EA had been seeking an acquisition from a bigger, and the likes of Disney, Apple, Comcast, and Amazon were linked to EA, but it appears that Amazon has the winning bid. The deal marks another major acquisition as Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard.

It will be interesting to see how Amazon manages EA, and it there are significant plans for integrations with their other properties, such as Twitch.

The post Amazon Acquiring EA appeared first on Sudairy.

Per the report, along with the aforementioned, the National Music Publishers Association, the Music Managers Forum, the American Association of Independent Music, SAG-AFTRA and more than a dozen others collaborated on a letter sent to Twitch and their owner Amazon slamming them for their lack of licensing deals with many major music rights-holders.

The letter was reportedly addressed to Amazon founder/CEO Jeff Bezos, with Twitch CEO Emmet Shear on copy, and was obtained by Variety.

According to the report, the letter accuses Twitch of failing to secure proper synch and mechanical licenses for its recently launched Soundtrack tool, as well as “allowing and enabling its streamers to use our respective members’ music without authorization, in violation of Twitch’s music guidelines,” in addition to a number of other claims.

“Twitch appears to do nothing in response to the thousands of notices of music infringement that it has received nor does it currently even acknowledge that it received them, as it has done in the past,” the letter states.

Per Variety:

“We represent artists, songwriters, musicians, vocalists, managers, producers, audio engineers, major and independent labels and publishers, and many other professionals in all genres of music in the United States,” the letter begins. “We read with interest Twitch’s recent announcement regarding its Soundtrack tool.  According to Twitch, this tool gives Twitch’s users the ability to feature a curated library of licensed music in their live streams.[1] We appreciate that Twitch has acknowledged that it is good business to offer licensed music for use by its streamers, and we welcome that Twitch has started to enter into some agreements with rightsholders to provide licensed music for use by its streamers.

“However, we are confounded by Twitch’s apparent stance that neither synch nor mechanical licenses are necessary for its Soundtrack tool.  We are also deeply disappointed that Twitch continues to allow and enable its streamers to use our respective members’ music without authorization, in violation of Twitch’s music guidelines.[2]  We are further concerned that Twitch continues to host and widely make available unlicensed music on its platform despite the company’s announcements, most recently in June 2020, that it would remove such unlicensed music.[3]  Twitch appears to do nothing in response to the thousands of notices of music infringement that it has received nor does it currently even acknowledge that it received them, as it has done in the past.”

“Further,” the letter continues, “we are concerned by your responses to questions regarding licensing made during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on July 29, 2020.  We note that you failed to confirm whether Twitch has acquired any licenses to make copies of musical compositions or digital performances of any sound recordings on your platform.  You also failed to state what action Twitch is taking to prevent unauthorized copies and performances.

“Twitch’s neglect of the fundamental rights of musicians, songwriters, sound recording artists, and many others whose music is exploited on Twitch without due compensation stands in stark contrast to Twitch’s competitors and to the support of such interests extended by Amazon’s own Amazon Music services.”

“As Twitch uses music to grow its audience and shape its brand, the company owes creators more than the willful blindness and vague platitudes you offered during your Congressional testimony.  For working songwriters and performers, fair royalties on a growing platform like Twitch can literally be a matter of life and death – the difference between having a place to live and homelessness and having access to health care or being uninsured.  For others it’s the difference between being able to work as an artist or having to give up a lifetime of dreams.”

The letter was signed by:

American Association of Independent Music
Americana Music Association
Artist Rights Alliance
Church Music Publishers’ Association
Christian Music Trade Association
Global Music Rights
Gospel Music Association
International Bluegrass Music Association
Living Legends Foundation
Music Managers’ Forum – US
Nashville Songwriters Association International
National Music Publishers’ Association
Recording Academy
Recording Industry Association of America
Rhythm & Blues Foundation
SAG-AFTRA
Songwriters of North America
SoundExchange

If you’re looking to take the game off of Twitch and into IRL, then join us at the best indoor golf Fort Lauderdale has to offer, with great prices, drinks, and fun just waiting around the corner.

