Chinese vaccine maker <keyword id="9550548" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="anhui-zhifei-longcom-biopharmaceutical">Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical</keyword> Co., Ltd. has commenced the phase-3 clinical trials for its Covid-19 vaccine, planning to recruit 29,000 volunteers across the world. This is China's first phase-3 efficacy study for a recombinant subunit COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Jointly developed by the company and the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the vaccine was issued with a clinical research permit from the National Medical Products Administration on June 19, reports Xinhua news agency. Researchers started phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials on June 23, which were randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled. Volunteers, aged between 18 and 59 from Beijing, Chongqing and Hunan, received the vaccine to determine whether it is safe for use on humans. The results of the early-stage trials support the safety and immunogenicity of this vaccine, suggesting the potential for further clinical tests. The Chinese drug regulator granted the developers permission to conduct global multi-centre research on November 4. The company said the research, which plans to enroll up to 29,000 adults aged 18 and up, was launched on Wednesday in Xiangtan county, Hunan province. Global trials are expected to begin in Uzbekistan late this month, followed by trials in Indonesia, Pakistan and Ecuador. A Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant of the company was put into use in September. The annual production capacity for the Covid-19 vaccine will top 300 million doses, according to the company. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that China had five Covid-19 vaccine candidates undergoing phase-3 trials in the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Pakistan and Peru. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/mumbais-massive-power-cut-last-month-may-have-been-the-work-of-hackers/articleshow/79318282.cms">Mumbai’s massive power cut last month may have been the work of hackers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/vodafone-idea-shares-jump-after-selling-stake-in-indus-towers-for-3760-crore/articleshow/79316662.cms">Vodafone Idea soars nearly 5% on fund infusion from Indus Towers stake sale</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/pubg-mobile-india-was-supposed-to-launch-today/articleshow/79315462.cms">PUBG Mobile India was rumoured to launch today — but there is no official update from the company</a>

Another Chinese Covid-19 vaccine enters late-stage human trials with a plan to produce 300 million doses annually

<ul><li>Jio and MediaTek have launched the Gaming Master esports tournament.</li><li>The 70-day tournament will be played on Garena’s Free Fire and offers a prize pool of ₹12.5 lakh.</li><li>The registrations are now open, and players can register till January 10.</li></ul>Indian telecom company Reliance Jio has partnered with chipset maker MediaTek to launch Gaming Masters, an esports tournament on the <keyword id="7201654" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="jiogames">JioGames</keyword> platform for Indian gamers. The 70-day tournament will feature Garena’s battle royale game Free Fire and offers a prize pool of ₹12.5 lakh. The grand finale winner will win a cash prize of ₹3 lakh. The tournament registrations are now live on the JioGames platform and will remain open till January 10. The tournament will begin on January 13 and the grand finale is scheduled for March 1. The Free Fire Gaming Masters is a three-stage tournament, and 24 teams will participate in the grand finale. Duos The first stage is duos and involves 32 daily qualifiers and qualifier finale matches. A total of twenty teams will qualify for the grand finale from duos. Solos The second stage is the solos. It involves 12 daily qualifiers and qualifier finale matches. After the solos playoff, the top eight players will be paired up to form four teams and will qualify for the grand finale. Grand finale The final stage is the grand finale. Twenty-four teams will compete across a set of seven maps to clinch the title. How to register for the Gaming Master tournament Players can register for free for the Free Fire Gaming Master tournament on the JioGames platform. <ul><li>To register for the JioGames Gaming Master tournament, players need to first register on the <a href="https://play.jiogames.com/esports/#/esports/">JioGames</a> platform. </li><li>Then, sign in to your account. </li><li>Now, go to the registration page and click on Join. </li><li>Now, enter the required details and register for the tournament. </li></ul>The Gaming Masters tournament will be broadcasted live on the JioTV HD Esports Channel and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/jiogames">YouTube</a> channel. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/pubg-app-alternative-in-india-like-fortnite-call-of-duty-battlelands-royale-garena-free-fire-rampage/slidelist/77219609.cms">Top PUBG alternatives available in India — Fortnite, Call of Duty, Battlelands Royale and Garena Free Fire: Rampage</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/im-an-esports-soccer-player-who-won-10000-in-an-online-fifa-21-tournament-anyone-can-become-an-expert-at-gaming-heres-how-i-did-it-/articleshow/79709248.cms">I'm an esports soccer player who won $10,000 in an online FIFA 21 tournament. Anyone can become an expert at gaming - here's how I did it.</a>

