Blog: Entertainment and Fandom - Page 4

Seemingly every manufacturer in the games space is working on a portable machine. Now, Bloomberg sources claim that Sony has started early work on a portable that plays PS5 games. Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, has already confirmed that Xbox is working on its own portable (also per Bloomberg ).

Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa recently confirmed that Sony sent it a letter of intent to acquire Kadokawa (increasing its current 2% stake). Kadokawa owns FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring , a 25-million-selling game that became a huge cultural moment in 2022.

Couch co-op gaming, when two or more players in the same room play together co-operatively, already has some proven success stories: It Takes Two , a co-op-only platformer from EA studio Hazelight, has sold over 20 million copies.

As one of the key players in podcast industry trends and podcast monetisation, what happens at Acast matters. The company’s financials provide insight into the global podcasting market, signalling to the broader industry the strength of podcast advertising.

Nintendo is at the forefront of the cross-entertainment trend. Alongside console games and hardware, Nintendo’s strategy spans theme parks, Hollywood (including the billion-dollar-grossing Super Mario movie), mobile, toys, merch, and even alarm clocks.

US presidential campaign ads are ubiquitous on television. Leading up to the election, every commercial break is an alternating flurry of messaging from each side. This year, however, we saw the first ‘podcast election’, with podcasts playing a key role in presidential campaigning as well.

Microsoft’s Q3 2024 results (fiscal Q1 2025) continue to reflect Xbox’s shifting strategy: Xbox’s gaming revenue grew 43% year-on-year , but essentially all of this growth came from the Activision Blizzard acquisition (43 points of net impact) Xbox content and service revenue grew 61% , with 53 revenue points of net impact from the acquisition Xbox’s hardware sales fell 29%, continuing a trend from previous quarters Black Ops 6 has performed well so far , setting records for day one players, new Game Pass subscribers on a launch day, and increased unit sales off-platform Xbox’s Activision Blizzard acquisition is doing its job Let’s address the elephant in the room: In terms of overall gaming revenue for the quarter, Microsoft’s growth would have been flat if not for the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

Podcast advertising has existed for more than a decade, but it is only just beginning to evolve. For much of its existence, it has resembled radio advertising more than other digital ad formats. A lack of scale has kept podcast advertising out of its digital prime.

MIDiA has covered music’s big podcasting opportunity extensively. Per our June 2024 report, “ Defining podcast taste: The universal appeal of music, news, and comedy ”, music is one of the top podcast topics in the world; however, podcasting’s role in music marketing has yet to fully materialise.

As markets fragment and niches grow, the need for meaningful, high-value exchanges between creators and their followers has never been more pressing. Yet, only a select few creators manage to transform direct subscriptions into a sustainable living wage.

Business strategy has long been demarcated across sustaining and disruptive innovation. In the digital realm, the latter has had the upper hand, but now, as digital enters a slower growth phase, sustaining innovation is back in favour.

PlayStation recently launched a remaster of 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn forPS5 and PC. As part of a specialpromotion from Sony, anyone who already owns the original Horizon Zero Dawn can paya $10 upgrade fee to access the remaster.

As more sustainable acquisitions come to podcasting, according to Podnews , Spotify is again looking to spend up to seven figures on creator investments. This time, video is the primary focus. Per Bloomberg , Spotify’s content acquisition strategy is shifting from podcasters to video creators: “ What’s different in today’s news is Spotify seeking YouTube-oriented creators and specifically looking for them to simply put their show on the service ”.

The internet is abuzz over Google NotebookLM’s eerily realistic-sounding podcasts. Last week, MIDiA wrote about how it will disrupt primarily information-driven podcasting, rather than entertainment podcasts with human flair (for now).

It’s no secret that the bulk of AAA games market revenues come from in-game purchases , mostlyfrom live-service games. It’s also impossible to ignore that the live-service market is fiercely competitive.

On the heels of a North Carolina man being indicted for music streaming fraud, questions about AI and audio — especially as it pertains to intellectual property (IP) rights — continue to swirl. Now, Google's new NotebookLM and its "audio overview" feature are raising questions for audiobook and podcast creators.

Cutting through the noise during conference season is always a challenge. But it becomes easier when comparing the mood and messaging from the previous year’s event. Sometimes a year is all it takes for companies to dial down the hype and take a more sober view on the latest technology trend.

During the first two decades of the 21st century, companies in most industries competed on features and user interface. Snapchat was once the only social app with Stories, and the iPhone used to sit alongside the Motorola Razr and T-Mobile Sidekick.