Welcome to "Game On," The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.
STEPHENS ON BLACK FRIDAY: In a research note to investors on Monday, Stephens analyst Jeff Cohen said that his retail checks around Black Friday indicated strong demand for Electronic Arts' (EA) sports games as well as "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," along with Activision's (ATVI) "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare." Cohen said that, given strong word of mouth, reviews, and excitement around the "Star Wars" franchise, he anticipates "Jedi: Fallen Order" will continue to sell well through the holiday season, adding that he believes EA shares will break out of the $90-$100 range they have been in for most of this year. The analyst has Overweight ratings on both EA and Activision, which he calls his top picks in the console gaming space.
MARIO KART: The Verge reported that Nintendo's (NTDOY) free-to-play mobile game "Mario Kart Tour" was the most downloaded free game on iPhone (AAPL) in 2019. The game beat out tough competition from Activision's "Call of Duty: Mobile" and Epic Games' "Fortnite," the report noted. Investors in Epic Games include Tencent (TCEHY), Disney (DIS), and KKR (KKR).
BEAT GAMES: Last Tuesday, Facebook's (FB) Oculus unit announced the acquisition of developer Beat Games, which will join Facebook in its "quest to bring VR to more people around the world." Beat Games, known for 2018's VR game "Beat Saber," will join Oculus Studios as an independently operating studio in Prague, Facebook said. "We are thrilled to join forces to see where this talented team takes VR gaming in the future," Facebook's Mike Verdu commented in a blog post. "Beat Saber is a perfect example of why VR is so exciting-VR reimagines old genres and invents new ones. The team at Beat Games made a leap forward in innovation and design with the stellar blend of game mechanics and music in Beat Saber, and yet we know that they, along with so many other devs, are just getting started." Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
YOUTUBE POLICY UPDATE: In a blog post on Monday, Google's (GOOG) YouTube said that starting on December 2, scripted or simulated violent content found in video games will be treated the same as other types of scripted content. For gaming creators on the platform, this means: Future gaming uploads that include scripted or simulated violence may be approved instead of being age-restricted; There will be fewer restrictions for violence in gaming, but this policy will still maintain Google's "high bar" to protect audiences from real-world violence; the company may still age-restrict content if violent or gory imagery is the sole focus of the video.
Electronic Arts
+0.26 (+0.26%)
acquired by MSFT
-0.02 (-0.04%)
Take-Two
+1.19 (+0.99%)
Nintendo
+ (+0.00%)
Apple
-6.4 (-2.42%)
Tencent
+ (+0.00%)
Disney
-2.08 (-1.38%)
KKR
-0.635 (-2.19%)
Ticker changed to META
-2.97 (-1.49%)
Alphabet
-3.77 (-0.29%)
Alphabet
-3.71 (-0.29%)
Microsoft
-1.52 (-1.02%)
Symbol now SONY
+0.97 (+1.53%)
Ubisoft
+ (+0.00%)