Weekly Big News Collection

1.Super Nintendo World will be open on February 4th, 2021

Nintendo has announced that its first theme park area will belatedly open at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka next spring. Super Nintendo World was originally planned to open before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but the date was pushed back along with the Games themselves due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now Universal Studios Japan has announced an opening date for its long-awaited Nintendo-themed area. The Super Nintendo Land zone will open at the Osaka theme park on February 4th, 2021.

USJ and Nintendo have also provided details on what is sure to be one of the park’s flagship attractions: a Mario Kart-themed rollercoaster. It’s housed inside a reconstructed Bowser’s castle and makes use of AR and projection mapping technology, with riders donning AR headsets shaped like Mario’s cap.

2.A new batch of imported game ISBN has been approved

The National Press and Publication Administration announced the approval of a new batch of imported game ISBN. There are 42 games this time. Among them, Tencent’s “Roblox” and Thunder Network’s “The Enchanted Cave 2” are both passed at the same time.

Until now, a total of 98 imported games have been released this year, divided into four batches (only one was released on November 5). Among them, there are 71 mobile games, 13 PC games, 7 Nintendo Switch games, 3 mobile/PC games, and 5 PS4 games and Xbox games get licensed.

3. Supercell cancelled “Hay Day Pop”

Supercell has cancelled the development of its previously soft-launched match-three puzzler Hay Day Pop.

The studio confirmed the decision in a blog post, where the team cited that the game did “not meet the standards” that the company holds for itself, and therefore will not be continuing.

Hay Day Pop was soft-launched in Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, France, India, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. So far, the game has generated 360,000 downloads and accumulated $990,000 in revenue (via Sensor Tower).

4. Genshin Impact won iphone and Android games

Google named Genshin Impact as Android’s Best Game of 2020 for “exceed[ing] expectations and deliver[ing] compelling, accessible, genre-defining experiences.”

One day later, Apple named the App Store’s best games and apps of 2020, and Genshin Impact is the winner of the iPhone Game of the Year award. The game had a $100 million budget and it enabled Chinese game studio MiHoYo to become recognized on a global stage — and reap an estimated $250 million in revenues in its first month.

But Apple’s team of editors chose the game as its winner because it fit within the theme of “helpfulness.” In this case, it was one of those game worlds that could take our minds off the pandemic. All told, Apple honored 15 apps and games in different categories. Wakeout! from Andres Canella won the iPhone App of the Year and Zoom won the iPad App of the Year.

5. Tencent invested HeyBox Company

Qingfeng (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Beijing in March 2015. The company has always been committed to providing players with better experience and services. HeyBox is a mobile app that is customized for Steam gamers and integrates news information, game database, player community, and record query. The company’s other businesses also include Dotamax website, Max+, small black box accelerator and other products.

6. Microsoft has expressed the future focus on game

Multiple Microsoft execs discuss with shareholders the company’s future endeavors when it comes to the plans for the videogame industry.

Microsoft has been working diligently to ensure that the Xbox Series X reaches its audience’s standards for a next-generation console. The company has already released a new Xbox Seris X update to improve the user interface, adding dynamic themes and allowing its users to pre-load Game Pass games onto the console.

During an annual shareholders meeting for Microsoft, multiple executives commented on the company’s strategy for reaching the 3 billion gamers in the world, and how it sets itself apart from PlayStation. Arguments made by Microsoft execs centered around Microsoft’s efforts towards console accessibility and financial results for the current year.

7. “2020-2021 Mobile Game IP Market Development Report”

Recently, Gamma Data released the “2020-2021 Mobile Game IP Market Development Report”. The data shows that in 2020, the revenue of IP-adapted mobile games exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, and the core users exceeded 150 million.

In 2020, a number of IP-adapted mobile games developed by Chinese companies, including “Peacekeeper Elite” and “Call of Duty Mobile”, have earned more than 1 billion yuan in revenue overseas. IP products have become an important layout for Chinese game companies to expand the global market.

8. App Store Small Business Program enrellment begins

As detailed in a site update, starting last Friday, publishers and developers can register their interest.

Furthermore, if a company is enrolled by December 18th, and are accepted, it will be granted programme benefits by January 1st, 2021.

The new initiative was first announced last month, as the iOS creator wished to aid smaller businesses on the App Store.

Both new and existing developers can qualify, so long as they have generated less than $1 million so far this year. Furthermore, if an enrolled company goes on to surpass the monetary threshold, the standard 30 per cent commission will be reinstated.

9.NetEase and ArtPlay jointly developed the mobile version of “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” officially launched at a price of .

“Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” is a Metroidvania video game developed by ArtPlay and published by 505 Games. The game’s development was led by former Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, and is considered a spiritual successor to the series. Also the game is the second in the Bloodstained series.

Also it is a one-time buyout game that supports multiple languages.

10.Omdia: Consumer will spend $3.2bn on VR devices this year

That’s according to research firm Omdia, which also believes that people will spent $3.2bn on the segment this year. Of that figure, $1.1m will be splashed on content. The company reports that by 2025, this figure is going to rise just under fourfold to $4bn, with 90 per cent of this figure coming from the games space.

In 2025, Omdia says that hardware and software spend combined will be in the region of $10bn, around three times 2020.

By this point, there will be 45m VR headsets “actively” being used by consumers. In 2020, 3.3m standalone headsets are going to be sold, outstripping the number of smartphone and tethered hardware for the first time. In total, Omdia reckons that 6.4m headsets will be sold this year.