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Like other major publishers such as Activision, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, 2K Games, and Gearbox Software, uses recurring monetization streams via microtransactions and in-game purchases to act as safety nets in case new IPs backfire.

Making AAA games costs a lot of money--sometimes even $100 million--and publishers are typically risk averse when it comes to new IPs. But some publishers, like Ubisoft, have used new IPs as a gateway for a new interactive digital business model and have tremendously benefited from taking that risk. But Ubisoft's new IPs and digital games all have one thing in common: they're monetized via in-game purchases. This isn't a mistake: if, say, For Honor tanked, Ubisoft could buffer the loss with microtransaction earnings from a successful game like Ghost Recon: Wildlands or Rainbow Six: Siege. This is part of the biggest and more lucrative digital strategy the games industry is currently following, and will be a big part of gaming's future because of the tangible benefits it offers.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick recently spoke out on the topic, discussing the merits of microtransactions and how they help big publishers make key decisions. If it weren't for the big billion-dollar treasure trove of earnings from GTA Online's microtransactions over the years (analyst firm SuperData says GTA Online has made over $1 billion in earnings to date), Take-Two (and more specifically Gearbox) would've been hit a lot harder by Battleborn's failure. And if it weren't for those recurring revenue streams, which continually bring in money, Battleborn may not have been greenlit in the first place as the publisher would be more risk adverse than they already are.

"It's vastly more risky to create new IP than it is to create sequel IP. The problem is if all you do is create sequel IP you're burning the furniture. And it's not creatively all that interesting. We don't see that as pursuing or fulfilling our mission if we're not launching new IP," Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said at Goldman Sachs' 26th Annual Communicopia Conference.

"Every one of our divisions is working on new IP, to a greater or lesser extent, and we expect to bring new IP to market. But we have to be selective because if we do it and we get it wrong, it's very costly. And again we have gotten it wrong occasionally and it has been costly."

UK MP Tracey Crouch, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has responded to the popular petition regarding lootboxes. Her answer? It's basically up to the Gambling Commission what answers are taken.

Following the ESRB's affirmations that lootboxes technically aren't gambling and the ratings board can't define it as such, as well as the European ratings board PEGI delivering a similar response, frustrated gamers and concerned citizens in the UK formally wrote up a petition asking the government how it plans to "protect vulnerable adults and children from illegal gambling, in-game gambling, and loot boxes within computer games."

Today the UK's Tracey Crouch delivered a response, and it's not what loot-box haters wanted to hear. The MP notes that regulations outlined for gambling and loot boxes have been outlined by the government's Gambling Commission in a position paper released in March 2017, and that commission is "keeping this matter under review and will continue to monitor developments in the market."

Rocket League are introducing their first themed-event for Halloween, Haunted Hallows. The timed event introduces new crates, in-game items and a new form of currency, Candy Corn. Haunted Hallows begins tomorrow- October 16 and runs through to November 6.

Candy Corn is Haunted Hallows limited-time currency and is earned by completing Online Matches. The Candy Corn currency can be redeemed for Halloween items, Decryptors, and locked "Haunted Hallows" crates. Candy Corn won't expire on November 6 when Haunted Hallows is finished, you will still have the option to spend remaining currency for one-week post-Halloween Hallows.

The road towards The International 8 is officially underway, with the first minor tournament of the new Dota 2 season completed. The group stage saw six teams from six regional qualifiers join Team Liquid and Newbee as direct invites to StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3, with the top 4 of the group stage progessing to the Playoffs.

StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3 featured a total prize pool of $300,000 with $135,000 going home with the eventual winners, Team Liquid. The International 7 winners were too strong for the resurgent Mineski, who had just an impressive performance to make it to the grand final only dropping two games to Team Liquid in the group stage and one to compLexity in the semi-finals. It would take until game one of the grand final before Team Liquid would even drop a game in the tournament with Mineski drawing first blood, but the defending SL i-League Invitational and TI7 champions would have the last laugh.

Game one saw Mineski surprise the TI7 winners with early pressure and early kills. Team Liquid were able to recover and force Mineski into teamfight after teamfight with Liquid gaining some momentum. It was short-lived success however, as once Mineski's BKBs were online it was all over for Team Liquid.

