Facebook’s F8 Conference Starts With Announcements Aimed At Uniting Users

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Facebook has already had a pretty wild month, with the introduction of initiatives that will help marketers utilize the site and its many features to their advantage. The company continued its stride at the start of the developer-oriented F8 conference today, with announcements that will help shape the future of Facebook as we know it.

Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg took the stage to kick off the event, explaining the focus of keeping people connected around the world. “As I look around and I travel around the world, I’m starting to see people and nations turning inward, against this idea of a connected world and a global community,” he stated. “I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as others. For blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, reducing trade, and in some cases, around the world even cutting access to the Internet.”

But he remained hopeful. “It takes courage to choose hope over fear. People will always call you naïve but it’s this hope and this optimism that’s behind every important step forward.”

With that, Zuckerberg introduced a new bot platform for Messenger, enabling developers to create them inside the messaging service for new functionality. With assistance from its partners at Baidu, this serivce includes an API to help build not only bots, but also chat widgets that will be accessible to media types that will enhance messages to subscribers with news and other information.

Zuckerberg went on to explain how Facebook Messenger, alongside WhatsApp, has managed to generate 60 billion messages per day, which is three times the normal amount for SMS. He noted how the Messenger service now has over 900 million monthly users, which makes the aforementioned announcement about chat bots very exciting for particular marketers.

Facebook also turned a spotlight on the Save function, which enables users to reserve content for later viewing. Even though it’s “buried” under a mountain of new content, 250 million people still take advantage of the feature. That was more than enough to prompt the company to introduce a specific button for it, which now lets publishers add the button to standard article templates. Once they see something they like, users can save the content right into their Facebook queue. The company expects to introduce it on Product Hunt and Overstock once it’s ready for launch.

Live video was a huge part of its opening keynote, and now any camera can stream onto Facebook Live, even a DJI Drone, which was brought out onto the stage. With this feature, developers can incorporate Facebook video into their programs and applications, allowing for better interaction with audiences. The tweet below from Niv Dror shows the camera drone in action, as Mark gives it a little wave.

The company also made a push for 360-degree video during the presentation by introducing a new high-end video capture system called the Facebook Surround 360. It features a 17-camera array and accompanying web-based software, which enables the ability to capture 360-degree video in real-time. Unfortunately, the UFO-shaped device isn’t ready for mass market yet, as it’s still in the prototype phase.

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Facebook chief product officer, Chris Cox, announced better video integration with a new feature that will enable users to replace static profile photos with a seven-second video, with support from Vine, Instagram’s Boomerang service and Facebook’s MSQRD. With it, users simply need to press a button and let videos get captured directly to their page, in place of the usual profile image.

“If you’re building a selfie cam app…you can plug this in seamlessly to Facebook,” explained Cox.

The tool, labeled a “profile expression kit,” will be made available to developers so they can integrate the tool better into their camera apps. A launch date hasn’t been given yet, but it shouldn’t be too far off.

Zuckerberg also talked about the possibilities of virtual and augmented reality, which is where he’d like the company to move towards in five years. “Virtual reality has the potential to be the most social platform, because you actually feel like you’re right there with another person,” he explained.

“Over the next 10 years, the form factor’s just going to keep on getting smaller and smaller, and eventually we’re going to have what looks like normal-looking glasses that can do both virtual and augmented reality. And augmented reality gives you the ability to see the world but also to be able to overlay digital objects on top of that.

“So that means that today, if I want to show my friends a photo, I pull out my phone and I have a small version of the photo. In the future, you’ll be able to snap your fingers and pull out a photo and make it as big as you want, and with your AR glasses you’ll be able to show it to people and they’ll be able to see it.

“As a matter of fact, when we get to this world, a lot of things that we think about as physical objects today, like a TV for displaying an image, will actually just be $1 apps in an AR app store. So it’s going to take a long time to make this work. But this is the vision, and this is what we’re trying to get to over the next 10 years.”

There’s a lot of ground being covered here, from the expansion of 360-degree video to augmented reality to more convenient features for marketers and companies to take advantage of on the social front. It’s certainly a lot to take in — but it shows how incredibly serious Facebook is when it comes to not only making things convenient for its partners, but also its users.

