Start your week right, with our quick take on the stories that are impacting the mobile industry right now.
To help get you primed and ready for another week in mobile gaming, we’ve curated the biggest stories you need to know from the last seven days.
1) Riot veteran MJ Wong prepares Web3 AstrArk for gamers who "should be better treated"
Multiplayer Web3 games are in the works at Moonveil Entertainment, with the company having now raised $5.4 million from a two-part round led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Arcane Group. The funding round began in September 2022 and closed only recently, with $3 million raised at the start and another $2.4 million later.
Moonveil’s games in progress are tower defence PvP title AstrArk and a multiplayer game known as Codename Project B.
2) Chris Petrovic, CBO at FunPlus talks new soft launch, Sea of Conquest
FunPlus’ latest title Sea of Conquest is available now in soft launch on Google Play. A pirate-themed strategy game, this new release enables players to captain their own pirate ship in a quest to seize the seas.
Notably, Sea of Conquest features Dolby’s latest sound and vision technology to provide the best possible experience for players on a small screen.
"Our vision extends beyond the horizon as we strive to transform Sea of Conquest into a versatile IP seasoned with AAA features and poised to capture the hearts of players across diverse platforms and channels," said FunPlus CBO Chris Petrovic.
3) Casual games hub Playbite nabs $1 million in funding
US-based Playbite has raised $1 million in funding towards developing a casual games hub on mobile and the web. The round was led by Grishin Robotics with further participation from M25, Tundra Ventures, Capitalize VC and Magic Fund.
Playbite is already on the App Store, Google Play and the web, currently featuring 42 single-player and multiplayer titles.
4) Goddess of Victory: Nikke celebrates an incredibly lucrative first anniversary
As of November 4, it has already been one whole year since Goddess of Victory: Nikke landed in the hands of mobile gamers everywhere, and in those 12 months the game has generated $500 million despite a swathe of controversies.
Developer Shift Up and publisher Tencent have been criticised for censoring content in a game full of racy character designs, but even so, to say Nikke’s first year has been a victorious one financially would be an understatement.
5) Developer Funstop secures $1.5 million funding from Indian investors
India-based developer Funstop Games has raised $1.5 million in a funding round from InfoEdge Ventures, and has plans to use the investment to expand development and ad tech capabilities. Its current games portfolio will be strengthened through this move - a portfolio which has already amassed 50 million downloads and over $4 million in revenue.
Funstop titles include Pitstop Manager, Airport Rush 3D and Perfect Time.
