The news: Oasis Consortium, a group of game developers and online companies envisioning an ethical and safe internet, are spearheading efforts to introduce safeguards and ethics in the metaverse and other VR environments.

Nvidia ends quest to purchase Arm for $40B: The merger that collapsed under regulatory pressure and potential lawsuits serves as a cautionary tale in a frenzied Big Tech M&A environment.

The pandemic has brought an influx of new users for subscription OTT, live videos, and video games in 2020, but other activities such as social networking, mobile messaging, and digital video haven’t seen the same bump.

For now, video games and AR/VR are two precursors of the metaverse that offer marketers a chance to experiment.

An expanding list of fashion names has been getting involved with gaming and metaverse platforms. Notable brands include Nike, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Balenciaga, Burberry, Gucci, Vans, Zara, and Forever 21.

Europe's video game market grew 22% YoY in 2020: The rise of social and mobile games is presenting opportunities for marketers to reach gaming audiences.

Ohio manufacturing site could turn the tide for Intel: The new location will employ 3,000 and could inspire other chip manufacturers to jump on local government incentives and cheap land.

According to a November 2020 Toluna and Harris Interactive survey of mobile gamers in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Australia, 60% were familiar with rewarded ads in mobile games—and 54% even said they liked these ads, while just 17% disliked them. Mobile gamers were most likely to dislike screen takeovers (44%) and banners (32%).

There also appears to be a rift growing between Big Tech’s vision for the metaverse and the gaming industry’s: Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé recently criticized Meta’s plans and (unsurprisingly) said he has more faith in prototypes from gaming companies like Roblox and Epic Games.

Gamers in the country have been spending on in-game skins, apparel, and items for years. About half (50.4%) of internet users in China are online gamers, according to CNNIC, and video game spending in the country grew 6.4% to RMB 296.5 billion ($45.9 billion) in 2021, according to a study by gaming industry research firm CNG.

Article: Netflix makes second major video game acquisition.

Time spent with other connected devices blossomed by 35.4% to hit 1 hour and 35 minutes in 2020, when bored US adults with canceled in-person plans hit a new level of binge-watching and gaming. While growth has slowed, the other connected devices category hasn't given up those gains: US adults will spend 1 hour and 47 minutes with the category this year.

Here’s how it works: A self-proclaimed gamified finance app, Long Game uses prize-linked savings and casual gaming to incentivize customers to better manage their finances and improve their financial literacy. Truist plans to relaunch an improved version of the app and make it available to over 15 million households, according to TechCrunch.

More on this: The opening of a physical store represents the Facebook parent company’s latest effort to sell people on its vision of the metaverse—the immersive digital world for working, socializing and gaming—that’s accessible via headsets.