Vlambeer slams €10 million dev fund, Rovio wants to educate kids, and Dhoom:3 does 1 million on Indian WinPho

Last week's top five stories

• 1 MWC 2014: Samsung explains its S Console, GamePad, and Multi-Screen Games

  

  It seems that Samsung isn't content with simply being the biggest mobile device company on the planet. The firm's showing at MWC 2014 suggesting that it's now attempting to make big waves in the mobile gaming industry too.

  The South Korean giant showed off lots of new technology including the S Console, a device that allows content to be displayed on the big screen, the GamePad, a controller that allows for a traditional console gaming experience, and Multi-Screen games, new low latency technology that enables multiple devices with screens to sync up.

  For more information, and for some Oscar-worthy demonstration videos, you know where to click.

  
  

• 2 Vlambeer pours cold water on GameOn's €10 million development fund

  

  GameOn - a €10 million fund designed to help game startups based in the Netherlands - sounds like a great idea, right?

  Not according to Vlambeer's Rami Ismail, who last week expressed his disappointment in the scheme, which he suggested would only be used to help 'scalable', largely free-to-play, outfits - shunning other studios that could put the cash to good use.

  "Non-scalable? We have an average ROI of over 500 percent, we've never made a game that earned less than the previous one by a margin of at least 150 percent, we've been stable, we're visible and we're a respected, award-winning company," said Ismail.

  "Every game we made added a tiny slice of money to our monthly revenue, and we were already way in the green when Ridiculous Fishing launched. Vlambeer can scale, we just opt not to."

  
  

• 3 Exclusive: Hit by Apple's clause 2.25, app discovery tool MagicSolver set to 'call it a day'

  

  A reliable source recently revealed that Cambridge-based user acquisition specialist, MagicSolver, was preparing to close its doors in March, with all of the company's staff set to be let go.

  The firm has since refuted that claim, and after reaching out to us in an attempt to clarify the situation, it seems that it won't be shutting up shop after all.

  Instead, company CEO Emmanuel Carraud has revealed that MagicSolver consciously made the decision to "move on from the app recommendation market".

  "The landscape for app recommendation has become far more complex than it was back in 2009 and we do not expect that to change in the short term," detailed Carraud in a statement.

  "We do have plans for the future, but we are not ready to share them yet."

   

  
  

• 4 Exclusive: Rovio unveils groundbreaking new publishing program

  

  Rovio is on a mission to bring education and gaming together, with the Angry Birds developer unveiling a new third party publishing initiative designed to make learning fun, and introduce a new generation of children to games that "entertain, inspire, and educate".

  Rovio is confident that its huge presence in the mobile market will give developers who sign up to the new publishing program "extraordinary visibility" through its cross promotion activities.

  "When kids are bored, their learning plummets," detailed the Finnish firm in a statement given to PocketGamer.biz.

  "When they're engaged, anything's possible. So we're looking for new game ideas to entertain kids and motivate them to learn. Games that parents can also feel good about."

  
  

• 5 How Dhoom:3 became the first game to one million downloads on the Indian Windows Phone Store

  

  India is poised to take over China's position as the most populous nation by 2020, so why, when we talk about emerging markets, does it tend to get the short shrift?

  Indian developer 99Games is perhaps a sign that the times are a changing, with the developer now demanding attention after Dhoom:3 became the first mobile game to be downloaded more than one million times on the Indian Windows Phone Store.

  We recently had a chance to chat with 99Games producer, Shilpa Bhat, to find out more about the studio's success.

  "The Microsoft India team was looking at exclusively launching the latest game IPs on their platform in India and was supporting Indian mobile developers with marketing/promotional support," said Shilpa.

  "The install base of Windows Phone devices is growing quickly in India due to this country being one of Nokia's biggest markets."