GamesBeat weekly roundup: Pokémon Go launches, and Overwatch teases a new character

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, the anticipated Pokémon Go releases, and it’s already making us late for work. We also talked with Blizzard about Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone.

Happy reading, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: The high tide for powerful storytelling in games
• Chinese gamers are about to embrace the television alongside smartphones and PC
• Pokémon Go made me late for work
• GamesBeat giveaway: Star Trek Online Temporal Agent Starter Packs
• Creators of The Forest Song win a free trip to GamesBeat 2016
• How Doom reveals its secrets like a Frank Frazetta painting

Above: They look rich.

Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

News

• Kerbal Space Program blasts off to PlayStation 4 on July 12
• Adam Boyes, PlayStation third-party boss, is leaving Sony
• AMD launches driver update to fix Radeon RX 480 power-consumption problems
• Tera’s Aces Wild update gives players quality-of-life improvements
• Cunning Stunts boosts Grand Theft Auto Online’s racing on July 12
• Nvidia’s $250 GeForce GTX 1060 is its shot at AMD in the budget video card market
• Gamigo acquires Highdigit GmbH after merging with Aeria Games
• Razer expands pro gaming investment with sponsorship of Denial Esports
• Overwatch’s Twitter teases first new character: a sniper-medic
• Square Enix, Geomerics make Enlighten lighting-tech pact after bright results in FFVII Remake
• Persona 5 gets European distribution help from Saints Row publisher Deep Silver
• The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is getting a Game of the Year edition
• Overwatch head Jeff Kaplan: competitive mode’s ‘leaver’ issue is getting addressed
• Sega buys Amplitude Studios and its hit Endless strategy-game series
• Rockstar’s beloved Red Dead Redemption gets Xbox One backward compatibility
• Nintendo’s Miyamoto wants to make VR safe for kids
• Nintendo and Brexit: Uncertainty awaits NX’s 2017 launch in $3.8B U.K. market

Mobile and social

• Pokémon Go launches in U.S. on iOS and Android
• Pokémon Go servers down for many
• Pokémon Go rockets to the top of the App Store — and it’s already making bank
• NBA Live Mobile is already the top downloaded iOS app hours after launch
• EA launches NBA Live Mobile for iOS and Android
• Pokémon Go is live on iOS and Android — but it’s not available worldwide yet
• Spain’s Digital Legends Entertainment evolves with realistic mobile shooter Afterpulse
• Hothead Games details its 10-year transition from console to mobile and Kill Shot Bravo
• The smart way to approach mobile game influencers

Above: I can hear the narration in my head.

Image Credit: Perfect World

Previews, reviews, and interviews

• Why Amplitude chose Sega’s strategy-studio stable
• John Romero isn’t done with the first-person shooter genre he helped create
• How computing legend David Braben schemed to create Elite: Dangerous and Raspberry Pi
• Why Star Trek Online: Agents of Yesterday went classic — and its plan to bring players back
• Counter-Strike’s co-creator likes keeping out of the limelight
• 16-year-old game maker’s fourth company teaches kids to code
• Hearthstone’s production director on crafting a $1.2 billion market leader
• Eidos founder Ian Livingstone is driving the U.K. to teach games in schools
• Telltale’s Dan Connors never gets tired of a good interactive story
• How Heroes of the Storm plucks new characters from Blizzard’s massive stable
• How Heroes of the Storm’s production director turned a testing gig into a Blizzard career
• We Happy Few’s brainwashed citizens won’t let you escape from their dystopia