144-145-146 Video Games_muk.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 18/09/2018 08:42 Page 146
SOTN: GAMING
Inset: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will have a Battle Royale mode.
More Battle Royale games to come? The incredible success of Fortnite has propelled the Battle Royale genre into the spotlight. Battle Royale games blend the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game with last-man-standing gameplay. At E3 2018 (gaming’s biggest show in Los Angeles in June) Activision, publisher of Call of Duty announced it would include a Battle Royale mode in its new Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 out October 2018. EA’s new Battlefield V also has a Battle Royale mode. Su-Yina Farmer, co-founder of Bits + Pixels, a specialist gaming licensing agency and lifelong gamer, commented on the growth of the Battle Royale format: “I’ve seen how every now and then, a game like Fortnite comes around and places gaming in the spotlight. The Battle Royale gameplay mode of which Fortnite adopts is certainly current zeitgeist and the game incorporates internet memes and trends to maintain relevance in this age of social media sharing. But its popularity brings to the forefront again, perhaps as a shock to non-gamers, just how massive gaming really is.”
Spyro the Dragon to our licence library, two of the most popular games in the 1990's alongside our other iconic nostalgic titles such as Mario and Zelda is excellent news for us.” Although not a retro game as such, Studio MDHR’s award-winning game Cuphead is inspired by the style of animation used in cartoons of the 1930s, so has a vintage-feel about it. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One in September 2017 and has sold over three million copies so far. Representing the property in the US, King Features unveiled the first international deals over summer, brokered by Allsorts Licensing in the UK. Launching later this year, Insert Coin Clothing, Trademark Products, and GB Eye will debut Cuphead apparel, accessories, prints, and collectables for European
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Bottom: Cuphead has a vintage-feel to it and is quickly making a name for itself with fans around the world.
fans. “With new content coming in 2019, demand for Cuphead continues to explode, as the property has become a true international sensation. We are excited to bring fans around the world new ways to showcase their love for Cuphead and Mugman,” says John McInnerny, md of Allsorts Licensing. There’s one trend in gaming that can’t be ignored, and that is the growth of eSports. eSports revenue has drastically increased since 2012, moving from US$130 million to US$655 million in 2017. But it hasn’t stopped growing, with estimates of revenue growing to a whopping US$1.65 billion by the end of 2021. The rise of eSports as a truly global spectator sport has been phenomenal and since 2000, ESL has been at the forefront. Tinderbox, the digital division of Beanstalk has signed a deal with eSports company, ESL to bring eSports consumer products to fans at retail worldwide. “ESL is synonymous with eSports, being the largest eSports company in the world and who are dedicated to truly bringing competitive videogame action to a global audience,” says Dan Amos, head of Tinderbox. “It is by working with the most established game franchises that ESL can bring live and streamed events under the ESL banner to the world. More than 400 million people worldwide view eSports tournaments and ESL owns the largest portion of this viewer base of any eSports organisation.”