games

ESports, the fast-growing video games as a spectator, has more fans globally than the NBA or Major League Baseball — but marketers and media companies have yet to fully tap into the sector’s opportunity. Machinima, the YouTube-centric media company catering to gamers and fan culture, has launched an in-house eSports consulting division, MACH-1, to provide proprietary research and analytics, strategic planning and campaign …

A new mobile multiplayer strategy game based on Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” comic series will be marching out next year, with a storyline centered on the rebuilding of human civilization after a zombie apocalypse. “The Walking Dead: March to War” is slated to launch on Apple’s App Store and Google Play set for release in early or mid-2017. The …

LONDON — TV production and distribution powerhouse Endemol Shine Group is pushing further into the gaming world with the launch Thursday of a new games developer and publisher, Good Catch. The wholly owned offshoot is expected to come up with both original and IP-based games to add to a stable that includes “Pointless Quiz,” a trivia app keyed to the …

Microsoft Studios’ “Halo 5: Guardians” sci-fi video game is set to become the basis of a reality-competition eSports series. Microsoft Studios’ 343 Industries, developer of the blockbuster “Halo” first-person shooter series, has struck a deal with TV production company Pilgrim Media Group to develop the show. The partners did not reveal an expected premiere date, nor have they lined up …

Space Ape Games has hit the gas on a novel concept: The U.K. game developer has enlisted more than 20 top YouTube gaming creators to play bad guys in its new mobile game, “Fastlane: Road to Revenge” — banking on the fact that they’ll actively promote the free-to-play title to their millions of viewers. The version of “Fastlane” with the YouTubers as “bosses” is slated …

Netmarble Games, a major mobile-game publisher based in South Korea, has agreed to acquire Kabam’s Vancouver-based studio, the developer of massively multiplayer, free-to-play games including the worldwide hit “Marvel Contest of Champions.” Terms of the the deal, expected to close during the first quarter of 2017, were not disclosed. Kabam had received an unsolicited $800 million offer for its Canadian …

Scopely, the L.A.-based mobile games developer and network whose titles include “The Walking Dead: Road to Survival,” has closed $55 million in Series B financing. The funding, which brings Scopely to about $98.5 million raised to date, was led by Greycroft Growth Fund. “Companies are looking at mobile with the recent success of ‘Pokemon Go,’ and realizing the size of …

“Fear the Walking Dead” fans can now experience first-hand the horror of an L.A. zombie apocalypse with a free mobile game from AMC. The cable network teamed up with video-game publisher Versus Evil for “Fear the Walking Dead: Dead Run,” which launched Sunday on Apple’s App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. AMC premiered season 2 of “Fear the Walking …

The Game Awards 2016, featuring some of the biggest video-game stars and titles, won’t be on TV — unless you hook up your Xbox, PlayStation, Apple TV or Roku to stream the live show. The Dec. 1 kudocast, hosted at the Microsoft Theater in downtown L.A., will be available via free streaming on a variety of platforms including — for the …

Turner and IMG, encouraged by the results of its ELeague competitive-gaming venture so far, have set their next eSports tournament for this spring — featuring 32 players duking it out in Capcom’s “Street Fighter V” hand-to-hand fighting game. The ELeague “Street Fighter V” Invitational will kick off from Turner’s eSports arena in Atlanta with preliminary rounds March 27-30. Those will …