Jio and MediaTek announce Gaming Masters tournament with ₹12.5 lakh prize pool — here's how to register

<ul><li>The Indian IT mid-cap, <keyword id="46598" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="MphasiS">Mphasis</keyword>, has plans to join the leagues of Tata Consultancy Services (<keyword id="6357150" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tcs">TCS</keyword>), <keyword id="6354512" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword>, Wipro, and others.</li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, chief executive Nitin Rakesh revealed that the company is likely to go from its current $4 billion market cap to $10 billion within the next three to five years.</li><li>According to him, banking may be the Blackstone-backed firm’s main vertical right now but Mphasis is looking to hi-tech as well as travel and logistics to boost the next phase of its growth.</li></ul>The Blackstone-backed Indian information technology (IT) player, Mphasis, is looking to enter the big league alongside the likes of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys. And it plans to do so by becoming a $10 billion company in the next three to five years. That means growing faster than the top five IT services companies, at present, in India. <div type="Video" msid="82706209" hostid="261" title="Mphasis aims to be a $10 billion company in the next 3-5 years ⁠— that’s twice the current size" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=82706209"></div> <div type="ExtQuote" text="“The goal that we’ve set for ourselves is a $10 billion market cap in the next Blackstone innings… Typically, you can imagine that to be in the next three to five years window.”" auname="Mphasis CEO, Nitin Rakesh told Business Insider"></div> Right now, Mphasis is worth around $4.3 billion. The bulk of the IT mid-cap’s revenue comes from banks, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment. While this segment will continue to be at the core of the company’s future growth, it’s also looking at other verticals — like hi-tech as well as travel and logistics. <div type="image" title="Mphasis vs ROW rev BFSI" msid="82701165" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Percentage of revenue that IT companies operating in India make from the BFSI segment&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “We have almost doubled the business in the last four years, we can repeat that in the next four,” Mphasis’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nitin Rakesh told Business Insider in an interview. According to him, as Mphasis accelerates its growth, it will also get the muscle it needs to look at strategic mergers and acquisitions. “We are looking for companies that can bolster our revenue by 4% to 5%,” he said. <div type="image" title="MPhasis share price" msid="82701090" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Mphasis share price over the last one year&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Looking for greener pastures when it comes to banking" comment="subhead" text="Looking for greener pastures when it comes to banking">Looking for greener pastures when it comes to banking</cmsannotation> For Mphasis, the UK is the next big market for banking outside of the US. The segment has grown consistently for six straight quarters for the company. “We moved one of our key leaders from the US to oversee the UK and Europe business,” explained Rakesh. According to him, clients from the UK and Europe used to account for around 10% of the company’s revenue three years ago. Today, that contribution has grown to 13%. <div type="image" title="Copy of Mphasis vs ROW rev BFSI" msid="82701195" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Growth of BFSI segment for IT companies operating in India from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 (FY 20-21)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Banking is only one piece of the puzzle" comment="subhead" text="Banking is only one piece of the puzzle">Banking is only one piece of the puzzle</cmsannotation> As Mphasis enters the realm of large-cap IT companies, it doesn’t intend for banking to be its niche. “Travel and logistics vertical has shown 35% to 40% compounded annual growth in the last three years,” said Rakesh. