GamesBeat weekly roundup: The PlayStation 4 Slim, and Blizzard talks Hearthstone’s future

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we went to the Pokémon World Championships, we reviewed Deux Ex: Mankind Divided, and we look at some impressively powerful gaming laptops.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: What Pokémon Go has done for augmented reality
• 8 GamesBeat University videos that teach you about the game business
• Inspired by Pokémon Go, school teacher’s book hunting game is a hit in Belgium
• Hearthstone’s One Night in Karazhan guide: How to beat The Menagerie
• You’re wrong about Titanfall 2
• Watch us play Overwatch’s new Eichenwalde map
• Super Nintendo turns 25: Why it’s the best game console ever
• Tips and tricks for staying alive in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• How Pokémon Go is boosting the Pokémon World Championships
• How to make money in VR
• The world’s best Pokémon players fight for championship in San Francisco (photo gallery)

Above: The Witness is coming to Xbox One.

Image Credit: Jeffrey Grubb/GamesBeat

News

• VR Studio Squanchtendo comes from a ‘Rick and Morty’ creator and Gears of War dev
• Former HBO Sports president takes over at World Esports Association
• Eleague details Counter-Strike’s second esports season on TBS
• Hearthstone’s third Karazhan adventure wing is live now
• New game studio Good Catch unveils Black & White Bushido
• While Q4 printer outlook is weak, HP says it’s gaining share in PCs
• Rocket League Championship Series is back for season 2
• Halo 5’s Forge creation tool hits Windows 10 next month
• Xbox Live Games With Gold September 2016: Forza Horizon, Mirror’s Edge, and more
• Activision is locked and loaded for its Call of Duty XP fan event
• Sliver.tv raises $6.2 million so you can view League of Legends esports battles in VR
• HTC Vive slightly beats Oculus Rift when it comes to developer loyalty
• Rovio reveals ‘Angry Birds’ movie sequel plans as company posts revenue gains
• After one year, Ark: Survival Evolved developer is expertly navigating Early Access
• Endless Space 2 hits Early Access in September as Sega preserves Amplitude’s design philosophy
• The Witness comes to Xbox One
• PlayStation 3 games come to PC via PS Now streaming service and DualShock 4 adapter
• Eleague, FaceIt announce teams and schedule for $100K Overwatch Open
• Call of Duty 2 gets backward compatibility support for Xbox One
• A look inside Microsoft’s HoloLens holographic headset
• Disbelief LLC is the new name of the studio that helped ship Oculus Dreamdeck
• Xotic’s Drone Z170 PC gaming rig screams with silent speed
• Call of Duty beats Battlefield 1 as the most anticipated new release, according to study
• Gamers spent less on Nintendo’s Amiibo and more on Lego Dimensions in July
• July 2016 NPD: Summer game drought continues to hold back revenues
• Oculus VR fires back at ZeniMax over latest lawsuit allegations
• Sony reportedly has a PlayStation 4 Slim to go along with the more expensive Neo
• PlayStation Plus annual membership now costs $60 a year, not $50
• Divinity: Original Sin II is coming to Steam Early Access on September 15
• Shadow of the Colossus had a bunch of monsters cut from the game
• Netgear launches Orbi Wi-Fi routers to cover your whole home

Above: Zootopia Crime Files: Hidden Object.

Image Credit: Hibernum

Mobile and social

• Wargaming shuts down its WG Cells mobile studio
• Zootopia Crime Files: Hidden Object hops to a strong start on iPad
• Andrew Sheppard appointed CEO of Gree International Entertainment
• You can now play Solitaire and Tic-Tac-Toe in Google’s search results
• Zynga takes virtual farmers into new territory with FarmVille: Tropic Escape
• Futureplay Games raises $2.5 million for ‘view-to-play’ mobile entertainment
• Plarium launches mobile fantasy game Throne: Kingdom at War
• Muhammad Ali is now the star of a match-3 puzzle game
• Pokémon Go is ‘the most successful mobile launch in history,’ SuperData says
• Wands casts a spell as it soars to the top of Samsung Gear VR store
• Lumines: Puzzle & Music launches September 1 on iOS and Android
• Viewers engage with ads in VR much more than in mobile or desktop apps
• Color Switch’s 100 million downloads show indies can still thrive in mobile gaming
• Diving into the Samsung app store: soup, superheroes, and doodling with the devil

Previews, reviews, and interviews

• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 review: insane gaming and VR power in one graphics card
• Endless Legend’s Tempest expansion adds layers of strategy with naval combat
• Nvidia Pascal-powered laptops are blowing my mind
• Humanity tears itself apart in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Blizzard talks crafting Hearthstone’s Karazhan, Purify anger, and Arena’s future