Global Video Game Revenue Expected to Jump 20% This Year to $175 Billion

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.A Kirkcudbrightshire chemist’s son who went on to become President of Ghana has died in hospital in Accra, the country’s capital, aged 73.Jerry John (JJ) Rawlings is reported to have contracted Covid-19 after attending his mother’s funeral in the city.He was the son of James Ramsay John, a pharmacist from Castle Douglas who spent almost 30 years in the country.James became head of Kingsway Chemists, now part

HBO has ordered a brand new series based on The Last of Us video game.

Peter White Television EditorHBO has given a series order to The Last of Us, the adaptation of the Playstation video game, from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, video game creator Neil Druckmann and Game of Thrones exec producer Carolyn Strauss.The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television in association with PlayStation Productions, Word Games, and Naughty Dog.

Keanu Reeves’ next project will be seen onscreen, but it’s not a movie or TV series.

Hitman.” IO Interactive will use its proprietary game design software, Glacier (which it used to make the “Hitman” series) to develop the upcoming Bond game.IO Interactive announced the project in a teaser trailer today, but the upcoming game doesn’t have a release date yet.A free mobile title called “007: World of Espionage” was released by developer Glu in 2015, but there hasn’t been a major PC and console James Bond game since the last James Bond-inspired video game for console and PC, “007

Kotaku explained that “Unkore” is a portmanteau for unko, meaning “poop,” and kore, or “collection.”Developed as part of a public-health campaign in Japan, where colorectal cancer is on the rise, the free game is set in the fictional kingdom of Untopia, which players must defend with the help of anthropomorphic intestinal bacteria.The cheeky app also encourages users to log details of their own bowel movements, such as color, shape and frequency — with the hope they receive a clean bill of

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCaptify, a specialist in consumer search data, named Brendan Condon, a former senior executive for the ad-sales unit of Comcast’s cable division, as its global chief revenue officer, a sign that the company sees opportunity as the media industry starts to focus more heavily on how consumers utilize video delivered by broadband.Condon is charged with driving new growth opportunities for Captify, which delivers real-time consumer insights based on data from

LONDON -- A study by Oxford University researchers on how playing video games affects mental health used data from video game makers, marking what the authors say is a rare collaboration between academics and the game industry.Lack of transparency from game makers has long been an issue for scientists hoping to better understand player behaviors.The paper released Monday by the Oxford Internet Institute comes as video game sales this year have boomed as more people are stuck at home because of

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorLike much of the world, I was thrilled to hear on Monday that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was proving to be effective and could end up being available before the end of the year.Sure, it seemed hopeful that there might eventually be an end to the pandemic in sight.

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media AnalystElectronic Arts is world-renowned for huge video game franchises like “Madden NFL” and “Apex Legends,” but a division within the company is devoted to making something it’s not as well known for: TV shows.EA’s competitive gaming entertainment unit not only oversees the esports extensions of its best-selling games, but a completely different kind of entertainment more akin to “Project Runway” than the “League of Legends” World

A 44-year-old man has been arrested in Oregon in the cold case murder of a young woman in Arkansas 16 years ago. William Miller was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with killing 22-year-old college student Rebekah Christian Gould in 2004 in Guion, a small town on the White River in Izard County, police said.They announced the arrest Monday.

A trio of investing veterans have teamed up to launch a new fund dedicated to backing video game businesses. Griffin Gaming Partners has assembled a $235 million fund to invest in startup game studios, up-and-coming platforms and infrastructure companies that form the backbone of the gaming industry.

EA Sports has announced that it is extending its video game partnership with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organisation UFC for another decade.The companies announced the renewal of their partnership on Thursday, November 6, through a press release.