Forbes reports: “Evan Lowenstein was convinced that the only thing likely to save his upstart concert streaming business was global warming. Turns out, it could be the coronavirus. Lowenstein founded Stageit a little over a decade ago and by last year was struggling to find ways to keep the business afloat.”
VentureBeat reports: “Robin Games has raised $7 million in a seed funding round for what founder Jill Wilson calls “lifestyle gaming.” Such games are geared toward audiences for mobile games that aren’t the typical hardcore targets.”
Variety reports: “Hulu is at long last coming to Comcast Cable customers’ set-top boxes. But the cable operator’s distribution pact with Disney — which now controls Hulu — covers access only to the video-on-demand portion of the service, not the Hulu + Live TV package given that Comcast offers its own TV bundles.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Elsewhere in gaming-on-the-go: ‘Dead by Deadlight’ coming to phones in April; new ‘Game of Thrones’ title, ‘Teamfight Tactics,’ and ‘Sky: Children of the Light’ debuting soon; and ‘Pokemon Home’ app rakes in $2.6 million over first month.”
Variety reports: “A top European Union official called on Netflix and other streaming-video services to reduce video quality to standard-definition format — forgoing HD for now — so that internet networks don’t get overloaded during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Scopely has extended its series D funding round to $400 million, following new investment from Advance and The Chernin Group. The mobile game publisher announced its series D round in October 2019, which at that time amounted to $200 million.”
Variety reports: “Two of Pixar Animation Studios’ earliest employees, Ed Catmull and Pat Hanrahan, have won the computer industry’s prestigious Turing Prize for their contributions to 3D graphics and CGI filmmaking.”
TechCrunch reports: “In October, TikTok tapped corporate law firm K&L Gates to advise the company on its moderation policies and other topics afflicting social media platforms. As a part of those efforts, TikTok said it would form a new committee of experts to advise the business on topics like child safety, hate speech, misinformation, bullying, and other potential problems.”
TechCrunch reports: “You have to actually get work done, not just video call all day, but apps like Zoom want to take over your screen. Remote workers who need to stay in touch while staying productive are forced to juggle tabs. Meanwhile, call participants often look and sound far away, dwarfed by their background and drowned in noise.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “The push for diversity and inclusion never ends, according to Forza racing franchise creative director Dan Greenwalt. Speaking during Microsoft’s Game Stack Live event yesterday, Greenwalt spoke in some detail about his ongoing efforts to foster a positive environment for developers.”
