YouTube names Leo Olebe, who held executive roles in Google Play’s games partnership division and at Facebook, as head of its gaming unit (Cecilia D’Anastasio/Bloomberg)

Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg:
The hype around esports is fading, as teams and organizations shrink due to a weak sponsorship and ad market, falling VC investment, and the crypto meltdown  —  The once-thriving esports industry has fallen on hard times as funding sources dwindle and signs abound that athletic competition via video games …

Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg:
An analysis of Twitch streams from October 2020 to August 2022 shows Twitch’s moderation tools often failed to stop children streaming and adults grooming them  —  The gaming platform’s design enables people to find and exploit kids in real-time  —  Graphics and illustrations by Rachael Dottle

Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear says the US could use legislation to create “a third option” between contractors and employees to classify creators and gig workers  —  Twitch Chief Executive Officer Emmett Shear thinks US employment laws could be improved to better support content creators …

Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Microsoft’s Xbox publishes its first transparency report on content moderation and reveals it took action against more than 4.3M inauthentic accounts in H1 2022  —  Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox released its first transparency report on Monday, detailing how the gaming giant moderates its 3 billion global players.

Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg:
CEO Dave Baszucki says Roblox sees 2M+ daily active users in Russia, while competitors like EA, Nintendo, and Ubisoft have slowed or ceased sales in the country  —  Roblox Corp.’s popularity in Russia is increasing even as almost every other publicly traded gaming company has retreated from the country after its invasion of Ukraine.

Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Amazon’s Twitch makes changes to address child predation concerns, including mandatory phone verification and improving account termination for users under 13  —  Twitch, the video game livestreaming site popular with teens and kids, announced changes it’s making on the platform to increase safety …