Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.
Each week, we'll be counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving just a glimpse of the industry's big issues, from five to one.
Freemium revenue from top releases on App Store jumps tenfold yoyAs readers of the PG.biz week that was will know, the growing prevalence of the freemium model was one of the big themes of last week.
Particularly of note was Distimo's claim of a tenfold jump in freemium revenues in the top 200 grossing games on the App Store.
Indeed, within this select group, revenue generated from freemium games has now surpassed that of paid releases, resulting in an overall 79 percent surge in revenue made by all top 200 titles year on year.
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Life after Mr Goodliving: How Grand Cru is looking to revolutionise social mobile gamingThe creative merits of social gaming have been called into question ever since it first sprung to life, but the model practised by the likes of Zynga isn't the only way of doing things.
In fact, former Mr. Goodliving development head Markus Pasula told us social gaming needs to be ... well, more social.
"We have a vision of social games where you play with your friends, not milk them," joked Pasula, who now serves as CEO of Helsinki start up Grand Cru.
"Habbo Hotel is the best example of what we want to do. LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft are also inspirations in terms of gameplay as creation and player co-operation."
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With 320 backers, dev co-op Who Needs Chillingo? rebrands and readies itself for launchIt was known as Who Needs Chillingo?, but self publishing co-operative has rebranded as Selfpubd as it readies itself for launch, having generated much needed interest with its former moniker.
Its 320 backers and counting are now being encouraged to register on the movement's new website, allowing them to pool ideas, schedule releases and tap up game testers.
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Appy's Paul O'Connor on taking Trucks & Skulls from premium to freemiumSo alluring is the prospect of driving dollars through the freemium model, that developers behind existing paid releases are now taking their titles into the free-to-play market.
The idea, Appy Entertainment's Paul O'Connor's told us, is to both monetise a game's existing base further, and push it out to new players at the same time. It's resulted in the studio adding virtual currency and in-app purchases to Trucks & Skulls, as well as offering it for free for a limited time.
"Adding a freemium store to a strong-selling premium game was a challenge, a bit like that old commercial about building a plane in flight," said O'Connor.
"It turns out player feedback was very positive - 5-star iTunes App Store reviews continued to appear - and the numbers indicated that our pivot from premium to freemium was an unqualified success."
Click here to read more.Pachter's 'baseless' comments on unpaid developer overtime are 'poisonous', says Spilt Milk MD Andrew John SmithBut while monetising a game's audience is a key issue for developers right now, also on the agenda is just how much money those working on a title take home at the end of the month.
In an email sent exclusively to the site, Spilt Milk Studios MD Andrew John Smith reacted angrily to the stance of Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter, who said those unwilling to do unpaid overtime should get out of the industry altogether.
"I've got to give a few words over to the enormously insensitive and out of touch garbage that Pachter has seen fit to dump all over the internet recently," Smith said.
"I want to make good money off of my own games. Working for a company other than your own makes this little more than a pipe dream for most people. These stories are everywhere.
"Somehow he's missed them, and that proves to me that he is a terrible analyst when the slightest exploration of the topic wouldve uncovered a ton of information to the contrary."
Click here to read more.Until next week, Pocket Gamer pickers.
