Two months free offer pushes Stadia past 1m installs
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Stadia has received a shot in the arm thanks to a Google promotion, which now means the streaming service has been installed more than one million times globally.”
Mobile Games Hotspot: ‘Fortnite’ Finally Lands on Google Play Store After Months-Long Standoff
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Elsewhere in gaming-on-the-go: Niantic’s ‘Hogwarts Mystery’ celebrates two-year anniversary; new content in ‘Mario Kart Tour’ and ‘Marvel Realm of Champions’; and mobile game spending and usage see spikes amid coronavirus lockdown.”
BBC Studios Sells Shows To Chinese Streamer Owned By TikTok’s Parent Company
Deadline reports: “BBC Studios has signed a content deal with Xigua Video, the Chinese streaming service owned by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.”
Licensed to Stream? Clearing Rights Can Be Tricky In the ‘Wild West’ Livestream Age
Billboard reports: “With venues closed, more artists are turning to livestream performances — some without the proper licenses. “There’s probably a lot of infringement going on.”‘
Disruptor Beam rebrands as Beamable
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Disruptor Beam has rebranded itself as Beamable to mark its new direction as a services provider for other games developers.”
Snapchat Grows Daily Active Users to 229 Million
Billboard reports: “Snapchat’s parent company on Tuesday reported user growth rising 20 percent to 229 million daily active users during the first quarter of the year, compared to usage for the same period last year.”
Post-Pandemic Hollywood: Inside Plans to Make Movie and TV Sets Safe Again
Variety reports: “Tom Cruise expected to spend his summer in Italy, hanging onto the sides of planes, dodging bullets and engaging in elaborate car chases. The arrival of COVID-19 spoiled those plans, indefinitely postponing the shooting of “Mission: Impossible 7,” the latest installment of the globe-trotting espionage franchise.”
Facebook buys $5.7 billion stake in India’s Jio to bring WhatsApp payments to small grocery stores
VentureBeat reports: “Facebook will spend $5.7 billion for 10% of Reliance Industries’s digital business, as the social media firm looks to leverage its popular WhatsApp messenger to offer digital payment services to small grocers in India.”
Spotify Unveils Fundraising, Charity Options in Artist Platform
Variety reports: “Since the coronavirus pandemic reached North America several weeks ago, Spotify has made several moves to support artists and the creative community, ranging from substantial contributions to MusiCares, the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization to a $10 million matching fund through the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief project, which recently added eight new partners.”
Apple Arcade and App Store launching in 20 new countries
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Apple has announced a significant expansion for its mobile store and related services, including 20 new markets for its games subscription.”
