Embattled crypto currency exchange FTX announced Friday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. West Realm Shires Services Inc. (DBA FTX US), Alameda Research LTD., and 130 affiliated companies under the FTX Group banner have filed for Chapter 11 under the U.S. Code in the bankruptcy court in the District of Delaware. The company also announced that high profile CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned from the company and is being replaced by John J. Ray III. On Saturday,...

North American esports organization FlyQuest announced Thursday that Chris "PapaSmithy" Smith has been appointed to the role of president and chief gaming officer. Smith comes from LA-based 100 Thieves where he served as the general manager of the organization's League of Legends team, but is best known for his work as a League of Legends caster for OGN and Riot Games during broadcasts of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 League of Legends World Championship. He joins Michael Choi, who stepped into the top leadership role in June...

To some, it probably feels like the apocalypse is upon us as billionaire Elon Musk messes with Twitter, high-profile crypto exchange FTX implodes, and META cuts 13% of its global workforce. When the global economy is on shaky ground, companies over-invest in things that aren’t working (throwing good money after bad, as they say), and people put their hopes in one basket—whether that’s a billionaire savior or a company valued in the tens of billions—things get ugly and messy, and ultimately people get hurt.  Here’s...

Netflix announced via social media Monday that it will be creating film and other entertainment content based on Microsoft's popular third-person shooter franchise Gears of War. The plan, according to a brief post on Twitter, is to work with developer The Coalition to create a live action feature-length film and then an adult-themed animated series similar to what the streaming service has done with other game properties such as DOTA, Castlevania, Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher, and Riot's Arcane. Financial terms...

Portland-based marketing agency Creative Media Development (CMD) announced this week that it has initiated a strategic repositioning that will see it spin off Hijinx, a brand new division of the company that focuses on "consumer advertising" and marketing for the gaming, sports, and lifestyle industries. The Hijinx division's biggest client is Microsoft and its official partners, and the team that has been working with the company under the auspices of CMD on various campaigns will lead the charge. That team includes...

XSET Co-Founder Marco Mereu officially announced on Friday that he left the organization in August. Issues related to Mereu's status as chief operating officer first came to light in early-September when XSET CEO and fellow Co-Founder Greg Selkoe announced that the organization had promoted Chief Merchandising Officer Steve Birkhold to Mereu's job, but didn't mention him (Mereu) by name in the announcement—a clear indication that there was some internal tension between the founding members of the organization.  All of the current and former executives we reached...

Veteran editor and writer Sarah Schutz has been promoted to the role of head of games publishing at League of Legends and Valorant maker Riot Games. A seasoned copywriter, writer, and editor, Schutz joined Riot in 2012 as managing editor of its online publications where she trained and managed a team of writers, built out content strategy, and helped develop policy on Riot's corporate and brand messaging across its various online publications and social media channels. From that starting point (she spent a...

Mumbai-based online gaming platform Games24x7 announced the launch of a ₹400 crore (roughly $48.37M USD) investment fund called Games24x7 Ventures. The fund will be used to help startups in India in various sectors including online gaming, content creation, sports technology, esports, blockchain technology, web3, and more over the next five years. Each company selected by the fund could receive as much as ₹25 crore ($3M) over a five year period, though the company did note that candidates will likely have...

Roblox and League of Legends aren't the only game franchises capturing the imagination of luxury brands. Luxury brand Burberry has officially released a new game tie-in apparel capsule collection this week called "Burberry x Minecraft." The collection includes both in-game digital fashion items available from the official Minecraft marketplace, as well as high-end physical apparel products including hoodies and t-shirts ranging from £190 ($219 USD) to £2090 ($2411) from Burberry's physical and online storefronts. In a post on LinkedIn Tuesday,...

Activision Blizzard announced this week that the latest iteration of Call of Duty is finding success in the first three days of its release. The newest version of the popular first-person shooter franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, has generated more than $800M USD worldwide in "sell-through" since its release Oct. 28 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms, according to internal Activision data. It should be noted that "sell through" and "sales" at retail are two different things: inventory...