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How Technology And Entertainment Collide At The Tribeca Film Festival

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The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off tomorrow in New York City, and this year promises to showcase an incredible collection of independent films, red carpet premieres, and other entertainment. However, one exhibition that is almost certain to steal the show will be the Experimental Storytelling showcase, which will include a Virtual Arcade in addition to exhibits like the fourth annual Storyscapes, and both will heavily feature VR. In keeping with the theme of entertainment and technology, USA Network is bringing the underground hacking conference, DEF CON, back to the Tribeca Film Festival in an event called, “Hacked by DEF CON and Mr. Robot,” which is bound to go far in promoting the TV show.

Loren Hammonds, programmer and live events producer at Tribeca Film Festival, speaks to [a]listdaily about the Experimental Storytelling showcase and how virtual reality might impact the future of entertainment.

Loren HammondsWhat is the virtual reality showcase all about and how did it become part of the Tribeca Film Festival?

We’ve been supporting creators of virtual reality through our Tribeca Film Institute initiatives since 2011. We first presented VR as an official part of the festival in 2012. As our Storyscapes platform gained recognition and more creators began to work in VR, it became apparent that this would be a logical extension of Tribeca’s mission to celebrate storytelling in all of its forms.

There is virtual reality work that can be experienced every day at the Festival Hub at Spring Studios—in Storyscapes, presented by AT&T (April 14-17) and the Virtual Arcade, presented by AT&T (April 18-23) as well as at TFI Interactive, an all-day immersive event (April 16).

What are some of the big exhibits attendees can look forward to?

We’re so excited by our programming this year. We’ve got some exceptional mobile pieces, like INVASION! from Baobab Studios. It’s a fun project from the creator of Madagascar, which we think will be a highlight. This will also be the first opportunity for a lot of our audience to experience tethered VR. One project that I’m sure people will be talking about is Penrose Studios’ Allumette, a beautiful piece based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl. They have truly created a world to explore with this piece, and it’s remarkable.

How do exhibits like the Virtual Arcade and programs like Hacked by DEF CON and Mr. Robot fit into how the Tribeca Film Festival has grown and evolved over the years?

The Virtual Arcade is a perfectly natural evolution of our Festival, as is Hacked. We’re focusing on the collision of technology and storytelling. The team behind Mr. Robot wants to support our partners at DEF CON to reveal the reality of the hacking that’s portrayed in their show. With the Virtual Arcade, we’re seeing many different types of creators using a new medium to tell stories in both narrative and documentary. It’s very exciting as the platform evolves.

What kind of impact is virtual reality technology making on entertainment?

It’s allowing some traditional filmmakers a brand new way to share their stories. It’s also empowering an entirely new group of creators to build the language of VR for audiences.

How long do you think it will be before virtual and augmented reality technology becomes more widely used?

Not long at all. Headsets are now readily available to consumers, and the early adopters are making way for a wider audience. There will still need to be a great deal of content created to truly make a giant dent in the public consciousness, but I believe it’s coming soon.

Virtual reality can sometimes blur the lines between cinema and video games. Do you think there will be even less of a distinction in the future?

It depends. Some people are using VR in a fashion that could be considered gaming due to the interactivity. That may increase, but I think there will be many different styles that emerge from VR advancements in the coming years. We’re already seeing fully immersive environments that could be considered interactive, with no nod to gaming at all.

SteelSeries’ New Strategy Brings Fans Into the Life Of ESports Players

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SteelSeries, the popular manufacturer of video game peripherals, is an active member of the competitive video game community; designing products with the feedback of professional eSports players, partnering with teams and even signing their own. It came as no surprise, then, that SteelSeries would partner with Virtus Pro, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) team out of Russia—but with the announcement came another—a new brand engagement strategy.

“Starting with the MLG CS:GO Major this week, our relationship goes far beyond using our products and wearing our logo,” Zach Hill, SteelSeries’ head of marketing stated in the press release. “We’re working together to develop unique high-performance products, and giving our fans a new level of exposure to the lives [of] eSports athletes.”

Virtus Pro player, "TaZ" evaulates SteelSeries mice in 2008.
Virtus Pro player, “TaZ” evaulates SteelSeries mice in 2008.

Travis Hezel, global director of sponsorships elaborates on what that exposure entails. “With Virtus Pro and all of our teams, we try to be their biggest fans,” Hezel told [a]listdaily. “We’ve built a company culture where knowing the basics about CS:GO, Dota 2, etc. is just not enough. We watch streams, talk to players and management on a daily basis, and really look to help the franchises we work with better connect to their fans. So yes, they represent SteelSeries by wearing our logo on their jersey and use our peripherals, but the players are our experts. They are the motivation and heart of our brand – nobody knows what is needed in a gaming peripheral more than these athletes.”

