Variety reports: “Quarantine and chill: Netflix is seeing unprecedented levels of video streaming, as millions of people are homebound during the COVID-19 outbreak and looking for a diversion. And investors are gaining confidence that Netflix will be one of the few entertainment companies to see gains amid the pandemic.”
VentureBeat reports: “Big Run Studios has raised $1.4 million in seed round funding, led by game and tech investor Galaxy Interactive via its Galaxy EOS VC Fund.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Games industry digital spending continued to grow despite a deep drop in console spending in February, according to market intelligence firm Superdata.”
Billboard reports: “Music fans came out in full force to support acts on Bandcamp last week, when the online music marketplace pledged to waive its revenue share for all sales made on Friday, March 20.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers did not commence as scheduled Monday due to the coronavirus prohibition on nonessential meetings and the recommendations against air travel.”
TechCrunch reports: “Disney+, the streaming service from the Walt Disney Company, has been rapidly ramping up in the last several weeks. But while some of that expansion has seen some hiccups, other regions are basically on track.”
The Verge reports: “For many, the cancellation of major sporting events was the moment that made the coronavirus pandemic feel real for the first time. But while fans of baseball, basketball, soccer are left wondering when they’ll see players back in action, racing fans don’t have to wait — because many of their favorite drivers are already competing in online sim racing competitions that were spun up in the days since the first real world races were canceled.”
VentureBeat reports: “The New York Times has acquired Audm, a subscription audio platform that uses professional narrators to transform long-form written articles into the spoken word. Audm, which had only raised a small seed round of funding after graduating from Y Combinator in 2017, already worked with major publications including Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “As a publisher of indie games, Devolver Digital has always made events an important part of its strategy.”
Billboard reports: “Amazon, Facebook, its Instagram and Apple have joined Netflix, YouTube and Disney+ in complying with government requests in Europe to temporarily reduce online video bitrates as streaming demand surges during the coronavirus crisis.”
