Games business roundup: VR, Project Alloy, Pearl Abyss, pay-to-dress-up, Goldman Sachs, lockboxes, and Bluehole

By chance, a whole bunch of industry-related posts landed in our newsroom this week. Well, not entirely by chance; our tipsters showered us in VR links in particular. We’ve rounded everything up for a quick look at what’s going on in the depths of the game industry’s moneybags.

• USA Today mocks VR, pointing out that devices’ game offerings are still weak and running down all the big platforms.
• AMC, however, is all in on virtual reality — in movie theaters.
• Intel’s Project Alloy VR headset is dead before it began, without much explanation. “Project Alloy served as a great proof of concept for Intel and the industry – showing what’s possible in a high-performance, immersive and untethered VR experience,” the company reportedly said. “What we’ve learned through Project Alloy will inform future efforts.”
• Want to feel creeped out? Goldman Sachs is poking around in digital gaming, paying attention to mobile, business models, and e-sports. Spoiler, they looooooove how the gaming business model is shaping up.

• Gamasutra has a new piece discussing online gaming business models, specifically the pay-to-dress-up model vs. pay-to-win models. (There’s a cynical note about how pay-to-dress-up actually begins as pay-to-win when characters first launch, only to see nerfs later.)
• Bethsoft is still working on its trio of VR ports, including one for Skyrim. What would you think of ESO in VR?
• Pearl Abyss’ recent IPO did well enough that the company gave free phones to everyone in its employ.
• Even car games are getting in on the lootbox action, as Ars Technica reports on Forza Motorsport’s new “prize crates,” which will eventually be sold for real money.
• Remember when Bluehole denied the claim that Tencent had invested in it? It has now confirmed that talks did happen; Tencent aims to publish PUBG in China and buy up a stake of the company. In the interim, Bluehole has set up PUBG Corporation to manage the game, with offices eventually in Korea, USA, Japan, and Europe.