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“While we’re known for banking, there are other pockets that are really turbo charging our growth right now.”" auname="Mphasis CEO Nitin Rakesh told Business Insider"></div> The hi-tech vertical, which includes medical device companies and businesses that service chip makers, has so far grown to become a $100 million vertical for Mphasis. That’s a 50% jump in the last financial year, which ended March 2021. Being in the running for hi-tech opportunities doesn’t only mean competing against software companies. According to Rakesh, it also means competing against product engineering companies as well as niche embedded design and software firms. “The skill set there is engineering and design, much more than just software development. It needs a lot of architectural muscle,” he said. Last month, the US investment management behemoth Blackstone committed $2.8 billion for a majority stake in Mphasis. “Given that the commitment to Blackstone is continuity and acceleration, we definitely expect to be in the segment where we’re market leaders in growth,” said Rakesh. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/elon-musk-hints-that-tesla-may-dump-its-billion-dollar-bitcoin-investment/articleshow/82699553.cms">Elon Musk hints that Tesla may dump its billion dollar Bitcoin investment — here’s why his tweets have so much power</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/battlegrounds-mobile-india-pre-registrations-to-begin-on-may-18/articleshow/82702403.cms">PUBG Mobile: Battlegrounds Mobile India pre-registrations to begin on May 18 – rewards, maps and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/cyclonic-storm-tauktae-likely-to-reach-gujarat-coast-between-porbandar-and-mahuva-districts-on-monday-imd-issues-orange-alert/articleshow/82700848.cms">Cyclonic storm 'Tauktae' likely to reach Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva districts on Monday, IMD issues 'orange' alert</a>

Mphasis aims to be a $10 billion company in the next 3-5 years ⁠— that's twice its current size

The Covid-19 induced economic contraction will significantly hurt micro, small and <keyword id="126907" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Medium-Enterprises">medium enterprises</keyword> across sectors, ratings agency Crisil said on Thursday. It said that India Inc is expected to head towards a 15 <keyword id="9284574" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="per-cent-decline">per cent decline</keyword> in revenue and a 25 per cent fall in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). For <keyword id="6393272" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="MSMEs">MSMEs</keyword>, the rating agency said the fall in revenue will be steeper at 17-21 per cent, while Ebitda margin will shrink 200-300 basis points to 4-5 per cent as weak demand gnaws away gains from lower commodity prices. "A sharp decline at the operating level will also impact creditworthiness, aggravating the liquidity stretch these units have been grappling with, particularly on the working capital front," the ratings agency said. "In the process, average interest service coverage ratio could slide to 1-1.5 times from 2.4 times seen between fiscals 2017 and 2020, even after factoring in the benefit of moratorium on interest payments announced by <keyword id="102024" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Reserve-Bank-of-India">the Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (RBI)." "Sans moratorium, the ratio would have gone below 1." Besides, it pointed out that challenges would be the hardest for micro enterprises, which account for 32 per cent of the overall MSME debt, and are facing material stress in terms of revenue growth, Ebitda margins and working capital stretch. "Previous downturns have shown that micro and small enterprises are unable to manage transient working capital challenges as easily as their large and medium peers. To that extent, the measures announced by the Ministry of Finance and the RBI, nudging banks and other institutions to lend more, will help them tide over tapered cash flows," the rating agency said. The bigger issue, however, is demand, it said, which needs to revive for growth to improve sustainably. "As for sectors, Crisil sees consumer discretionary, construction, and export-linked ones bearing the brunt. Small real-estate contractors into EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) projects, and ceramics and textiles makers have been significantly impacted so their credit profiles are the most vulnerable." SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/what-is-garib-kalyan-rojgar-abhiyan-the-50000-crore-which-aims-to-provide-jobs-to-migrant-workers-in-india/articleshow/76443834.cms">What is Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan — the ₹50,000 crore which aims to provide jobs to migrant workers in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/from-pubg-t-shirts-to-bihar-love-for-heels-here-are-the-quirky-trends-that-define-the-way-indians-shop/slidelist/76439898.cms">From PUBG t-shirts to Bihar’s love for heels – Here are the quirky trends that define the way Indians shop</a>

MSMEs to be hurt significantly by economic contraction due to coronavirus: Crisil

