Variety reports: “Popeye, the 89-year-old spinach-powered mariner, will be launching his first new adventures in more than a decade in new animated originals slated to debut on the brand’s YouTube channel. The new material will come under a pact between WildBrain, a digital kids’ network and studio, and Hearst’s King Features Syndicate, which handles licensing for the Popeye franchise.”
Hypebot reports: “Next-generation record label and music distributor Amuse has raised a $15.5 million Series A round co-led by Lakestar and Raine.The company was founded in Stockholm by execs from Spotify, Universal Music and Warner Music. Using Amuse, artists can distribute their music for free to major services including Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, etc. and keep 100% of the royalties.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Sony’s management has told investors that it is now entering the final phase of the PlayStation 4’s life-cycle, with the company as a whole primed to focus on expansion of the PlayStation Network. CEO Kenichiro Yoshida led a presentation in which Sony’s management team laid out its mid-term strategy for analysts and investors.”
Venture Beat reports: “The ESL is working with Alienware as its partner for all ESL One events. This Dell-owned gaming hardware brand will be the official computer and monitor partner for the independent esports group’s global circuit for 2018, with ESL One Birmingham kicking off the year-long partnership on May 24 to May 27.”
The Verge reports: “At long last, Instagram is adding the option to mute people from appearing in your feed. With an update rolling out “over the coming weeks,” you’ll be able to choose to remove someone’s posts, or both their posts and their stories, from appearing on Instagram’s main screen. You’ll still be able to view a muted person’s profile; you can unmute them any time you want; and the person won’t be told that they’ve been muted.”
Venture Beat reports: “Epic Games had $100 million burning a hole in its proverbial pocket, and the company has decided to use that cash to begin building up the esports scene for its megapopular battle royale shooter Fortnite. This is an astronomical investment in competitive gaming and the future of Fortnite, and it is a clear sign from the studio that it is planning long-term support for the last-player-standing game.”
Variety reports: “Netflix has secured a deal with President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama to produce series and movies for the streaming service. The former first couple will, according to announcement Monday from the company, potentially work on scripted and unscripted series as well as docu-series, documentary films, and features under the multi-year deal.”
Hypebot reports: “Sony, Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Google, Microsoft, Orchard, Deezer, Shazam, MediaNet, CD Universe and Saavn are being sued for copyright infringement by a South African musician. A new lawsuit alleges that major digital music distributors and streaming services allegedly sold or streamed tracks from South African gospel singer Seugne Botha aka Ms. Botha without a license or remuneration.”
Gameindustry.biz reports: “Capcom is bringing its best-selling hit Resident Evil 7 to Nintendo Switch – but this is far from a straight port. Resident Evil 7: Cloud Version will be largely built around game streaming technology, specifically utilizing the Ubitas cloud service. The Japanese publisher is also experimenting with the business model for this new release.”
Venture Beat reports: “Microsoft today unveiled its latest vision for a mixed reality (MR) world with the launch of SharePoint Spaces, a feature that allows companies to create immersive worlds for viewing data and documents within SharePoint. Microsoft has been investing heavily in various mixed reality technologies and programs.”
