Startups

This Week in Apps: WWDC goes online, Android 11 delays, Facebook SDK turns into app kill switch

Source Node: https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/09/this-week-in-apps-wwdc-goes-online-android-11-delays-facebook-sdk-turns-into-app-kill-switch/
Time Stamp: May 9, 2020 10:45 AM - Modified On: May 9, 2020 - Published By:
Source Cluster:
Republished By Plato

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The app industry is as hot as ever, with a record 204 billion downloads and $120 billion in consumer spending in 2019. People are now spending 3 hours and 40 minutes per day using apps, rivaling TV. Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re a big business. In 2019, mobile-first companies had a combined $544 billion valuation,

CRV’s Saar Gur wants to invest in a new wave of games built for VR, Twitch and Zoom

Source Node: https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/08/saar-gur-on-gaming-investments/
Time Stamp: May 8, 2020 2:35 PM - Modified On: May 8, 2020 - Published By:
Source Cluster:
Republished By Plato

Saar Gur is adept at identifying the next big consumer trends earlier than most: The San Francisco-based general partner at CRV has led investments into leading consumer internet companies like Niantic, DoorDash, Bird, Dropbox, Patreon, Kapwing and ClassPass. His own experience stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic spurred his interest in three new investment themes focused on the next generation of games: those built for VR, those built on top of Twitch and those built for video chat environments as a socializing tool. TechCrunch: We’ve been in a “VR

VCs see opportunities for gaming infrastructure startups and incumbents

Source Node: https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/08/startup-opportunities-in-gaming-infrastructure/
Time Stamp: May 8, 2020 1:01 PM - Modified On: May 8, 2020 - Published By:
Source Cluster:
Republished By Plato

As the infrastructure for developing games becomes more advanced, studios have turned to buying best-in-class technology from others instead of building everything from scratch (often with inferior quality). This shift underpinned Unity’s rise as the most popular game engine. The current focus on games as ever-evolving social hubs that can remain popular for a decade requires investment in “live ops” to keep updating the game with new features and experiences, only adding to a game studio’s responsibilities. There are big movements in gaming right now to make games cross-platform (not

New studio Modern Games acquires Beasts of Balance

Source Node: https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/06/modern-games-beasts-of-balance/
Time Stamp: May 6, 2020 10:28 AM - Modified On: May 6, 2020 - Published By:
Source Cluster:
Republished By Plato

Modern Games is a new studio working to create games that combine physical and digital play. The company was founded by husband-and-wife team Justin and Amanda Kifer — serial entrepreneurs who previously launched companies including Citizen Local (acquired by MyLife in 2011) and Fidgetly, a fidget spinner company that also created a motion controller for iOS and Android games. It sounds like the Kifers have a number of new titles in development, but the company is announcing today that it has acquired and is relaunching an existing game, Beasts of

Esports One launches its fantasy esports platform

Source Node: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/09/esports-one-launches-its-fantasy-esports-platform/
Time Stamp: April 9, 2020 12:00 PM - Modified On: April 9, 2020 - Published By:
Source Cluster:
Republished By Plato

Esports One is a startup betting that there’s a big opportunity in bringing a fantasy sports approach to the world of esports — particularly at a time when traditional pro sports are on pause. Co-founder and COO Sharon Winter told me that the company’s platform, which is leaving beta testing today, is the first “all-in-one fantasy platform” for esports. In other words, it’s not just a site where you can create a fantasy team to compete with others, but also a place where you can research players, read articles about