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Improbable and Unity - two big names in the world of video game development - are engaged in a public spat, being carried out via back-and-forth blog posts.</li><li>The core of the matter: Unity seemed to have changed its terms of service to forbid customers from also using <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/improbable-dispute-with-unity-spatialos-game-license-2019-1">Improbable's SpatialOS tech, </a>which helps developers run cloud-based gaming services.</li><li>The change frightened some Unity customers, who had been using Improbable's SpatialOS to power their online games - one developer actually shut down its game's servers, for fear of violating Unity's terms of service.&#xa0;</li><li>But Unity says that Improbable misrepresented the situation, and customers can continue using SpatialOS as they've been.&#xa0;</li><li>Epic Games, the maker of "Fortnite," then got involved when it announced a partnership with Improbable for a $25 million fund for developers who might be in "legal limbo" over the situation. The two companies have called on Unity for more clarity and a renewed commitment to openness.&#xa0;</li><li>Epic and Unity are long-time rivals - Epic's Unreal Engine and Unity are two of the most popular video game engines in the world, and big business for both companies. </li></ul>Epic Games, the creator of "Fortnite," has inserted itself into the middle of a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/improbable-dispute-with-unity-spatialos-game-license-2019-1"> back-and-forth feud</a>&#xa0;between $2 billion British startup Improbable and $2.6 billion Unity Technologies.&#xa0;The beef began on Thursday, when Improbable announced that SpatialOS, a cloud gaming service, was no longer compatible with Unity after a change to the latter's terms of service.This was a big deal: Unity, the flagship gaming engine from Unity Technologies, is the foundational software behind many modern video games - games like "Pokémon Go," "Hollow Knight," and "Cuphead" were all built with Unity at the core. Similarly, Improbable, a prominent British technology company, is the proprietor of SpatialOS, which helps developers quickly and easily deploy the underlying plumbing for online multiplayer features.&#xa0;Improbable's announcement created ripples throughout the industry - one Improbable customer, Spilt Milk Studios, reacted to the news by shutting down the online servers for its Unity-based game "Lazarus," for fear of violating Unity's terms of service.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Then, Unity responded, saying that Improbable had misrepresented the situation, and that developers using Unity with SpatialOS had nothing to worry about. It pledged to clarify its terms of service.But then, later in the night, Epic Games, the $15 billion gaming giant, got involved. It announced that it had partnered with Improbable to create a $25 million fund for developers stuck in "legal limbo" over the situation. And Improbable issued its own "final statement," calling on Unity to&#xa0;&#xa0;Although the clash was between Improbable and Unity, Epic Games decided to jump in because it believes that game developers should have the freedom to use whatever tools they want. Of note is that Epic Games and Unity are long-time competitors: Epic makes the Unreal Engine, a direct competitor with Unity. Game engines are <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/1/14777900/unreal-engine-revenue-2016">big business</a> for <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2017/05/25/why-unity-was-able-to-raise-400-million-at-a-2-6-billion-valuation/">both companies</a>.&#xa0;"The principle at stake here is whether game developers are free to mix and match engines, online services and stores of their choosing, or if an engine maker can dictate how developers build and sell their games," Tim Sweeney, co-founder and CEO of Epic Games, told Business Insider via a Twitter direct message.&#xa0;Here's how things got to this point.&#xa0;<h2>Where it started</h2>The roots of the feud go back to December, when Unity updated its <a href="https://unity3d.com/legal/terms-of-service/software">terms of service</a> to exclude "managed service[s] running on cloud infrastructure" that "install or execute the Unity Runtime on the cloud or a remote server." The meaning of this clause is what seems to be at the center of the dispute.&#xa0;In its original blog post, Improbable said that it was informed by Unity on Wednesday that SpatialOS would be in violation of those terms. In other words, Improbable wrote, all Unity-based games using SpatialOS - including those in development, as well as those released to the world with paying customers - were themselves in violation.&#xa0;Improbable also said that its own license for the Unity Editor software has been revoked.