Virtus Pro will continue to help shape the future of SteelSeries products through hands-on testing and evaluation. Hezel explains why this particular team was the perfect choice:

“Having a top tier CS:GO team was a priority for us in 2016. We believe that with all games being equal, [Counter-Strike: Global Offensive] players are the most demanding performance-wise on our products. Some of the athletes on Virtus Pro have had more experience in the design process of gaming peripherals than most franchises (see attached photo of TaZ in 2008). Having their extremely valuable perspective starting at the conceptual level down to mass-production of our next-generation of products will culminate in our customers getting the best possible mouse, keyboard, mousepad or headset we can create.”

Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas, Virtus Pro team captain, whole-heartedly believes in the strategic partnership. “We demand the best possible products while competing, and anything less than excellence isn’t enough by our standards,” TaZ explained in the press release. “With SteelSeries, we have a gear partnership that gives us everything we need to focus on our matches. The opportunity to work with the developers at SteelSeries to create their future devices is one I’m very eager to start.”

“We’re approaching the way we tell our brand and product stories differently in 2016-2017 and not just with Virtus Pro,” Hezel told [a]listdaily. “You will start to see more real and creative ways that we connect the athletes and influencers that we work directly to our customers and fans. It’s much more than wearing our logo and using our products. We’re really excited to be able to show that in the coming months and years.”

How Plays.tv Attracts 10 Million Users a Month On A Shoestring Budget

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Plays.tv, the free video-sharing service for gamers, has garnered over ten million active monthly users in their first year—rivaling the popularity and engagement of photo-sharing site, Instagram.  This growing social platform attracts over four million content creators per month; from high-profile eSports champions to casual gamers playing with friends. The result is a staggering 1.6 billion minutes of gameplay footage recorded—per month.

Proof of concept

Launched in 2015, Plays.tv is owned and operated by Raptr, a PC-gaming service founded by Dennis “Thresh” Fong; recognized as the first professional gamer. One would presume that Raptr’s own community—ten million strong—would account for Plays.tv’s impressive first year, but in a phone interview with [a]listdaily, Fong revealed a surprising revelation. Not only did their small company spend less than $15,000 on marketing the new website, they decided to keep Raptr as separate as possible.

“In the first year, we did a pretty minimal amount of promotion within Raptr for Plays.tv.” Dennis Fong told [a]listdaily. “We’ve been stepping it up probably in the last maybe 30-45 days—but in the first year, one of the things that we really wanted to do was to prove that Plays.tv could be successful as a stand-alone service—that it could have viral and organic growth of its user base and viewership on its own. So actually we really didn’t do any promotion of Plays.tv, especially in the first, probably ten months. I definitely wouldn’t say that Plays.tv is successful because of Raptr, but obviously once we proved that it was a service that gamers loved, then we started promoting it into Raptr.”

Fulfilling a need

Plays.tv is a free service that allows PC video game players to capture and share memorable clips from their own gameplay or others’ on the internet through a Chrome plug-in. The software automatically detects and tags players featured in the clip, as well as other search-worthy criteria like playable characters, type of kill or map. Users on Plays.tv will automatically have these clips added to their profiles for all to see. The video clips, averaging 30 seconds in length, get right to the point for easy consumption. According to Dennis Fong, the site is “really a video storytelling platform that enables gamers to share their stories the way they want.”

Unexpected Applications

“Because we have [automatic player tagging],” Fong added, “A vast majority of eSports pros in League of Legends use Plays.tv.  We don’t sponsor them, but they use it for a reason that we didn’t quite intend, which is to actually analyse their play.”

Unlike other video recording software, each game recorded with Plays.tv is separated by session and automatically highlights play by plays for easy review. Fong adds, “A lot of top teams have told us, ‘this is actually our number one most important coaching and analysis tool.'”

What’s next

The Plays.tv platform has now been launched publicly, extending game share possibilities to developers.  The Game Events API lets any game provide real-time metadata to Plays.tv, enabling automated video highlights for players after every game. The Web API gives developers direct access to Plays.tv’s video library, enabling anyone to embed the videos or create entire applications around Plays.tv videos, with options to pull feeds filtered by game, characters, hashtags, usernames, and more.