The post Amazon, Twitch Under Fire from RIAA, Major Industry Groups for Using Unlicensed Music appeared first on Sudairy.

As of right now, users in the United States can request access to the streaming service starting today, but there is currently no available information on when it will become available internationally.

Luna will be available for an “introductory price” of $5.99 per month during its early access phase, and gives subscribers the ability to play Luna Plus channel games across two devices simultaneously, offering 4K / 60fps resolution for “select titles.”

More than 100 games will be available via the Luna Plus channel, including — Resident Evil 7, Control, Panzer Dragoon, A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Surge 2, Yooka-Laylee, GRID, Abzu, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, at launch.

Amazon has also partnered with Ubisoft for a specific “gaming channel”, saying (h/t The Verge); “Players who subscribe to this channel will have access to their favorite Ubisoft titles in up to 4K resolution, mobile gameplay, and access to new titles when the channel launches like Assassins Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Immortals Fenyx Rising the same day they release. This is the first of multiple Luna game channels in development, where customers can play games from their favorite publishers and genres.”

Amazon’s Luna will have Twitch integration, which should be good news for twitch streamers looking to incorporate it into their channels and streams.

Amazon also announced its own Alexa-enabled Luna Controller, which will cost $49.99 during the early access period and is being described as:

“Luna Controller is Alexa-enabled and connects directly to the cloud to effortlessly control your game, featuring a multiple-antenna design that prioritizes un-interrupted Wi-Fi for lower latency gaming. In fact, our testing showed a reduction in roundtrip latency when playing Luna Controller with Cloud Direct vs. Luna Controller via Bluetooth, with reductions of between 17 to 30 milliseconds among PC, Fire TV, and Mac. Because the Luna Controller connects directly to cloud servers, players can easily switch between screens — such as Fire TV to mobile phone — without additional pairing or configuration changes.”

The post Amazon’s Luna Officially Announced appeared first on Sudairy.

While Prime Gaming will offer members the same benefits that Twitch Prime offered, the name change will help their gaming section follow suit with other Amazon services such as Prime Video, Prime Reading, and others.

Members will still be able to cash in on benefits such as free games, in-game exclusives, and a free monthly subscription to give out to their favorite twitch channels, among others.

The post Amazon Rebrands Twitch Prime as Prime Gaming appeared first on Sudairy.

The new product will allow brands and corporations to provide a more personalized audience and/or customer experience much like they see on their platform Twitch, or YouTube.

IVS uses the same technology that powers Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform.

“Customers have been asking to use Twitch’s video streaming technology on their own platforms for a range of use cases like education, retail, sports, fitness, and more,” Amazon IVS General Manager Martin Hess said in am official statement.

“Now with Amazon IVS, customers can leverage the same innovative technology that has taken Twitch over a decade to build and refine. Any developer can build an interactive live streaming experience into their own application without having to manage the underlying video infrastructure.”

The post Amazon Letting Businesses Use Twitch Streaming Tech for Live Streams appeared first on Sudairy.

Amazon is running the sale from now until May 19th, so you have time to get your hands on the items, some of which are discounted at up to 75%.

Here is the breakdown:

• A Way Out — $20
• Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered — $21
• Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection — $20
• Assassin’s Creed Origins — $36
• Assassin’s Creed Origins season pass — $28
• Burnout Paradise Remastered — $30
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided — $8
• The Disney Afternoon Collection — $8 (
• Doom — $20
• Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen — $20
• EA Sports UFC 3 — $40
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition — $30
• The Evil Within 2 — $30
• Fallout 4 — $20 (
• For Honor — $20
• Just Cause 3 — $8
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 — $42
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm — $10
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of War — $30
• Monster Hunter World — $45
• NBA 2K18 — $30
• Project Cars 2: Deluxe Edition — $45
• Resident Evil 7 — $22
• Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration — $20
• The Sims 4 — $25
• Star Wars Battlefront II — $24
• Tekken 7 — $30
• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition — $8
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus — $30

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