&#xa0;<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"Overnight, this is an action by Unity that has immediately done harm to projects across the industry, including those of extremely vulnerable or small scale developers and damaged major projects in development over many years," Improbable wrote in its blog post.At the time, Improbable said that it would set up an emergency fund to aid SpatialOS developers on Unity, as well as make its code for the SpatialOS Game Development Kit for Unity available as open source."Live games are now in legal limbo," Improbable wrote.<h2>Developers in limbo</h2>Improbable's blog post sent the gaming industry into a tizzy, with many expressing concern that Unity would seemingly make such an aggressive, sudden move to block developers from hosting multiplayer games in the cloud.&#xa0;Sweeney himself questioned the logic of the move: "You couldn't operate Fortnite, PUBG, or Rocket League under this terms," he tweeted.&#xa0;Unity developers expressed shock and dismay over the change, as well.&#xa0;Spilt Milk Studios, whose game "Lazarus" uses both Unity and&#xa0; SpatialOS, briefly shut down its servers after Improbable published its blog post. Boss Studios, the proprietor of "Worlds Adrift," came close to making the same move, though ultimately kept its servers online.&#xa0;The move seemed to endanger in-progress projects, as well.&#xa0;"I don't know how many hours I've sunk into these projects and the plans to start a game company utilizing this technology but it's a huge portion of my time over the last two years," user <a href="https://forum.unity.com/threads/recent-tos-update-blocks-the-use-of-spatialos-to-make-games-in-unity.610447/">AtomiCal posted</a> on the Unity forums. "Today I woke up to a message essentially pulling the rug from under my feet saying that I can't do that anymore. Unity won't let it happen."Later, Improbable wrote another blog post apologizing for the uncertainty created by the situation, and suggested that the industry should standardize on some rules for how to handle situations like this.&#xa0;"In the near future, as more and more people transition from entertainment to earning a real income playing games, a platform going down or changing its Terms of Service could have devastating repercussions on a scale much worse than today," <a href="https://improbable.io/company/news/2019/01/10/an-update-on-todays-events">Improbable wrote</a>.<h2>Unity calls Improbable 'incorrect'</h2>Unity finally responded when CTO Joachim Ante wrote <a href="https://blogs.unity3d.com/2019/01/10/our-response-to-improbables-blog-post-and-why-you-can-keep-working-on-your-spatialos-game/">a blog post</a> saying that Improbable's blog post was incorrect, and pledged that the company was working on clarifying its terms of service around cloud-hosted gaming.&#xa0;First of all, Ante said, Unity developers using SpatialOS won't be affected, whether their games are in production or live.&#xa0;"We have never communicated to any game developer that they should stop operating a game that runs using Improbable as a service," Ante wrote. Unity's issue is specifically with Improbable, as a company - Ante writes that Improbable had been "making unauthorized and improper use of Unity's technology and name in connection with the development, sale, and marketing of its own products." As such, Unity revoked Improbable's license keys for Unity Editor, one of its commercial products, such that the startup can no longer use Unity tech to build its services, he says.&#xa0;<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>What's more, Ante wrote that Improbable had already been in violation of its terms of service for over a year, and it had told Improbable this both in person and in writing months ago. In other words, this should not have been a surprise to Improbable, as it's known about this for many months, Ante said.&#xa0;Also, Unity said it had been clear with Improbable that no games currently in production won't be affected."We would have expected them to be honest with their community about this information," Ante wrote. "Unfortunately, this information is misrepresented in Improbable's blog."<h2>Epic Games swoops in</h2>The saga didn't end with Unity's blog. That same day, Epic's Sweeney and Improbable CEO Herman Narula penned a blog post together saying that they were starting a $25 million fund to assist developers "who were left in limbo."&#xa0;"Epic Games' partnership with Improbable, and the integration of Improbable's cloud-based development platform SpatialOS, is based on shared values, and a shared belief in how companies should work together to support mutual customers in a straightforward, no-surprises way," they wrote in <a href="https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/epic-games-and-improbable-working-together-for-developers">the blog post</a>.Sweeney tells Business Insider that developers shouldn't be locked into Unity-approved services just because of some changes in the terms of service."As a new operator of a store and online services, Epic's ability to serve developers depends on whether they're free to choose us, or if Unity can say they're locked into Unity-approved services," Sweeney said.