While PC gamers take advantage of this thriving online community, console gamers will have to wait. “We’re pretty much squarely focused on PC at this time,” Fong explained, “I don’t see us moving toward consoles in the near future.”

‘KOI’ To Be First Chinese-Developed PS4 Title For Western Territories

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A brightly-colored little fish is about to swim the divide between Eastern and Western video game markets. KOI, an exploration puzzle game developed by Dotoyou and published by Oasis Games Ltd, will be the first-ever Chinese developed title to be published on PlayStation 4 for Western territories. The Chinese gaming market focuses primarily on PC and mobile platforms due to a nationwide ban on video game consoles that was finally lifted in 2014—but strict censorship is still in effect. Heavy restrictions can either hinder or inspire, and it appears that Dotoyou chose the latter.

Dotoyou is a small, independent game developer in Tianjin, China comprised of 12 members. When he founded the company, CEO Julien Li took a hard look at the trends in his local industry and decided to take a different approach when creating video games.

“In a way we unify the way we make games, actually a very simple rule,” Li explains on the company blog, “every game we develop should be completely different from the previous one. The last couple of years the popularity of mobile games here in China soared, the number of games and apps produced grew explosively. But we found something problematic with this, a lot of developers would base their decision about what kind of game to create on what is popular at a particular moment, or simply on what makes the most money. This seems like a recipe for success, but in reality, huge development teams and smaller ones such as ours, they have to face very different challenges. And so us simply copying them would lead nowhere.”

“So, we took a deep breath and started thinking about the way we wanted to go, creatively,” he continued, “And we came to a simple conclusion: it has to be unique, the game’s design must be unique, the technology behind it special, the gameplay innovative, new. KOI game was created with these ideas always in the back of our minds.”

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Originally released for mobile devices in over 100 countries, KOI has been well-received among audiences—earning a first place award for the Modian Web PlayStation Developer Competition. By becoming the first partner of Sony Computer Entertainment Shanghai, Dotoyou is taking that first leap into the world of PlayStation 4—debuting their game at the 2016 Game Developers Conference (GDC) and making it available for purchase next week.

Set against a colorful backdrop and soundtrack by Chinese artist, Zeta, KOI challenges players to guide a small fish on a quest to return light to the darkened, polluted waters. The most striking feature of this game is perhaps, the visuals. “I have a background on advertisement and a strong connection towards the camera,” explained DAQ, Dotoyou’s lead designer on the game’s blog. “Which helps me create games as a medium for feelings, igniting an emotional reaction in gamers.”

KOI will be available April 19 on PlayStation 4 for $9.99 and $7.99 exclusively for PlayStation Plus members via the PlayStation Store.

How ESports Drives Twitch Viewing

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Livestreaming games has gone from an odd curiosity to a major driving force in the game industry, propelling eSports and games alike to new heights. The initial driver of this technology was a minor offshoot of Justin.tv called Twitch, created in 2011, which focused on games so that the main Justin.tv site wouldn’t be overwhelmed by them. This proved to be an excellent idea, as livestreaming games exploded in popularity, leading to Twitch.tv being purchased by Amazon for nearly $1 billion in 2014.

It’s not at all a coincidence that the rise in eSports has happened along with the massive growth of livestreaming. The two have had a synergy, where rising interest in eSports propels viewing of livestreaming, and then the growth in livestreaming attracts more viewers to eSports. Market research and eSports analyst firm Newzoo has been following this closely, and new information from Newzoo shows clearly the relationship between Twitch and eSports. Of course, while Twitch is the object of this particular study, other livestreams and videos found on YouTube Gaming, Hitbox, and Azubu are also deeply intertwined with eSports.

Marketers are following this with a keen eye for a couple of reasons. First, the large and fast-growing eSports demographic is a prime one for many brand marketers, which is why you’re seeing national and international brands like Coca-Cola sponsoring eSports events. Second, game streams and videos are an important part of the marketing for all kinds of games, not just those that are eSports. When tens of millions of people regularly tune in to watch one person talk about games, this is something any game marketer needs to follow closely.

