Amazon buys GameSparks, King doubles down on midcore, and Riot sues Moonton
If there's one thing that a life in video games has taught me, it's that court cases are cool, tense and involve a lot of people shouting "objection!" at one another over and over again.
It's that level of excitement around the legal system that has no doubt led to our readers being particularly interested in the case of Riot Games vs Shanghai Moonton Technologies, which became our most read article of the week.
Second on our Hot Five list is the news that King is doubling-down on its midcore efforts and has just soft-launched another game called Stellar: Galaxy Commander.
Amazon, Summoners War and Final Fantasy
Third up is the news that Amazon has bought GameSparks in a deal reportedly worth "tens of millions of dollars", though no official figure has been released to confirm this.
And finally, Com2uS' Summoners War has surpassed $890 million in lifetime revenues and 80 million downloads worldwide, and our IAP Inspector takes a closer look at the monetisation of Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our readers' eyes over the last week.
#5: How does Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire monetise?
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How does Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire monetise? »Look, MZ has made some seriously high-earning games in Game of War and Mobile Strike, but they are not for everyone.
Its latest game, the licensed IP Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, is definitely going to be divisive - our IAP Inspector, for example, absolutely hated it.
"The result is a game that has very little to do with Final Fantasy, a great deal in common with MZ's previous games, and little reason for fans of either to be interested," he wrote.
"It's a game seemingly about nothing but money, that wants you to do nothing but spend money. With so many more generous free-to-play games around, it's impossible to recommend."
#4: Summoners War hits lifetime revenues of $890 million as it surpasses 80 million downloads
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Summoners War hits lifetime revenues of $890 million as it surpasses 80 million downloads »It might not be the biggest name in mobile games, but Summoners War is definitely raking in the money hand over fist for Com2uS.
The developer revealed that its flagship game has now generated $890 million in lifetime revenues, as well as surpassing 80 million downloads worldwide.
The game has seen a surge of interest across the globe, jumping as high as fifth spot on the App Store top grossing charts in the US.
It's also recently reached second place in Canada, 10th in the UK, fifth in Australia, sixth in New Zealand and seventh in Italy.
#3: Amazon buys UK cloud development platform GameSparks
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Amazon buys UK cloud development platform GameSparks »Amazon has further expanded its operations in the game industry with the acquisition of UK-based backend-as-a-service provider GameSparks.
The company provides developers with a cloud-based development platform to build servers. It has worked with 10,000 developers including Ubisoft, Square Enix and Hutch Games across platforms, including mobile.
The sale is said to be worth “tens of millions of pounds”, but no official figure has been released.
Amazon has made several moves into the game industry over the years. It acquired the rights use CryEngine for its own purposes, which it used as a foundation for the Lumberyard engine, and it also bought games broadcasting service Twitch.
#2: King doubles down on midcore with soft-launched space-based Stellar: Galaxy Commander
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King doubles down on midcore with soft-launched space-based Stellar: Galaxy Commander »King has tried to do midcore before and never really seemed to get anywhere with it - some of us are still sad that Hero never made it out of soft launch.
But it's giving it another spin, first with Legend of Solgard and now with match-3 turn-based strategy Stellar: Galaxy Commander.
It certainly looks interesting - there's PvP battles, loot boxes and all that midcore gubbins, but with King's trademark bright colours and casual gameplay.
Still, it's anyone's guess whether the game will actually launch at any time or if it'll just get shelved once its Call of Duty entry goes into full production.
#1: Riot Games sues Mobile Legends developer Shanghai Moonton Technology for copyright infringement
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Riot Games sues Mobile Legends developer Shanghai Moonton Technology for copyright infringement »It's true that there's only so many ideas under the sun, but that doesn't mean developers should be okay with cases of blatant game cloning.
The latest case involving allegations of a copycat game comes from Riot Games, which has taken issue with Shanghai Moonton Technologies, the developer behind mobile MOBA Mobile Legends: Bang bang, which it is suing it for infringing on copyright.
Riot is claiming that Moonton took entire character designs, art, logo designs and more from its flagship PC MOBA League of Legends, and is seeking a shutdown and damages.
In response, Moonton has claimed that it's all "unreal reports" and that its game was independently developed and protected by its own copyright.