GamesBeat weekly roundup: Oculus owes ZeniMax $500 million, and Fire Emblem’s mobile debut

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup. This time, BioWare is working on a new franchise, the game industry speaks out against Trump, and we play the anticipated role-playing game Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: Announcing GamesBeat Summit 2017: How games, sci-fi, and tech create real-world magic
• The art of Fallout 4 gets its own print collection
• Fire Emblem 101: How Nintendo’s strategy franchise became a flagship series before mobile
• Cover your PlayStation 4 Pro in this real wood paneling, because you’re classy as hell
• How should Overwatch evolve in 2017? GamesBeat Decides
• Watch how Nintendo, Sony, and Sega opened up the first E3 in 1995
• Gaming-as-a-Service doesn’t have to mean more crunch time

Above: Morrowind in The Elder Scrolls Online.

Image Credit: Bethesda

News

• Devolver Digital will bring in games to GDC from devs who face Trump U.S. travel ban
• Hearthstone boss: Balance changes could be coming
• Indie platformer Little Bug reaches funding goal on Fig
• Small mistakes led to a $500 million verdict against Oculus
• Oculus’ John Carmack vents about $500 million ZeniMax jury verdict
• PlayStation Network is down for some on PS4
• Galactic Civilizations III’s next expansion is a Crusade
• Rocket League becomes real with new toy line
• Born from games, Skylanders Academy TV show gets extended for 3rd season on Netflix
• Sony posts healthy growth in PlayStation 4 sales for holiday quarter
• Blizzard Entertainment CEO weighs in as critic of Trump’s Muslim ban
• London’s Hutch raises $5.5 million for free-to-play racing games
• ZeniMax v. Oculus: Jury orders Facebook’s VR company to pay $500 million because Palmer Luckey broke his NDA
• Nintendo Switch’s online service could cost $30 a year or less
• GameStop is getting more PlayStation VR bundles
• Crytek cuts 15 more jobs from the publishing team at its Frankfurt office
• Activision Blizzard dives into consumer products division with ex-Mattel hire
• Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax acquires Doom co-developer Escalation Studios
• Nintendo will air its first-ever Super Bowl ad to support the launch of the Switch console
• Magic: The Gathering expands its Twitch presence to 36 Pro Tour and other events in 2017
• Kickstarter acquires video-streaming community platform Huzza, opens first office outside the U.S.
• Nintendo President spells out how Pokémon generated big financial results
• Nintendo still aims to ship 2 million Switch consoles by March
• Performance enhancers: Madden NFL 18 will run on Battlefield’s Frostbite graphics engine
• EA CEO unveils new BioWare game, Star Wars: Battlefront, Need for Speed, and more for coming year
• EA: Titanfall 2 didn’t meet sales expectations
• AMD CEO says Zen and Vega products are on track for big 2017 launches
• EA: ‘FIFA 17 was the best-selling console title in the world in 2016’
• AMD slightly beats earnings targets as revenue hits $1.1 billion in Q4
• Battlefield 1 helps EA beat quarterly earnings targets
• For Honor is having an open beta from February 9 to February 12
• The Elder Scrolls Online will finally visit the lands of Morrowind this June
• Call of Duty’s Sabotage expansion debuts on PlayStation 4 with 4 new maps and zany Zombie episode
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age launches July 11 for PlayStation 4
• Hoplon kicks off open beta for car combat title Heavy Metal Machines
• Nintendo reports big gains from Pokémon games in December results
• Insomniac CEO Ted Price pummels Trump’s Muslim ban in YouTube video
• Almost 10% of Resident Evil 7 users tried the game on PlayStation VR
• Namco founder, pioneer of Japan’s arcade industry, dies at 91
• Game Developers Conference will honor Prince of Persia creator and ex-White House game adviser
• Worms studio Team17 will publish indie sci-fi city builder Aven Colony
• Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin comes to PlayStation VR on February 21
• ESA trade group warns Trump White House that travel ban would disrupt game industry
• Brianna Wu appalled at FBI’s #GamerGate investigative report
• World of Warcraft showcased at Computer History Museum
• Andy Grove’s niece speaks out on behalf of immigrants
• Game developers rally against Trump’s Muslim ban

Above: Fire Emblem: Heroes.

Image Credit: Nintendo

Mobile and social

• Fire Emblem: Heroes launches on iOS and Android as Nintendo unsheathes its free-to-play sword
• How Fire Emblem: Heroes adapted to its new mobile lifestyle
• Lannister Gold: Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead game maker Disruptor Beam raises $8.5 million
• Nexon launches retro arcade mobile game Evil Factory
• Rec Room social VR app creator Against Gravity raises $5 million
• Take-Two buys Spain’s Social Point mobile game studio for at least $250 million
• SuperData: Mobile games hit $40.6 billion in 2016, matching world box office numbers
• 1App put Android in the cloud so you can access apps instantly on any device
• FlowPlay launches Dynasty Football fantasy sports card strategy game
• Sensor Tower: Pokémon Go passes $1 billion in revenue on mobile devices
• Nexon acquires rights for Elsword Mobile game in Japan from China’s Kunlun
• Big online game publishers turn to Playwire to monetize through ads

Previews, reviews, and interviews

• Fire Emblem: Heroes first impressions — a much better adaptation than Super Mario Run
• 1 Hour with Horizon Zero Dawn: A total noob’s perspective
• Punch A Nazi is a game that lets you wail on Richard Spencer, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Adolf Hitler
• Torment: Tides of Numenera is a pimple-poppin’ journey in the belly of a transdimensional beast
• Jagex creates RuneScape audio adventure with Amazon Alexa
• Fire Emblem: Heroes is ready to put Nintendo into the free-to-play spotlight
• Ark: Survival Evolved’s biggest update is like Iron Man vs. dinosaurs
• Doom creator’s 12-year-old son releases first game on Steam: Gunman Taco Truck