TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: Ubisoft surpasses Q1 2019-2020 targets; Nintendo announces update to Switch; and DouYu goes public with USD$775m (£624m) Nasdaq IPO.

Ubisoft surpasses Q1 2019-2020 targets

Despite not releasing a major new title within the first quarter of the 2019-2020 fiscal year, Ubisoft has smashed its projection for the period, earning USD$352.8 (£314.5m). This likely reflects the fact that players are perhaps staying with games longer thanks to a range of factors including continued updates, DLC, live events, etc. The ‘games as a service' model is perhaps also contributing to the ability to retain players for longer.

However, positivity from the better-than-expected results can be tempered by the fact that overall revenue has fallen by nearly 20% year-on-year, highlighting that AAA publishers need to continue diversifying their gaming catalogue, alongside supporting existing IP.

Nintendo announces update to Switch

Following the recent announcement of the Switch Lite handheld console, Nintendo has announced an updated version of the Switch, which increases its battery life from 2-6.5 hours to 4.5-9 hours. Interestingly, despite being an ostensibly more complex console, the new model will have a greater battery life than the Switch Lite, which has a reported between-charge time of 3-7 hours.

The new model is reported to be launched in Japan from late August. UK-based gamers won’t have to wait too long to play the updated Switch, as according to a Nintendo UK spokesperson speaking to Eurogamer: "consumers should start seeing the new packaging on store shelves starting from early September, but that will vary by individual stores and locations."

DouYu goes public with USD$775m (£624m) Nasdaq IPO

Tencent-backed streaming platform DouYu has launched on the Nasdaq stock exchange, with an IPO of 67.4m shares valued at USD$11.50 (£9.26), with the total amount worth USD$775m (£624m). This gives the company a total valuation of USD$3.73bn (£3bn), and it is the largest IPO from a Chinese company so far in 2019.

When the IPO was announced in April this year, the estimated amount the firm would raise was USD$500m (£402.3m), thus the platform has surpassed expectations in this sense. However, the USD$11.50 (£9.26) per-share valuation is at the lower limit of the initial proposed band of USD$11.50 (£9.26) - USD$14 (£11.3).