“According to the Newzoo Twitch Tracker, 21.3 percent of all hours watched on Twitch from July to December 2015 was eSports content,” noted Newzoo in a blog post. “This sums up to 475.5 million hours of eSports content watched across all eSports franchises, an average of over 79 million hours a month.” That’s a stunning amount of viewership, but it’s important to understand how that breaks down among the various eSports titles. “An analysis of viewing hours per franchise reveals that the share of eSports content compared to game content streamed by consumers varies widely from 12.7 percent for Hearthstone to 51.9 percent for DotA 2,” the post continued.

The game most closely associated with streaming and eSports are the multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) such as League of Legends, DotA 2 and Heroes of the Storm. “MOBA’s account for 58 percent of the total eSports hours watched on Twitch, of which most hours come from Riot’s League of Legends and Valve’s DotA 2,” stated Newzoo. That correlates well with the popularity of those games in terms of revenue, where Riot Games is estimated to have pulled in more than $1.6 billion in 2015 from League of Legends.

While MOBAs have proven to be immensely popular over the last few years, the first-person shooter (FPS) genre of game has been a favorite for decades. The fast action of a typical FPS also proves to be quite popular with streamers. When you add FPS games to the 58 percent of Twitch eSports viewing, the two genres between them account for some 85 percent of the total eSports viewing on Twitch. Combined, the two genres were responsible for 406.7 million hours of eSports viewing in the second half of 2015.

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That’s not to say that other genres were unpopular. “10 percent of hours watched went to streams in the strategy genre,” Newzoo pointed out. “These streams include Age of Empire II: The Conquerors, and the big players, StarCraft II and Hearthstone. Consumers watched a combined 47.3 million hours of Strategy eSports content in the last six months of 2015.” As publishers look to make more games into eSports in a variety of genres, the viewing time should begin to even out between game genres.

The balance between consumer and eSports content is revelatory. “Compared to the consumer content, DotA 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and StarCraft II generate a lot of eSports hours,” noted Newzoo. “More than half of the total DotA 2 hours watched is eSports content. These three games have a dedicated eSports community, whereas the League of Legends and Hearthstone communities have a relatively larger group of non-eSports viewers. This is reflected in the contrast between Hearthstone and StarCraft II. Just 13 percent of the total hours of Hearthstone is eSport centered, compared to the 47 percent of the total StarCraft II hours. In absolute terms, with 29.7 million hours watched, Hearthstone still triumphs the 17.5 million hours of StarCraft II because of the larger consumer inflow.”

The message for marketers is that not only does the eSports potential vary for different games, but so does the eSports appeal. Some games are just naturally suited to competitive play at a high level, while some are enjoyed by a broad audience with less regard for the high-level competitive play. It’s important to realize, that key competitive events can pull people away from watching consumer-level play—or even from playing the game themselves.

Newzoo_Esports_Engagement_on_Twitch_per_Franchise

“While large eSports events drive high traffic on Twitch, they also take eyeballs away from the regular consumer generated content,” Newzoo pointed out. “The graph below shows the hours watched for League of Legends on the three Saturdays preceding the NALCS 2016 Spring Split and the first three Saturdays of the new season. During the first three days of the season, consumer generated content viewership hours of League of Legends were down 44 percent compared to the three weeks before the season started.”

Fans want to watch the game played at the highest level in preference to less skilled play. That’s true of eSports fans, but also for players who don’t care much about eSports. Watching highly-skilled players in action provides a valuable tutorial on what you can do to improve your own play. This is true both on the strategic level of figuring out the best champions to play, as well as on the tactical level of movement and positioning choices during the game. This provides an extra dimension to eSports viewing that’s not usually found in regular professional sports viewing. While a few amateur players can get useful info from watching professional play, games are mostly watched for the sheer fun of it.

Newzoo_Twitch_Hours_Around_NALCS_2016

These observations about Twitch, eSports and game streams lead to some important ideas for marketers. For one thing, if you’re looking to eSports for brand marketing, don’t neglect the role of the casual player who is not an eSports fan. You’ll manage to pull in a lot of views from the broader audience, not just the eSports enthusiasts. That makes a difference when you’re crafting your marketing message. Also, for games marketers, you can see the beneficial effect a successful eSport has on driving engagement with your game. It’s a continuum of interest, and marketing efforts should be taking place all along the spectrum.

Wargaming CEO Believes ESports Is Following Soccer’s Path To Global Popularity

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Wargaming didn’t design World of Tanks to be an eSport—that’s something that came over time. In fact, over the past three seasons of professional World of Tanks gameplay, just about everything has been tweaked and tweaked again. The ultimate goal is to make the game fun to watch over livestreams on Twitch and ESL, as well as in person in large sports arenas.

