QUOTE | “What’s too gay for them, what’s too sexual for them?” - Developer Robert Yang talking about his sexual-themed games and how he’s “now the third-most-banned game developer from Twitch.”
Elsewhere in the business of gaming this week...
QUOTE | “I expect a good old slamming from the industry press because of the limitations.” - NPD communications chief David Riley commenting on the research group’s announcement of its digital games tracking service in the US.
QUOTE | “If I did something wrong, I should be paying the consequences. In this case, I don’t think I did anything wrong.” - YouTube star PewDiePie explaining why everyone was wrong to single him out in the FTC settlement with Warner Bros regarding the publisher paying online influencers for positive reviews.
QUOTE | “We’re kinda like a baby Apple.” - Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz talking about how the enigmatic AR company is now in “go mode” and its ability to design everything itself.
STAT | 21 million – The number of active users Pokemon GO had on Monday, which made it the biggest US mobile game ever, according to SuveyMonkey; the game quickly topped Twitter’s daily users and saw more engagement than Facebook.
QUOTE | “Great, now I have to change my slides saying ‘AR overtakes VR usage by 2021' and replace that with ‘2016' and hope nobody remembers.” - Former Epic Games executive Mike Capps reacting to the incredible popularity of Pokemon GO, which has helped push AR technology awareness in the mainstream.
QUOTE | “I think broadcasting is a real opportunity to broaden and expand the world of our games.” - Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi talking about his aim to connect with gamers through online streaming and broadcasting.
STAT | $1.1 billion – The dual IPO on the Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges for Line, making it the biggest tech IPO of 2016; Line operates not only games, but deals with messaging, streaming music and comics in Japan.
QUOTE | “We wanted to build a company making experimental games but in a sustainable way, not necessarily focused 100% on profitability.” - Funomena founder Robin Hunicke talking about her aspirations for game design at her indie studio.
QUOTE | “With CryEngine 5, we decided that the time to go big is now, with basically free access and you pay what you want as a user.” - Avni Yerli, Crytek’s managing director, discussing his company’s important pivot in the engine business as competitors like Unreal and Unity have evolved their business models in recent years.