games

Facebook will soon let users broadcast live video-game play directly into their News Feeds — forging into an area dominated by Amazon’s Twitch. The social giant inked a pact with Blizzard Entertainment, under which users of Blizzard’s PC games such as “World of Warcraft,” “Heroes of the Storm,” “Hearthstone,” “Diablo III,” “StarCraft II” and “Overwatch” will be able to log in using …

The National Basketball Association is taking to the virtual hardwood with NBA 2K eLeague, the first time a U.S. pro sports league will have a stake in an eSports league. The NBA is forming the video-game league in partnership with Take-Two Interactive, the longtime publisher of the “NBA 2K” series, with the first competitions to take place in 2018. In …

Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” will be turned into a horror role-playing video game, under a new project led by the director’s American Zoetrope banner. American Zoetrope has launched a Kickstarter campaign to solicit support and input from gamers and fans of the 1979 Vietnam War classic. But you won’t be able to smell virtual napalm in the morning for a …

Marvel Entertainment characters will be featured in an all-new multiplayer mobile game being developed by FoxNext Games’ recently acquired Aftershock studio. The companies are staying mum on many details of the forthcoming game — including its title, release date and storyline. For now, here’s what Marvel and Fox are saying: It’s going to be an action/role-playing game chock-full of fan-favorite Marvel …

Microsoft’s Xbox division has snapped up Beam Interactive, a startup whose live-streaming service lets users not only watch their favorite gamers but also play along with them. With the deal, Xbox is looking to one-up Twitch, the live game broadcaster Amazon bought in 2014 for a reported $970 million. Beam’s secret sauce is that instead of viewers simply engaging in …

Naturally, there’s a virtual-reality companion for the “Assassin’s Creed” movie starring Michael Fassbender based on Ubisoft’s popular video-game franchise. To promote the action film’s Dec. 21 theatrical release, 20th Century Fox and New Regency are launching a VR experience promising to take viewers deep into the world of the Spanish Inquisition — from the perspective of a member of The Assassins …

“Mean Girls,” Tina Fey’s 2004 comedy cult classic about a nasty high-school clique, is paying new digital dividends for Paramount Pictures more than a decade later. Characters from the movie including Janis, Damian, Gretchen and Karen return to Pocket Gems’ Episode choose-your-own-adventure story game with “Mean Girls: Sorority Rush,” in which players navigate freshman year at college — the “University of …

TBS will broadcast the first-ever “Injustice 2” eSports global finals this fall, featuring Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman and other characters from the DC universe fighting in the arena for glory — and $250,000 in prize money. Turner and IMG’s ELeague joint venture acquired the TV rights to the “Injustice 2” World Championship series under a deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. …

Alcon Entertainment and Finnish mobile game developer and publisher Next Games are partnering on a mobile game for “Blade Runner 2049.” Next Games CEO Teemu Huuhtanen made the announcement Wednesday, the second day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017, also known as E3. The companies did not disclose when the game will be released or a specific title. Alcon is …

Twitch, the Amazon-owned live game-broadcasting service, announced a deal to acquire privately held Curse, a company that provides news, information, guides, in-game chat and voice products, video and databases for some 30 million video-game fans each month. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Curse, based in Huntsville, Ala., had raised $58 million in funding from investors including GGV Capital, Idinvest Partners, Riot Games, …