Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the stories clocking up the hits, picking up the click-throughs and generally keeping the advertisers happy by serving up page views.

Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.

Perhaps, even taking down our servers if they become too popular...

So each week, we're counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving a glimpse into of the industry's big issues, from five to one.

Here goes...



As Plants vs Zombies 2 hits 16 million downloads, EA takes FIFA 14 free-to-play

With The Simpsons: Tapped Out now generating around $100 million a year for EA, it's become a key free-to-play mobile publisher. 

And it's using those smarts for all its big titles now. 
Plants vs. Zombies 2 launched two weeks, and with 16 million downloads on iOS, it's EA's biggest mobile launch to-date. 

The company will be attempting to repeat the trick when it releases FIFA 14; the first free-to-play version of its football (or soccer) game, due out 27 September. 



'No one wants to be Zynga anymore': Lessons from the Pocket Gamer Mobile Mixer

At Pocket Gamer's latest Mobile Mixer, Thorbjörn Warin, CMO at Finnish outfit Grand Cru, suggested that companies offering games as a service shouldn’t be driven by metrics anymore, offering that, "no-one wants to be Zynga anymore".

"If you're doing games as a service – and that's what we should be calling free-to-play now - then you have to act as a service company," said Warin.

"You have to analyse the metrics, but don't be driven by them – that would make you Zynga, and no-one wants to be Zynga anymore".



Charticle Special: What happened last week when Apple altered the App Store's top grossing algorithm?

In the Hot Five for the second week running is a Charticle special filled to the brim with graphs.

In a one-off edition of the Charticle, our editor-at-large, Jon Jordan, takes a look at the changes that ensued when Apple decided to alter the App Store's top grossing algorithm two weeks ago.

"Several sources have told PocketGamer.biz they saw the position of their F2P games moving significantly, some upwards and some downwards," he wrote.

"The consensus is that Apple is now paying more attention to refunds; something Google has already taken into account with its Google Play ranking."



How Frogmind made it big with Badland (without a big marketing budget)

Have you ever wondered how you can make Apple notice a game before it’s even hit the App Store. 



Don’t worry, you’re not the only one, though according to Johannes Vuorinen from Frogmind – the studio behind Badland – it's as simple as posting a gameplay trailer.

"Publishers kept telling us they had an Apple contact and a relationship with websites, and we thought 'Well, we have a contact at Apple now too, we don't need you'," joked Vuorinen.

"We did some indie marketing, but if you have a good game, you don't need to spend a lot of money."



78% of mobile gamers spending $50+ on IAP say they've received 'their money's worth'

In a Pocket Gamer exclusive, EEDAR's market research has revealed that many of the negative perceptions surrounding free-to-play gaming may be wide of the mark.

After conducting interviews with 3,000 active mobile gamers in North America as part of a Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming 2013 study, market research firm EEDAR has found that many heaving spenders feel they are "getting their money’s worth".

"Over three-quarters (75 percent) of the players that spent $50 or more on a game and over two thirds (67 percent) of players that spent $100 or more on a game stated they were satisfied with their experience."