You’ve seen them on Instagram, Twitter, and even on news sites: those impossible photos and videos, which used to be the privilege of professionals, showing amateur athletes perfecting their skills. Sometimes they show incredible stunts, other times incredible stupidity, but they all share one common trait – they were taken from an angle that simply […]
After gaming chat app startup Discord announced in August that they were building out a games store, today, they’ve detailed that they’ll be pursuing a very competitive 90/10 revenue split for self-published titles in 2019. In addition, the company revealed that they now have 200 million active users on their chat app, up from 130 million users in May. The announcement follows a storefront launch from Epic Games last week with an 88/12 revenue split. Valve’s Steam store had typically offered a constant 70/30 revenue split for all developers regardless of the revenues they were pulling in. The company recently announced that Steam would give a more favorable split to devs pulling in more revenue. Discord called up some of their thinking in a company blog post: Why does it cost 30% to distribute games? Is this the only reason developers are building their own stores and launchers to distribute games? Turns out, it does not cost 30% to distribute games in 2018. Fortnite-maker aims for Steam’s head with Epic Games Store Steam’s efforts are largely focused on holding onto big developers, but indie devs now have to balance what advantages they’re earning by establishing their central home on a platform filled with tons of titles that’s also taking a more substantial cut. This leaves some room for Discord to attract the self-publishing indies, though it’s still an uphill battle for the company that’s up against some big competitors. ... Read More
Apple has signed a deal with DHX Media that will see the Canadian broadcaster producing new shows, specials and short films about Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. That includes exclusive short-form content for Apple starring astronaut Snoopy, aimed at getting kids excited about STEM. Peanuts was created by Charles Schulz, who wrote and illustrated the popular comic strip for five decades, starting in 1950. The characters moved to television in the 1960s with “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which was followed by a long list of specials. And they recently returned to the big screen in the computer animated “Peanuts Movie,” which grossed $246 million worldwide. DHX acquired a controlling stake in Peanuts last year (the remaining 20 percent stake is still held by the Schulz family). Apple, meanwhile, has been lining up lots of new, family-friendly content for its upcoming streaming service. That includes also enlisting Sesame Workshop to create original programming (not Sesame Street, which recently moved to HBO). By the way, if you only know Peanuts secondhand, through Snoopy dolls or other merchandise, it’s worth revisiting the early strips (restored to print by Fantagraphics), which are among the finest you’ll ever read. There, you can fully appreciate Schulz’s art, as well as his ability to craft unforgettable jokes from Charlie Brown’s bleak outlook and constant heartbreak. Netflix will create a ‘story universe’ based on the work of Roald Dahl ... Read More
Futuristic transportation startup Arrivo shut down its operations this week, The Verge has learned. All of the company’s 30 or so employees were furloughed in late November, with about half being completely laid off at the end of that month, according to two employees who were granted anonymity because they signed non-disclosure agreements. Now, the Los Angeles startup is shutting down because it hasn’t been able to secure new funding, these people say. Remaining employees were informed Friday via text messages seen by The Verge, or by phone. The hyperloop-style company was started in 2017 by former SpaceX engineer Brogan BamBrogan, who was a co-founder of Hyperloop One. Two of BamBrogan’s fellow co-founders had resigned in the months... Continue reading… ... Read More
You would think that Amazon’s Ring home security system and Amazon’s Echo smart speakers would intelligently work together, right? You’d be mostly wrong — but today, the company is taking another small step towards tying them together by letting you arm, disarm, and check the status of some Ring, ADT, Honeywell, Abode, and Scout security systems just by asking Alexa to do so. And since I recently bought a Ring Alarm for my own house — Dan convinced me with his review — I decided to give the new functionality a spin this afternoon. It’s a pretty simple integration, honestly. You install the Ring skill from the Skill Store in your Alexa app, make sure Alexa can see your alarm system, and then you can use the following commands (in the... Continue reading… ... Read More
Solo developer to share the load of future updates as he begins work on new project... Read More
Riot Games France to support incubator's first season promoting women in League of Legends... Read More
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