The third annual World of Tanks Grand Finals once again took place in Warsaw, Poland, but the venue has grown in size each time. This year, Torwar Hall sold out close to 8,000 fans, who packed the seats to watch the 12 best teams in the world compete over two days in seven-on-seven combat.

Next year, Wargaming will test 15-on-15 eSports gameplay, which is how gamers normally play. The game was streamlining to seven-on-seven for eSports, but if all goes well at next year’s Grand Finals showcase, the league could open the doors for full-on 15-on-15 year-round competition in 2017.

Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi talked to [a]listdaily about the evolving landscape of eSports, and how the company has continually evolved its game to improve the sports aspect.

victorkislyi2How have you seen World of Tanks expand as an eSport over the last few years?

We just started three years ago. This is our third Grand Finals and obviously, you can see everything is bigger and better than the year before. We have a bigger venue and more people attended. We’ve already seen an obvious increase in viewership online, which is very important, and we did a lot of things to make these things better. We changed the rules of the game. Now, you play on the top-ten-tier tanks, and the games will be getting faster through some tweaking of the rules.

World of Tanks has always been popular in Russia and Eastern Europe, but this year we saw some solid competition from the North American teams. How have you seen North America rise?

As in any sport, you have to train, you have to spend time, and you have to be passionate to be victorious. The best World of Tanks teams included Brazil, two teams from China, and two teams from America. But all of the predictions last year, that NaVi would win, did not come true. That’s why I love sports, and that’s why I love watching the World of Tanks Grand Finals. I don’t know who will win.

How do you look at what’s being done by other popular eSports companies and apply that to what you’re doing with World of Tanks?

I’m very, very happy to see how eSports is rising, not only with World of Tanks, but with other companies. A couple of months ago, I went to Berlin for the final game of League of Legends. Oh, my God. They rented out Mercedes Benz Arena. It was full of people, and millions of people were watching online. It was like the Super Bowl. ESports is a new type of media. It’s democratic, it’s for the people, it’s grassroots, and it’s accessible. Anyone can be a member of an eSports team. Anyone can stand up on the stage and get a portion of the $300,000 prize pool. ESports is moving forward, it’s moving fast, and we are a part of it. That’s why we are very excited.

Since Wargaming doesn’t make money from eSports, what are the benefits from a business perspective in hosting these leagues?

Let’s keep in mind that this is fairly new. If we don’t talk about StarCraft in Korea, which is a very exotic and old thing, eSports has only been around for six years, and many things have not yet been invented. Ourselves, Riot Games, and some other companies—we’re inventing the rules of the game, of this ecosystem, as we speak. So in the next year, there will be something more exciting from us and from Riot Games. And yes, the key word here is ecosystem. We don’t directly monetize admissions. We don’t sell tickets.

In this ecosystem, everybody puts something on the table and everybody gains something. Game developers like ourselves make the game and service the game. These eSports players who are training 24/7 to perform with the best of the best show their skills on the stage. Of course, the viewers who see these matches online learn how to play, and they start having dreams about one day becoming as good as those guys who are on the stage.

How have you seen sponsors connect with your league?

There are sponsors like Intel, Razer, PayPal and SanDisc who are here because they see the potential. They see this young, active audience that plays games, buys computer appliances, buys mobile phones and uses [online] payment methods. This audience has income. So eSports is a new advertising ecosystem.

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How do you work with ESL on this event?

ESL helps us with logistics. There are a lot of logistics in a huge building to make it happen. And most importantly, the whole streaming has to be seamless, so ESL is helping us on that.

How do you see eSports growing over the coming years?

Everybody knows Manchester United or Barcelona (in soccer) and some more people will know eSports clubs like Fnatic and NaVi. ESports clubs are the rising stars of entertainment, and sports in general. We’re following in the steps of European football with FIFA. It’s going to like a little bit of us and ESL together.

World of Warships made its debut at the Grand Finals. What potential do you see for that game as an eSport in the future?

ESports cannot be nominated by decree. I cannot say, ‘Hey, I want World of Warships to be an eSport.’ You have to listen to the players. So that’s why we have the first match between two professional teams on the big screen on the stage, and we’ll see how it goes. We will look at the online viewership. We will analyze it and read the comments. We will see how people react. At the end of the day, this has to be a show, and then we’ll take it from there.

