Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
Video gaming's red-hot summer

Good morning! This Monday, the video game industry is too big to ignore, Ethereum's co-founder is over crypto, Zoom loves call-center tech, and Netflix is in a New York state of mind.
(Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get Source Code every day.)
The summer slowdown has skipped the video game industry this year. Amid a flurry of virtual events, the gaming market has seen an unusually busy few months flush with big acquisitions, major announcements from companies like Google and Netflix, frenzied VC investment and not one, but two game-changing portable hardware reveals.
This week also marks the beginning of the all-digital Game Developers Conference. Without the in-person dynamic, expect this year's GDC to be a quiet one, but it's still an opportunity for the industry to self-reflect, and we may get yet more news from participants like Epic, Unity and Microsoft.
The game industry is experiencing a massive growth moment. A mix of new hardware, record software sales and an explosion in mobile has made the game industry the biggest, most attractive entertainment sector from a business perspective.
Next-generation hardware is also here, and it's driving increased investment in software. New consoles from Microsoft and Sony, as well as new handhelds from both Nintendo and Valve, are spurring big acquisitions in the game development space and renewed interest in building top-down ecosystems.
And everyone wants a slice of the gaming market. Entertainment and technology companies are trying to figure out the best ways to break into the industry, and Amazon and Google's repeated attempts have provided valuable roadmaps, and cautionary tales, for others in the industry to learn from.
The game industry has long married the software chops of Silicon Valley with the artistry of Hollywood, but it's only in the past few years that companies from both ends of that spectrum have started paying attention to just how big a business video games have become. Even as the world starts to attend live events and travel once again, the cultural impact of games keeps growing. So it's no surprise the industry is now proving too big to ignore, and too ripe an opportunity for companies of all varieties to pass up.
According to the U.S-China Business Council, one million jobs in the U.S. are consistently sustained by helping U.S. businesses sell to China. We are proud to be an important part of that U.S. job creation opportunity.
President Joe Biden criticized social media platforms for allowing vaccine misinformation:
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks the United States needs to find more allies to maintain its lead in AI:
Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio is over crypto:
In other crypto news, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong snapped back at Jackson Palmer's bitcoin blitz:
A tech summit on cyber safety starts today. The event focuses on partner violence and abuse against women, with presentations on digital literacy and how tech can support survivors.
"The Cult of We" by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell comes out tomorrow. The book dives deep into the rise and fall of WeWork. No word on if the book tells us whether WeWork is a tech company.
The FTC will hold an open meetingon Wednesday to talk about repair restrictions, care labels and a policy that requires specific companies to tell the group about upcoming mergers.
India's Mastercard ban goes into effect on Thursday. The ban, imposed over a claimed lack of compliance with data storage rules, will be aggravating for banks that now need to work around it.
And the Olympics start in Tokyo on Friday! Spectators can't watch in person, but the event is being streamed across NBC networks like Peacock and Telemundo.
Watching the Olympics is pretty easy: Turn on the TV and find almost any NBC station, or fire up Peacock, and you're all set. But do you really understand all of the rules and intricacies of each sport? The book "How to Watch the Olympics" by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton explains everything you need to know about the games. And although it came out for the 2012 London Summer Games, the book will still help you become an Olympics fan by Friday. Happy watching!
According to the U.S-China Business Council, one million jobs in the U.S. are consistently sustained by helping U.S. businesses sell to China. We are proud to be an important part of that U.S. job creation opportunity.
Are you tired of explaining the tech news of the day to your co-workers every morning? Let us do the heavy lifting and refer them to Source Code.
Send them your referral link via Slack, text, email, or carrier pigeon and we'll send you your very own Protocol mug after you refer five friends!
Your referral link:*|RH_REFLINK|*
Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to sourcecode@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.
Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter misspelled Jamal Khashoggi's name. This newsletter was updated on July 19, 2021.
To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.