Hot Five

Hot Five: Supercell makes first NFT commitment, Apple Arcade execs leave tech giant, and only 16% of mobile players want blockchain games

The hottest news articles on PG.biz

Hot Five: Supercell makes first NFT commitment, Apple Arcade execs leave tech giant, and only 16% of mobile players want blockchain games

To keep you up to date on the biggest news in mobile gaming, we round up the five most-read stories on PocketGamer.biz each week.

Read on and digest…

1. Supercell breaks ground with first investment in NFT gaming

UK-based developer Oxalis Games has raised $4.5 million in support of its upcoming Web3 social simulator/farming RPG, Moonfrost.

Notably, this is the very first Web3 project to be financially support by Supercell, as part of $4.5 million seed round led by Blocore, including Supercell, Animoca Brands, Griffin Gaming Partners, and Sir Ian Livingstone and Jagex CEO Phil Mansell as angels.

2. Apple Arcade’s senior team keeps shrinking

Apple Arcade execs Mark Bozon and Kathy Astromoff leave to pursue very divergent paths – Bozon has been appointed as a senior creative leader for Disney's cross-divisional Next Generation Storytelling, whereas Astromoff is leaving to commit as a full-time climate activist.

3. Turkish mobile puzzle games developer Cypher Games raises $3.2 million

Turkish mobile games studio Cypher Games has secured $3.2 million in a pre-seed financing round led by the game venture capital firm Play Ventures, with the participation of 500 Global, Joakim Achrén, founder of Next Games and Elite Game Developers, and Akin Babayigitf, founder of Tripledot Studios.

4. 68% of mobile games devs find marketing more difficult following Apple ATT

Mobile games developers have felt a greater sting from Apple's privacy changes than app developers, according to a new report by Tenjin and Growth FullStack.

Following the introduction of ATT, advertiser spending on Google Play has increased at the expense of the App Store with 59 per cent shifting a proportion of their budget across, however the report notes that iOS has started a recovery of the lost ground.

5. Google: only 16% of mobile gamers want NFT-based games

The first of Google’s Mobile Insights Report 2022, a four-part series, aims to support games developers with a range of reports to help identify player behaviour and how it can inform game design.

The report breaks down parameters including impulses to download new mobile games, efficacy of in-game advertising, exciting future trends, and desire for NFT-based games.


Editor

Former editor of PocketGamer.biz, Khai can also be found on Vice, Star Trek, and in numerous scientific journals and publications.