But I’m going to tell you something. We’ve done an interview before on the deck of U.S.S. Iowa. It’s the biggest war machine so far, and they’re dangerously beautiful. They have big guns. and they shoot big rounds. As we say in Russia, ‘A big ship deserves big torpedoes.’ There’s a lot of action in World of Warships. We hope that World of Warships will become an eSport, and we’ll do everything possible for that to happen. But right now there’s no 100 percent guarantee. There’s a lot of work to do.

victorkislyi

Virtual reality was on display at the Grand Finals. What role do you see that technology playing in eSports down the line?

Virtual reality is hot. Everybody has been talking about it since Facebook bought Oculus VR. It’s not yet there in number of installs for it to be viable for the free-to-play games market, but it’s getting there. I’m very happy to see how fast the progress is happening. VR will be in every living room, bedroom, or in every pocket, very soon.

VR won’t necessarily be pushed by gaming in the beginning. I think it’s going to be more travel experiences, like the Grand Canyon or walking through the Louvre while sitting in your living room.

And then gaming will push this forward. Facebook obviously has a plan for that. So when those avenues push virtual reality to become a commodity in your pocket and in your living room, virtual reality games will be ready.

What we are doing right now is closely watching virtual reality, talking to anyone who will send us their dev kits, and doing some experiments. Viewership mode is one of those experiments. You can put on a mobile headset and view the broadcast with a sense of presence. You rotate your head and you’re flying in between fighting tanks. That’s actually very cool.

Plus, Wargaming is also doing some virtual reality experimental projects with 360-degree video. Mostly, it’s tours inside the tank, tours inside the battleship and we are also remaking World War II battles where you are present. There’s one tank battle where you’re on a tank and you see soldiers running alongside of you. You’re there, and you’re present in 3D. Virtual reality is something that you can talk about all you want, but the best thing to do is just put on a headset and see it for yourself.

Whether it’s virtual reality or eSports, you’re able to directly connect with fans. Where does that leave a show like E3 in this day and age?

By definition, E3 is an industry event, which historically was mostly oriented on retail. That’s where developers came with their project to show to publishers, and publishers interacted with distributors and retail chains like GameStop and Walmart. That’s how it was designed. Today, the world of gaming is online, it’s free-to-play, and it’s mobile. [At E3] there’s no retail, and there are no fans. Players are not allowed. It’s only boring people like you and me. So why are we throwing millions of dollars to show off big booths? This does not make our players happy anymore. We’d rather concentrate on what matters for our more than 100 million registered users: making better updates for World of Tanks, coming up with new free-to-play online games, pushing mobile, and pushing virtual reality. Historically, we don’t need any retail at all.

 

‘Kim Kardashian: Hollywood’ Adds Magically Inspired Fashion From ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’

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With millions of players worldwide, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is perhaps Glu Mobile’s most successful game to date. In it, players take the role of a Hollywood up-and-comer who rises in popularity with Kim as a mentor. The free-to-play mobile game recently got a huge magical upgrade in a cross-promotion with the upcoming movie, The Huntsman: Winter’s War. The film is a prequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, and involves a conflict between Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and her sister Freya (Emily Blunt), who both wield powerful magic as they battle for control of the land.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood players will be able to capture some of the magic for themselves with all-new fashion and accessories inspired by the movie, including a mirrored crown. Furthermore, players can embark on a quest to attend a VIP screening of the movie.

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[a]listdaily speaks to Niccolo de Masi, Glu’s chairman and CEO, to talk about how the cross-promotion and how Hollywood fashion brings extra power to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

How did the cross promotion between The Huntsman: Winter’s War and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood come together?

Glu has close ties in Hollywood. Kim is a fan of movies and The Huntsman: Winter’s War is critically acclaimed and projected to be one of the biggest films of the year! That caliber of success made it a natural fit for a partnership within Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

What makes Winter’s War the ideal inspiration for Kim Kardashian: Hollywood content?

The ornate costumes and accessories featured in the film make The Huntsman: Winter’s War a great integration for Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The game’s audience is well-versed in the latest entertainment and pop culture news. Fashion is a big part of the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood experience. Players can personally style the virtual Winter’s War clothing items as they like, allowing for user engagement with the film at a deep level.

In what ways does Winter’s War content enhance the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood experience?

