FEED Issue 12

8 NEWSFEED Updates & Upgrades

EPIC GAMES BUYS 3LATERAL

TOTALVIDEO CHOOSES SEACHANGE FOR OTT PLATFORM

Facial rigging technology company 3Lateral has joined Epic Games in its quest to push the level of detail and realism in its computer- generated human characters. Epic Games is a developer of video games, including the cult favourite, Fortnite. “Fortnite shows that 200m people can experience a 3D world together,” explained CEO Tim Sweeney. 3Lateral will help Epic Games to more realistically render digital characters, which Sweeney said includes “capturing, personalising and conveying individual human faces and emotions”.

Russian video operator TotalVideo and SeaChange International

In addition to game development, Epic Games runs the open-source development platform, Unreal Engine. It hopes this partnership with 3Lateral will expand the character design

capabilities of Unreal Engine developers. 3Lateral is a team of more than 60 people and will be continuing to work with existing partners and maintaining a presence in Serbia.

are teaming up on an end-to-end OTT

multiscreen and IPTV solution for video and cable providers in Russia and Eastern Europe. SeaChange is a provider for IPTV, cable and satellite, and its new cloud-based video management and delivery platform PanoramiC will be at the crux of this collaboration. PanoramiC will allow providers to distribute video services across multiple mobile platforms and OTT devices with monetisation opportunities. It has built-in business functions that include reporting and analytics and promises to give viewers a personalised and seamless video experience, with choice settings like language and preferences. Ed Terino, CEO of SeaChange, said it is “proud to have been chosen by TotalVideo to help them develop a best-in-breed multi- screen platform for video operators”.

CHINA APPROVES VIDEO GAMES

China’s broadcasting watchdog – the National Radio and Television Administration – approved the release of a third batch of video games on 22

January following a freeze for most of 2018. According to gaming market researcher, Newzoo, 620 million gamers spent $37.9 billion on mobile

and PC games in China last year, which makes it home to the world’s largest video game market. However, in March last year, authorities stopped approving the release of new titles between regulatory overhaul, triggered by growing concern about violent content and game addiction. Towards the end of 2018, China resumed processing applications and has since approved 257 video games in three batches. Web giant Tencent has not yet been included in these approvals, nor has its competitor, NetEase. Tencent is China’s market leader in terms of gaming revenue and its absence from these approvals has seen its share prices tumble, wiping billions of dollars from the stock’s market value.

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