<h2>Improbable speaks out again</h2>On Friday, Improbable made another blog post, saying this was its "<a href="https://improbable.io/company/news/2019/01/11/improbable-a-final-statement-on-spatialos-and-unity">final statement</a>." In the post, it clarified that it had received verbal confirmation from Unity that it was not in breach of Unity's terms of service. It also said that although SpatialOS games based on Unity can stay live, the fact that Unity revoked its license keys means that Improbable cannot legally provide support to those games' developers, which includes fixing bugs."We regarded this as the end of the matter and proceeded with commercial discussions. Until the recent change, neither we nor Unity had reason to believe there was any issue for developers," Improbable wrote.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>It also said that the terms of service cast too wide of a net, as the terms could put any cloud-based multiplayer solution or cloud-based streaming solution at risk of being in violation. After Unity clarified that Improbable was in violation of its terms of service, Improbable decided to put a public notice, says the blog post.Finally, Improbable said that Unity should either unsuspend its Unity Editor license, or else clarify its terms and conditions - something that, again, Unity has pledged to do.&#xa0;"We urgently need clarity in order to move forward. Everyone requires a long term, dependable answer from Unity on what is and is not allowed, in a documented legal form," Improbable wrote. "More broadly, developers are asking about other services, not just Improbable's. This urgently needs resolution."<div></div><div></div><div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saturn-losing-rings-faster-than-thought-nasa-2018-12">Saturn is officially losing its rings - and they're disappearing much faster than scientists had anticipated</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

The creator of 'Fortnite' is getting involved with an intense feud between $2.6 billion Unity and $2 billion startup Improbable

A barely three-month-old game that isn't even through being developed has already amassed over $100 million revenue from over 4 million players, each of whom bought the game for $30.Weirder still: The game is bizarrely named, "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" - only, the developers behind it usually spell it in all caps. Bluehole StudiosThe game has been a big hit on Steam, but that's community of game enthusiasts. So you might think that, in order to reach a broader audience, the game's makers - a South Korean studio named Bluehole - might change its name to something a bit less esoteric name. But you would be wrong. "People are talking about it, that's the main thing," the game's creative director, Brendan Greene, told me in an interview earlier this month at the annual E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles, California.He added, "Yeah it's a silly name, but f--- it."Greene is the infamous "PlayerUnknown" in the game's name; it's his online handle. And "Battlegrounds" is his game.The foundation for "Battlegrounds" was a mod Greene created for two other games: "ArmA 3" and "H1z1." The mod, which he called "Battle Royale," introduced a new mode for playing those games where the goal was to be the last player standing. The mod was named after the Japanese film that inspired it.Toei CorporationA scene from "Battle Royale," the movie.If you haven't heard of "Battle Royale," it doesn't matter - the premise is familiar to anyone who's seen "The Hunger Games." In "Battle Royale," a group of Japanese high school students are forced onto a deserted island with a small selection of survival gear and weaponry. The goal: Be the last one standing.Greene took that same premise to "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds." Bluehole couldn't name it "Battle Royale," of course - that's already a movie, and Bluehole doesn't have the rights to a video game adaptation of the film (nor is the game an attempt at one).The game's name is kind of a mouthful. Players, tired of saying/typing such a long and bizarre name, have taken to calling it "PUBG" (pronounced: "pub-gee") or simply "Battlegrounds." So, why does Bluehole stick with such an absurd name? Here's Greene's explanation:"It's only called 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' because 'Battlegrounds' you can't get a copyright on. You just can't. So calling it 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' [makes sense] because it was 'PlayerUnknown's Battle Royale' before that. And it's all caps because it looks better as all caps. No other reason. I'm not shouting it." <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/battlegrounds-call-of-duty-playerunknown-pc-gaming-steam-2017-5">Everything you need to know about 'Battlegrounds' - an unfinished game that's already made $60 million</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' isn't changing its insane name: 'It's a silly name, but f--- it!'