In this week’s TPoI, Disney acquires Fox for $52 billion, esports developer Skillz secures $25 million in funding, and members of the games industry react to the FCC repealing Net Neutrality.

Disney Acquires Fox for $52 Billion

In one of the biggest acquisitions the entertainment industry has ever seen, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $52.4 billion to obtain many of 21st Century Fox’s assets and production utilities. Forbes reports that Disney will gain access to Fox’s movie and television studios but that Fox will retain Fox News, Fox Business Network, many of their local news stations, and their sports networks FS1 and FS2. The Washington Post reports that this acquisition will also allow Disney to take Fox’s 30% stake in Hulu, one of the largest streaming services available internationally. BBC News speculates that The Walt Disney Company may have planned to buy these studios not only to expand their cinema efforts but also to expand into new distribution platforms like streaming and web shows.      

Esports Developer Skills Gets $25 Million in Funding

Skillz, a mobile esports platform previously backed by the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Mets and Sacramento Kings has secured a series C funding round of $25 million through telecommunications companies Telstra and Liberty Global. Gamesindustry.biz reports that the platform has 100 million mobile esports tournaments and has seen growth of over 50,000% over the past three years. Forbes covered the company’s exponential growth and anticipates Skillz to go public in the near future.     

The Games Industry Reacts to the FCC Repealing Net Neutrality

In a 3-2 decision on Thursday night, the Federal Communications Commission decided to repeal Net Neutrality rules which guaranteed that American Internet service providers could limit access to websites for any reason. Gamesindustry.biz speculates that this decision could affect not only gamers, but game developers who would be limited in their ability to coordinate and work over the Internet. Dot Esports featured quotes from Sunless Sea developer Alexis Kennedy about how her access to fast internet allowed her to work overseas on projects and how that opportunity would be limited by the FCC’s decision. Polygon reports that this impacts independent developers in a much more immediate way as they don’t have the resources to work in house and that repealing Net Neutrality may slow the growth of the games industry as a whole.