Broadband TV News reports: “Amazon Prime Video has expanded its offering in Germany by integrating Apple TV+ as a separate channel. This move follows a similar launch in the United States last October and is part of a broader strategy to position Prime Video as a central hub for streaming content. The new partnership extends beyond Germany, as Apple TV+ is now also available via Prime Video in Spain and Italy.”
TechCrunch reports: “Salesforce plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years as it seeks to fuel the adoption of its AI agent development platform, Agentforce. Salesforce claimed that Agentforce can help alleviate Singapore’s ongoing labor issues and augment the country’s workforce and enterprises by creating “digital workforces” that combine humans with autonomous AI agents.”
Games Industry Biz reports: “Uthana has secured $4.3m to “revolutionize” 3D character animation with generative AI. The $4.3 million funding round was led by IA Ventures, with participation from A16Z Speedrun, Acequia Capital, Cursor Capital, HustleFund, MetaVision, and JonesTrauber.”
Polygon reports: “The rumors were true. Niantic’s games division, which makes the augmented reality megahit Pokémon Go, has been sold to mobile gaming powerhouse Scopely for a whopping $3.5 billion. As confirmed by Niantic, Scopely, and the Pokémon Go team, the deal will see the entire Niantic Games operation snapped up by Scopely, which among many, many other things makes Monopoly Go — one of the few mobile games to achieve the same stratospheric level of success as Niantic’s flagship.”
Business Wire reports: “Liminal Experiences, Inc, a new UGC gaming startup dedicated to harnessing artificial intelligence to empower human-centered creativity, has emerged from stealth with $5.8 million raised to date in seed funding. The investment comes from prestigious games industry backers, including BITKRAFT Ventures, Riot Games, and OTK Media Group, with participation from angel investors including Marc Merrill, founder of Riot Games”
TV Technology reports: “A new survey highlights how far major streaming platforms have come in terms of offering sports, with findings that show the number of people who say they watch some sports on streaming services exceeds those who watch some games on broadcast or cable.”
Cord Cutters News reports: “Paramount Global and Skydance Media are racing to finalize their $8 billion merger by the end of this month, with both companies expressing optimism about closing the deal as scheduled on March 20, as announced in a court hearing this week.”
VGC reports: “The Danish toymaking giant has lent its name to decades of video game products, but the vast majority of these have been developed in collaboration with third-party studios and not by Lego itself. Now, the firm behind the globally successful building kits has said it wants to start to bring video game development in-house, though it’s unclear if this spells the end of Lego’s collaborative efforts with other game makers.”
GamesBeat reports: “Tilting Point has launched a new $150 million user acquisition (UA) fund to help developers scale their games and apps. This marks the publisher’s third time deploying a multimillion-dollar fund, following its initial endeavors in 2016 ($12 million) and 2018 (up to $130 million).”
Engadget reports: “Sony has used AI to imbue a PlayStation character with the ability to converse with a player, The Verge reports. A source shared a since-deleted video with the publication featuring an AI-powered version of Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West. Engadget viewed the video before it was pulled.”
