study: how Daniel Wellington is still top of the influencer marketing game
Watch manufacturer Daniel Wellington is the most mentioned brand on Instagram. Check out how founded Filip Tysander utilised micro-influencers to make noise about his watches.
Buzzoka unveils new nano influencer program to help brands find cost-effective creators
Indian influencer marketing platform Buzzoka has launched a nano influencer program, designed to engage smaller creators.