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Apex Legends</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>"Apex Legends" and "Fortnite" have tens of millions of players and are transforming the video-game industry.</li><li>The two free-to-play, 'battle Royale' games have boosted their creators, Electronic Arts and Epic Games, as well as retailers and toy makers such as GameStop.</li><li>They have hurt other video-game publishers such as Activision Blizzard, and pushed some studios to shut down. </li><li>Watch <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/ea-stock">EA</a>, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/gme-stock">GameStop</a>, and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/atvi-stock">Activision-Blizzard</a> trade live.</li></ul>"Fortnite" and "Apex Legends" have shaken up the video-game industry, boosting their creators as well as retailers and toymakers, but hurting rival publishers and pushing some studios to shut down."Fortnite" is the the world's most popular game with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-people-play-fortnite-2018-11?r=US&amp;IR=T">around 250 million players</a>. It's signature, free-to-play mode drops 100 players on an island for a "battle royale" with only one winner. It generated <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-does-fortnite-make-2019-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">close to $2.5 billion in revenue</a> from sales of virtual items in 2018, according to Nielsen's SuperData tracking arm. Creator Epic Games netted $3 billion in profit from "Fortnite" and its other games last year, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/27/epic-fortnite-3-billion-profit/">according to Techcrunch</a>.Electronic Arts' entry in the battle-royale genre, "Apex Legends," was released in February and attracted more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apex-legends-downloads-2-million-first-day-2019-2?r=US&amp;IR=T">50 million players in its first month</a>. Nearly 30% of the game's players are new to EA, CEO Andrew Wilson said on the company's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4261270-electronic-arts-inc-ea-ceo-andrew-wilson-q4-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">fourth-quarter earnings call</a>. The influx of fresh blood fueled a boost in total active players to more than 500 million in the year to March. "'Apex Legends' is easily the fastest-growing franchise we've ever had," said COO Blake Jorgensen on the call.He estimated the game drew between 7.5 million and 15 million players simultaneously - five to 10 times the largest number of users on FIFA at any one time.It also drove EA's net bookings - net revenue plus any change in deferred revenue - from live services up 24% to $854 million <a href="https://ir.ea.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Electronic-Arts-Reports-Q4-and-Full-Year-FY19-Financial-Results/default.aspx">last quarter</a>. Management predicted "Apex Legends" would generate net bookings of $300 million to $400 million this fiscal year, driving overall live-services net bookings up 10% to 15%."Apex looks to have had an oversized impact on the quarter despite its short time on the market," Gerrick Johnson, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said in a research note. "Given that 'Apex Legends' is still a relatively new phenomenon, we believe the guidance for this free-to-play game is on the conservative side."However, Wilson warned the game's daily user count had "come down slightly" since February, and strongly suggested user spending was down. Those trends highlight a major headache with free-to-play games - pushing out enough content and virtual items for sale to keep players engaged and money rolling in."The biggest challenge on spend is having enough things that people could spend money on," he said.<h2>Other companies have benefited from the hype around "Apex Legends" and "Fortnite."</h2>GameStop's net sales of accessories surged 22% to $957 million last fiscal year. Customers snapped up headsets and controllers, reflecting the "ongoing popularity of battle-royale-genre games like 'Fortnite' and now 'Apex Legends,'" COO Robert Lloyd said on the video-game retailer's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4252488-gamestop-corp-gme-management-q4-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">fourth-quarter earnings call</a>. Both games continue to drive sales of accessories and in-game currency in its stores, he added.Similarly, Turtle Beach CEO Juergen Stark described the "Fortnite effect" on the gaming-accessories group's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4261763-turtle-beach-corporation-hear-ceo-juergen-stark-q1-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">fourth-quarter earnings call</a>. He argued most of the growth in headset sales in North America between 2017 and 2018 - from about 9 million to 14.7 million, according to Nielsen - was "attributable to the influx of new gamers and new headset users from