In addition to costumes and accessories from the film incorporated into the game, players are given the opportunity to attend the VIP premiere of the film via a quest within the game. This kind of content integration amplifies the player experience by merging the real-world desire to attend an event like this with the digital world of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

Can we expect more movie crossovers like this with Universal Studios in the future?

There is nothing new announced in regards to additional film integrations in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. We’re focused on the success of this partnership with Universal Studios, The Huntsman: Winter’s War film. We’ve received a positive response from players thus far. They’re enjoying the interaction with the content, which is building a tremendous amount of excitement for the film which debuts in theaters April 22nd.

Warner Bros. And MTV Movie Awards Team Up For Big Reveals

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Yesterday evening, MTV aired its annual Movie Awards show, featuring hosts Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and comedian Kevin Hart as they performed skits and handed out awards to actors and filmmakers alike. The show was a big hit on social media, but not just because of the awards content.

The event served as an ideal venue for Warner Bros. to debut two new trailers for its upcoming film slate, including the latest in its line of DC Comics-licensed films and a spin-off from the Harry Potter franchise.

The first film trailer, Suicide Squad, is a DC Comics film that follows the recently released Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It focuses on a group of supervillains forced to do good as they are sent in to battle the evil Joker (Jared Leto). The film is written and directed by David Ayer, and features actors Will Smith and Margot Robbie. It’s set to debut in theaters on August 5th.

The film is doing very well on social media, with some people predicting that it’ll do better business than Batman v Superman. That’s a tall order, considering how the superhero throwdown already racked up around $785 million worldwide.

The second film trailer that made its debut during the show is Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, which is a spin-off from the popular Harry Potter franchise. Starring Eddie Redmayne and Colin Ferrell, it focuses on a peculiar writer named Newt Scamander and his magical travels. The film, directed by Potter veteran David Yates, is set to debut in theaters on November 18th.

This fresh take on the Harry Potter franchise takes place about seventy years before the main series, so it doesn’t feature any characters from the original films. Nevertheless, Fantastic Beasts is ready to do big business for Warner Bros., and also has a huge amount of social buzz.

The studio also debuted a behind-the-scenes look at a forthcoming 2017 film, Kong: Skull Island, which features an all-star cast that includes Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and recent Academy Award-winner Brie Larson. The film is set to release on March 10th.

It was a great night for Warner Bros., but it wasn’t the only studio getting into the Movie Awards action. Marvel Studios also found an opportunity to debut a new clip from its upcoming Captain America: Civil War, which hits theaters on May 6th. It, too, has generated a ton of buzz across Twitter and Facebook, with users choosing sides between Iron Man and Captain America.

The Internet Of Things Is Shaking Up Retail

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While having a refrigerator connected to the Internet may have sounded silly once, networked appliances are becoming more of a common idea these days, contributing to the Internet of Things (IoT). These devices utilize tools to perform different tasks, from item management to creating new ways to conduct eCommerce, and they now appear to be picking up quite a bit at retail.

A new eMarketer report titled, The Internet of Retail Things: What Marketers Need to Know, explains how retail is benefitting from IoT using numbers provided by Retail Systems Research. The report shows that 54 percent of retailers with good-level sales growth feel that the Internet of Things could change the way that they’ll be doing business over the next few years.

According to a survey, 42 percent of respondents feel strongly that IoT devices will change the way companies do business, while 38 percent generally agree. Meanwhile, 80 percent (39 percent strongly, 41 percent generally) of companies believe IoT will have a dramatic effect on the market.

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Investments in these devices are being made for a number of reasons, particularly with supply-chain monitoring, inventory management, payment processing and asset tracking, according to the report. Even though adoption hasn’t fully caught on yet, it’s definitely getting there.

Out of all the markets interested in the Internet of Things, retail seems to be the strongest at 56 percent, followed by manufacturing (53 percent), professional services (45 percent) and finance and transportation (43 percent apiece).

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Further information from Juniper Research also indicates that by 2020, retailers will be spending an incredible $2.5 billion on IoT-based hardware, including beacons, RFID tags and other technology. That’s a huge leap from the $670 million reported last year, by almost four times over. Another report from MarketsandMarkets points out that the global market size for IoT will grow from last year’s $14.28 billion to $35.64 billion by 2020.

Familiarity with these devices still has yet to catch on with some manufacturers, but there’s definitely an interest in the IoT market, and it’ll be just a few short years before it really takes off.

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