{"id":186732,"date":"2023-03-15T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/?p=186732"},"modified":"2023-03-15T12:55:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T16:55:32","slug":"what-you-missed-this-week-in-video-games-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/traders-insight\/securities\/stocks\/what-you-missed-this-week-in-video-games-18\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Missed This Week in Video Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 New “WWE 2K” game out this week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW RELEASES: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among this week’s bigger releases is Take-Two’s (TTWO) “WWE 2K23,” a wresting video game that launches March 17 for PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, PC, Xbox One (MSFT), and Xbox Series X\/S. Also out this week is PlatinumGames’ “Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon,” a prequel to the action game series “Bayonetta.” The game launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch (NTDOY) on March 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘HOGWARTS LEGACY’: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) recently released “Harry Potter” video game “Hogwarts Legacy” once again ended the week in first place in the U.K.’s boxed charts, despite sales falling 31% week-on-week, Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring reports<\/a>. In just five weeks of release, the title has surpassed the liftime sales of Bandai Namco’s (NCBDY) 2022 hit “Elden Ring” in the U.K., in terms of both digital and physical sales. The game, which initially launched for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X\/S, is set to arrive on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in May and June, the author notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Sony said <\/a>on Friday that “Hogwarts Legacy” was the most-downloaded PlayStation 5 game in February in the U.S., Canada, and European Union. For comparison, other top-selling titles, downloads only, on PS5 for the month in the U.S. and Canada were Take-Two’s “NBA 2K23” and “Grand Theft Auto V,” EA’s (EA) “FIFA 23” and “Madden NFL 23,” and Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.” In the EU, the top sellers were also “GTA V,” “FIFA 23,” “Modern Warfare II,” and Sony’s “Gran Turismo 7.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘SUICIDE SQUAD’: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In other Warner Bros. news, the company is again delayed the release of upcoming DC comics-based action game “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported <\/a>last week, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The launch date of the title, which is set to release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X\/S, has been pushed from May 26 to later this year after originally being planned for a 2022 launch, the author noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delay follows a recent PlayStation State of Play event, during which developer Rocksteady showcased gameplay from “Suicide Squad” for the first time, which many viewers responded to negatively. Schreier noted in his reporting that the delay is relatively short, and is likely not intended to “overhaul the core gameplay” but will instead be focused on “polishing” what’s already there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Warner Bros. Discovery as measured by TipRanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MICROSOFT PARTNERSHIPS: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Microsoft and Boosteroid announced a 10-year agreement to bring Xbox PC games to Boosteroid’s cloud gaming platform. Boosteroid, which has its software development team in Ukraine, recently surpassed 4M users globally and has become the largest independent cloud gaming provider in the world. The agreement will also enable Activision Blizzard PC titles to be streamed by Boosteroid customers after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard closes. When combined with other partnerships recently announced by Microsoft, this will make games built by Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard playable on multiple cloud gaming services and subscriptions. In addition to Ukraine itself, Boosteroid now serves gamers in the United States, United Kingdom and countries across the European Union. It operates through data center operations located in six U.S. states, as well as in the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and Serbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement follows similar recent announcements for Microsoft and Activision’s games to be played on Nintendo and Nvidia (NVDA) platforms. In addition, the move comes roughly a week after Reuters’ Paul Sandle reported<\/a>, citing a document published by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority, that Microsoft said it intends to license Activision Blizzard’s “Call of Duty” games to PlayStation for 10 years to address concerns raised by the U.K. over the Xbox maker’s proposed acquisition of Activision. “Microsoft is proposing a package of licensing remedies which (i) guarantee parity between the PlayStation and Xbox platforms in respect of CoD and (ii) ensure wide availability of CoD and other Activision titles on cloud gaming services,” Microsoft said in the CMA document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n