Games industry roundup: US Senator introduces loot box bill, blockchain gaming's state of play, and Tencent shuts down PUBG Mobile in China

• 1 PC game news and insights

  Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site PCGamesInsider.biz for the last week.

  US Senator introduces bill to ban loot boxes in games played by kids

  “Social media and video games prey on user addiction, syphoning our kids’ attention from the real world and extracting profits from fostering compulsive habits."

  It looks like Anthem sold fewer than six million copies in 2019 fiscal year, EA looking to change how it launches games in wake of BioWare title's troubled release

  Publisher says launch failed to meet expectations.

  There are over half a billion active EA player accounts, Apex Legends driving digital spending

  But the publishing giant is being quiet on user stats for the free-to-play battle royale.

  Strap on your headset: Valve's new Index VR kit dominates this week’s Steam Top Ten

  Valve's Vive successor sold out in the US within half an hour.

  Platinum boss Inaba feels Microsoft bore an unfair share of the blame for Scalebound’s cancellation

  “Watching fans getting angry at Microsoft over the cancellation wasn’t easy for us to watch."

  
  

• 2 Mobile game news and insights

  Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site PocketGamer.biz for the last week.

  Clash of Clans revenue jumped 72% to $71 million in month after Gold Pass introduction

  Supercell's long-time hit Clash of Clans had one of its best months ever in April thanks to the new Season Challenges and Gold Pass.

  Brawl Stars dev Supercell invests $3.8m in Malmo start-up Luau Games

  Supercell is continuing on the M&A trail, this time with an investment in new Swedish Luau Games, formed by two ex-King art directors.

  Tencent shuts down PUBG Mobile in China

  PUBG Mobile was one of the most popular games in China, regularly topping the App Store download chart. But having been unable to monetise it, Tencent is transferring players over to the new and approved battle royale title Game for Peace.

  Loot box design 2.0: Complying with China's new rules

  Publisher Yodo1 looks at the new rules in China and offers advice for developers on how they can monetise their games in the country.

  Scopely acquires Star Trek Fleet Command dev Digit Game Studios

  The two companies worked together on the very successful Star Trek Fleet Command, which has led to the two now joining forces on a permanent basis.

  
  

• 3 Blockchain game news and insights

  Here are the five hottest stories from our sister-site BlockchainGamer.biz for the last week.

  Blockchain Games: New State of Play

  Believe it or not, something is stirring in the world of blockchain games. And not before time you might be thinking.

  2018 was a car crash for the nascent sector, which was hit both by the decline in cryptocurrency valuations and by the failure of any game to substantively build on the foundation created by late 2017 hit CryptoKitties.

  Unlimited Tower launches its early access game

  While Unlimited Tower stated that in order to get its early access game finished, elements needed to be paused, 24 hours have passed and now the team has officially launched its early access version on the EOS Mainnet.

  Forgotten Artefacts begins its pre-sale

  Codebit Labs, the development team behind the new blockchain title Forgotten Artefacts, is kickstarting its item pre-sale. Kicking off at the beginning of this week, the sale includes a range of exclusive NFTs.

  Battle Racers introduces Bounty Campaign for content creators

  Altitude Games is pushing for its community to help get the word out about the game as Battle Racers introduces its new bounty campaign. According to the team’s Twitter, any users looking to help raise awareness can expect to win some nice NFTs and rewards.

  POA gives $25,000 grant to geo-location app Geon Network

  POA‘s games fund has announced its second winner this week, with a grand prize of $25,000. This initial DAI grant was officially rewarded to the geo-location app Geon Network. Built on top of iOS and Android, users will be able to visit various locations to obtain rewards.