Stephanie Chan
VentureBeat
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Stephanie:
To make the cyber-thriller Searching, these indie filmmakers turned to video games
At its heart, Searching is a mystery film. Widower David Kim (John Cho) must find his missing daughter, Margot Kim (Michelle La). But in this scenario, he isn’t an action hero. → Read More
Far Cry 4 creative director’s new Typhoon Studios is ‘definitely not doing a battle royale game’
Three EA and Ubisoft veterans started Typhoon Studios in February, and they’re now ready to talk about their first game — sort of. → Read More
Red Kite Games shows that work-for-hire can be rewarding — and without crunch
External development studio Red Kite Games has worked on smaller mobile games like GameDigits’ Dream Machine as well as Activision’s Call of Duty: Strike Team and Santa Monica Studio’s God of War. And all the while, the team has largely avoided any crunch time. → Read More
Paradise Game wants to create a thriving community for African devs
The game developer-focused conference Devcom debuted at last year’s Gamescom (one of the largest gaming shows in the world) in Cologne, Germany. It’s back again this month from August 1… → Read More
Stone tokes up a take on the hardboiled detective genre
Convict Games’ narrative adventure Stone is a colorful noir, infused with Australian slang and starring anthropomorphic animals. It’s the studio’s debut title, and it will arrive later this year on PC. → Read More
Esports summit’s pitch to brands: patience and flexibility
The XLive Esports Summit featured a number of panels by industry professionals around the topic of esports, but a common thread ran through all the presentations: How can brands appeal to esports’ growing audience? Xlive specializes in hosting conferences that focus on live events and esports, and a… → Read More
Donut County doesn’t glaze over gentrification
Donut County is an adorable game where you play a hole in the ground. Minimalistic though that may sound, it’s neither easy to make — nor does it have a simple message to convey. Developer Ben Esposito has teamed up with publisher Annapurna Interactive to launch the title on PC, PlayStation 4, and… → Read More
The IndieBeat: Saying good-bye after a year of exploring the indie scene
It’s been a year and some change since I joined GamesBeat. Now that I’m leaving, I still don’t have a good definition for what indie is. If pressed, I would probably say that indie games take risks. They move you, and they make you think. They experiment with new art styles. They draw from myriad di… → Read More
Destination: Primus Vita review — a twist on exploring the final frontier
Destination: Primus Vita is an episodic narrative puzzle game that weaves together a number of elements into a fantastic sci-fi tale. It’s Epsilon Games’ debut title, a new studio that boasts Ubisoft veterans among its team members. → Read More
Raw Fury snags a $5.5 million investment from Nordisk Film Games
Indie publisher Raw Fury wrapped up a Series A round of funding with a $5.5 million investment from Nordisk Film Games, which was the sole investor in the round. The publisher has a few titles cook… → Read More
Fortnite coaching is growing among kids — and parents
As Fortnite’s popularity continues to rise, some players are trying to get ahead by hiring coaches. Varsity Tutors, a service and platform that offers remote teaching, has seen a swell of demand for Epic Games’ battle royale shooter sensation. → Read More
Vicon’s Origin hardware suite is designed for location-based VR
Motion capture company Vicon unveiled its Origin line of location-based virtual reality hardware at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH in Vancouver. The product suite includes cameras, track… → Read More
After misconduct allegations, MidBoss embraces new company culture and strives to promote queer games
Indie studio MidBoss has quietly picked up the pieces after allegations of sexual harassment and wage theft emerged against its former CEO and founder Matt Conn. It’s now under the leadership… → Read More
The IndieBeat: Corona Black’s style comes from mech punches, space Westerns, and color blindness
Corona Black is relentlessly stylish. Indie studio Ota Imon has remixed and amped up the aesthetic of Japanese comic books (or manga). It stars larger-than-life characters — with names like K… → Read More
Despite Runic Games’ closure, the Torch is still Lit
Though developer Runic Games shut down in November, the Torchlight action role-playing series blazes on. The series is continuing with a third game, Torchlight Frontiers, which is set in a persistent world and launches on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on a to-be-announced date. Publisher Perfect W… → Read More
International Mobile Gaming Awards seeks entries from Southeast Asia
The International Mobile Gaming Awards’ call for entries for its 3rd annual Southeast Asia competition is in its last week. Mobile games are eligible as long as they launched after May 2017. Submissions will close on August 15, and the winners will be announced at an award ceremony in Manila on October 25. → Read More
Former 2K president Christoph Hartmann joins Amazon Game Studios as vice president
Last May, Christoph Hartmann stepped down from his role as president of Take-Two Interactive’s 2K Games — and he’s landed as vice president of Amazon Game Studios. In his new role, he&#… → Read More
Overcooked 2 review — No party is complete without a food fight
Ghost Town Games is back in the kitchen with Overcooked 2, the followup to its award-winning couch co-op game. This time, the indie studio has partnered with publisher Team17, and its title debuted today on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, which is the platform on which I played it. → Read More
NBC and ReKTGlobal partner to give Universal Open Rocket League competitors the spotlight
Developer Psyonix’s second annual Universal Open Rocket League tournament for its soccer-with-cars hit game is speeding toward its grand finals on August 24 to August 26. But in the meantime, broadcasting partner NBC Sports Group has signed on for some exclusive behind-the-scene looks at this year’s… → Read More
Chef: A Restaurant Tycoon is a cooking sim that experiments with complex flavors
Culinary games like Ghost Town Games’ hectic co-op title Overcooked and Vertigo Gaming’s Cook, Serve, Delicious! series focus heavily on the timed element of the kitchen. Players must s… → Read More