Deadline Hollywood reports: “Viacom has closed a deal to sell a raft of Awesomeness content globally after the U.S. media giant acquired the youth-skewing brand last year. It has also sold a number of titles to a German SVOD service run by RTL. Viacom International Studios has finalized a deal to represent 18 series and eight films globally.”
Tech Crunch reports: “It’s not as if the internet needed another cautionary tale about backing up data, but for many artists, this news is heartbreaking nonetheless. Myspace has issued a tersely worded message noting that a huge amount of user-uploaded music has been lost during a server migration.”
Variety reports: “Although Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival continue quietly to negotiate a potential settlement to their differences, the streaming giant will be absent from the Croisette again this year with no film in or out of competition, Variety has learned. In any case, it does not have a festival-ready film to present, sources said. ”
The Verge reports: “Studios that are working on content for Apple’s forthcoming streaming service are reportedly experiencing a culture clash in their dealings with the Cupertino-based company, according to The New York Times. Apple is said to be too controlling when it comes to the portrayal of Apple products such as iPhones and MacBooks in the shows while being uncommunicative when it comes to basic details like release dates and marketing plans.”
Variety reports: “NBCUniversal and Sky PLC will offer joint packages of advertising services, a new effort to monetize the European satellite broadcaster, which was purchased by parent Comcast Corp. for $39 billion last year. Advertisers will be able to reach customers in sundry international markets as well as the United States, using inventory across NBCU and Sky TV and digital venues.”
Venture Beat reports: “Epic Games has awarded $500,000 in awards to the final recipients of Unreal Dev Grants, a $5 million fund supporting developers working with Unreal Engine 4 (UE4). Recipients come from a variety of industries, including games, film, augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, education, and more.”
Variety reports: “Snapchat is set to unveil a mobile gaming platform for its app at a partner event next month, according to a new Cheddar report. The platform will allow developers to distribute games within Snapchat’s app, according to the report. Snapchat’s corporate parent Snap is set to hold its first partner summit in Los Angeles on April 4. Cheddar reported Friday that the company will use that day to unveil a small number of mobile games running on Snapchat.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “A ban on playing the mobile version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is sweeping across the Indian state of Gujarat.Since March 6, four cities in the region — Rajkot, Surat, Gir Somnath and Bhavnagar — have implemented the ban, with police even making arrests to enforce it.”
Hypebot reports: “African streaming and download service Boomplay has inked a direct licensing agreement with Warner Music to bring the company’s global music roster to millions of music fans across the continent. The deal will see Boomplay distributing Warner Music’s extensive catalog of more than one million songs to listeners.”
The Verge reports: “Facebook is updating its mobile app with a dedicated gaming hub where users can explore game content on Facebook. To emphasize the importance that Facebook is putting on the hub, the company is adding it to the sidebar and as an option for the customizable navigation bar in the app.”
