United Kingdom regulators were effectively the last hurdle stopping Microsoft from purchasing Activision Blizzard, in the biggest merger the video game industry has ever seen. That hurdle was cleared this morning as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority relented to adjusted terms. With the nearly $70 billion purchase now officially complete, Microsoft unveiled a victory blog post, complete with an extended showcase of its now-combined intellectual property with Activision, Blizzard, and King. The CMA’s sticking points included Microsoft’s prospective dominance in the unfolding game streaming market, and Microsoft’s concessions were deep. When it initially blocked the merger early this year, regulators said that the combined publishing giant could effectively monopolize games streamed to consumers without the need for local PCs or consoles, as is already the case with Xbox Game Stream and the all-you-can-eat Game Pass subscription. Microsoft’s concessions to the UK include a block on exclusivity for cloud streaming for all existing Activision games, crucially including the massive Call of Duty shooter franchise. The block will continue for 15 years, with streaming rights sold (or surrendered, depending on your point of view) to French mega-publisher Ubisoft. Significantly, this will allow Call of Duty to be streamed to players on the PlayStation for the foreseeable future. With the UK and EU obstacles out of the way, the United States Federal... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2023-10-13 14:10:14 UTC ]
When Kazuki Takahashi’s manga “Yu-Gi-Oh” debuted in 1996, it spawned a mammoth franchise that includes the iconic Duel Monsters card game, TV shows, video games and character merchandise. The fourth feature, “Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions,” was released in Japan in 2016 to mark its 20th... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After pulling installments of the Chaos Rings series from the App Store and then filing a trademark for a game called Cosmos Rings in Europe, Square Enix turned some heads. Now the publishing giant is bringing us an interesting new release: an RPG ex... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2016-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has confirmed Boris Johnson's biography "will not be published for the foreseeable future". Shakespeare: The Riddle of Genius had been slated for publication in October, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, but, according to the Daily Mail,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While comic books based on video games are easy to find, comics about gaming are few and far between. Here are 10 great examples of comic books about gaming. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Inc. has had a string of acquisitions and launches aimed at young women over the past year, from HelloGiggles to homegrown startups Mimi and Motto. Like the publishing giant itself, the Gen Y strategy reflects the awareness that young people aren’t all alike. So each site targets audiences... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-02-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The multi-content subscription service, in beta since 2014, has gone live. It offers tiered access to books, TV/film, music and video games, and has partnerships with such publishers as HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Experience on the buy side and sell side of media brought David Katz to where he is today, running ad solutions at Hearst's Core Audience, the programmatic ad buying division of the publishing giant. The senior director of ad solutions works with hundreds of salespeople, arming them with data... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just how much of a problem is ad fraud? If you're a regular reader of Ad Age, you know it's a big problem -- though just how big depends on lots of variables, including the specific digital agencies, ad-tech vendors and publishers a given marketer choses to work with. And if you read our recent... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon is scrapping its Trade-In programme from the end of this month. Currently, books, video games and other items can be traded in on Amazon’s website in return for Amazon gift cards. But the company has told customers it is now closing the programme for good on the 31st August and will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gamescon Cologne and the Frankfurt Book Fair invited rights pros from book publishing, video games and others to meet and discuss rights and licensing. The post Games Meet Books at Gamescom Cologne appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing sector has the lowest level of illegal downloads in the entertainment industry, with book piracy at half the rate of copyright theft in film and musicFor publishers, fresh from winning a landmark ruling forcing internet service providers to block illegal ebook download sites in Russia... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Opening up a video division has become new-media companies' way of announcing their arrival. In the past couple of years, BuzzFeed and Vox Media have seriously stepped up their video games, launching in-house production studios with names like BuzzFeed Motion Pictures and Vox Entertainment.Now... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The MoMA Curator of Architecture and Design reveals favorite books and video games and thoughts on skeuomorphism and the future of design.Yesterday, Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, let the masses pick her brain in a Reddit AMA .... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing giant to pay more than 7,000 interns between $700 and $1,900 after lawsuit said some had been paid less than a dollar an hourTell us: how did you get by when working an unpaid internship? Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fulcrum has plans to publish at least three nonfiction graphic novels a year for the foreseeable future, marketing not only to the general trade but also to comics specialty shops, libraries, and especially, schools. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter, The Gruffalo, and Horrid Henry are the top book brands for children, according to a report commissioned by the Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA). The report—released at the Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) exhibition, held in London last week—found that books were... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Growing up as a computer nerd, I remember thinking that I would learn how to program, so I could develop my own video games. I think this is a dream that many nerds share. I remember that my dad bought me a huge book on programming and after about 5 pages, I gave up and began reading comic books... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Not all the action in San Diego is taking place in the city's convention center. Just a short walk away at Petco Park, Nerd Machine is hosting Nerd HQ, a free extravaganza that's also a hotbed for experiential marketing. Though the organization works in partnership with San Diego Comic Con, it... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Everything from novels to movies, video games, and even government reports have been given the graphic novel treatment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ahead of Time Inc.'s impending spin-off later this quarter, Time Warner announced the makeup of the 10-member board that will oversee the publishing giant once it officially goes public on its own. Time Inc. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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