battle royale games, especially Fortnite."Moreover, "Apex Legends is "keeping headset users engaged," and its lack of a price tag frees up money for gamers to spend on replacing and upgrading their headsets, Stark added.It's been a similar story at Logitech, the computer accessories group. Fortnite and PUBG - PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, another battle royale game - were "bringing new gamers into the market and driving upgrades to gaming-dedicated peripherals," CEO Bracken Darrell said on the <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4169594-logitechs-logi-ceo-bracken-darrell-q4-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">fourth-quarter earnings call last year</a>. "If you create something that has magnetic appeal...and it's fun to watch, like Fortnite, you have the potential to drive not only the existing players to move over, but even more important, new players to come in and new people to start watching," Darrell added."There are new games coming on that look like they're on track to be as big as Fortnite," he said on Logitech's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4258078-logitech-international-s-logi-ceo-bracken-darrell-q4-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">fourth-quarter earnings call this year</a>, suggesting he thinks "Apex Legends" could provide a similar boost to the market.<h2>"Fortnite" obsession has also spread to the toy shelf.</h2>Funko, which <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/heres-how-funko-dodged-the-toys-r-us-disaster-2019-3-1028035533">makes pop-culture collectibles such as bobbleheads</a>, earned 10% of its revenue from "Fortnite" last quarter, <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4259404-funko-inc-fnko-ceo-brian-mariotti-q1-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">according to its latest earnings call</a>. Meanwhile, Hasbro executives reported "a very strong start" for "Nerf Fortnite" and said "Fortnite: Monopoly" was "performing well" on the toy giant's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4255973-hasbro-inc-ceo-brian-goldner-q1-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">first-quarter earnings call</a>.Others are starting to see their "Fortnite" tailwind fade. Plantronics' sales of consumer headsets slowed to about $48 million last quarter - lower than in any of the previous three quarters - as "the Fortnite phenomenon is starting to play out a little bit," CEO Joseph Burton said on the audio-communications group's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4261239-plantronics-inc-plt-ceo-joseph-burton-q4-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">fourth-quarter earnings call</a>.<h2>The success of "Apex Legends" and "Fortnite" has come at others' expense.</h2>Keywords Studios - which provides testing, localization, and other services to video-game companies - said in its <a href="https://www.keywordsstudios.com/content/uploads/2019/04/Keywords-Studios-Annual-Report-2018.pdf">latest annual report</a> that "the competitive effect and loss of player base" from "Fortnite" forced its clients to spend less on supporting their games and terminate games entirely. By vacuuming up too many dollars, the game may also have pressured studios such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/telltale-games-layoffs-winding-down-operations-2018-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">Telltale</a> and Starbreeze into closing down, it added.Activision-Blizzard's franchises - which include "Overwatch," "Call of Duty," and "Warcraft" - suffered "some reach impact from competitors," COO Collister Johnston said on the company's <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4259399-activision-blizzard-inc-atvi-ceo-robert-kotick-q1-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">first-quarter earnings call</a>, referring to "Fortnite" and "Apex Legends." Total monthly active users fell by 3% to 345 million, <a href="https://investor.activision.com/static-files/3852b757-73e0-47a4-86e4-cda7d11bbce5">according to the group's earnings report</a>, pushing net bookings down about 9% to below $1.3 billion for the quarter.However, Johnson spied "real opportunity" for Activision-Blizzard in the combined battle royale and free-to-play space, particularly as the company is ramping up investment in its biggest franchises. A game that throws "Warcraft" or "Overwatch" characters into a battle royale could be around the corner."Fortnite" has popularized the battle royale format in video games, fueled demand for everything from gaming headsets to board games, eaten into others' sales, and perhaps even pressured competitors to shut up shop. "Apex Legends" and the inevitable copycats will hope to make a similar mark on the industry. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-2-details-you-missed-2019-4">14 details you may have missed in 'Game of Thrones' season 8 episode 2</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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