Former Naughty Dog employee David Ballard has claimed that he was sexually harassed by one of the studio's leads and that when he reported this situation he was fired because the company was going in a different direction and his position was no longer required.

The incident occurred in late 2015, originally Mr Ballard was too ashamed of the situation but has been inspired by other TV/Film individuals speaking of their experiences. Ballad took to Twitter over the weekend to deliver his account of events.

"In late 2015, I was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a lead. My work environment became extremely toxic afterward," Ballard said in a series of posts. "In February 2016 I had a mental breakdown at work & Sony PlayStation HR became involved. When I told them about the harassment they ended the call and fired me the next day. They cited the company was moving in a different direction and my job was no longer needed. They tried to silence me by offering $20,000 if I signed a letter agreeing to the termination as well as to not discuss it with anyone. I declined to sign."

Following up from the successful H1Z1: Fight for the Crown tournament earlier this year, Developer Daybreak Games in partnership with Twin Galaxies, have announced the launch of the H1Z1 Pro League. The H1Z1: King of the Kill based professional esports league will feature 15 teams competing in a 20-week season, followed by the first-ever league championship in late 2018.

With esports rapidly expanding, we've seen Blizzard announce the Overwatch League along with Dota 2, CS:GO and League of Legends already well established in esports. H1Z1 is next to enter into the esport scene with The H1Z1 Pro League. "Our goal with the H1Z1 Pro League is to create a world-class experience worthy of our incredibly competitive community," said H1Z1's general manager Anthony Castoro as he recently spoke with Polygon. This will ensure a "player-first" approach, includes a guaranteed minimum player salary of $50,000, a governing committee and a well-defined revenue sharing model.

Following Epic Games stance on cheaters, Blizzard have been busy themselves with regards to punishing cheaters, specifically targeting World of Warcraft players who use third-party software to cheat.

No figure of how many accounts were suspended, but repeat offenders were dealt with bans up to 18 months while first time offenders were given 6 months. Blizzard have developed a method to detect cheaters using WoW bot software Honorbuddy as the 'ban section' of their forums have been FLOODED with posts. Honorbuddy released a statement via their forums confirming that their 'bot/tool' had been detected.

Qualcomm is at the absolute bleeding edge of connectivity technology, with the world's first tests of 5G connections on a mobile device now completed.

The company tested the 5G internet connection on their own X50 5G modem, using the 28GHz millimeter wave frequency band. Qualcomm adds that they reached over 1Gbps with the test, but 5G is capable of much higher speeds of 5Gbps once the 5G deployments are complete.

Qualcomm also unveiled the world's first 5G smartphone reference design, which the company will use to test 5G modems, radios, and networks with smartphone makers over the next 1-2 years, as we get closer to companies releasing 5G-capable smartphones. 5G smartphones are expected in the first half of 2019, while Qualcomm's new 5G reference smartphone rocks an edge-to-edge display, and is just 9mm thick.

What a time to be a comic book movie fan, with just weeks left before the release of Justice League... and now the full trailer to Marvel's upcoming Black Panther, who was last featured in Captain America: Civil War.

Black Panther covers the story of T'Challa who is the new leader of the nation of Wakanda, something that happened in Civil War. Black Panther will pick up where Civil War left off, with T'Challa being threatened by Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), who wants to overthrow T'Challa.

Black Panther will be released on February 16, 2018 - and will be the last MCU movie to be released before Avengers: Infinity War.

Overwatch has hit yet another milestone, with Blizzard announcing there are now over 35 million players since the game launched back in May 2016.

We don't know which platforms have the most users, but I'd dare say the PC version of Overwatch has the lion's share of gamers. Blizzard hit 20 million players in Overwatch back in November 2016, and then 30 million in April this year. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds continues to pummel other games into the ground, so it'll be interesting to see how Overwatch's numbers get affected as PUBG continues to grow.

Blizzard hasn't revealed any other details about the 35 million Overwatch players, so we don't know if the free weekends count (they probably do). No matter what, 35 million gamers is a big milestone for Overwatch.