Industry Insights “The mobile games industry has become stuck in the mud”: Apple’s war for its 30% revenue share
February 5, 2024 Tencent Turnaround China approves 32 overseas licences including Nexon and Tencent’s Mobile DnF While an unstable landscape for games, China continues to prove a lucrative one
January 26, 2024 "don't Resist, Just Comply" Spotify: Apple’s new EU rules are “extortion” and a “complete and total farce” “The old tax was rendered unacceptable under the DMA, so they created a new one masquerading as compliance with the law”
January 26, 2024 Knock Knock Apple to the EU: Catch me if you can As Apple goes on the run, it challenges games publishers to gamble on their new, confusing terms and install fees
January 16, 2024 Tencent Tumble Tencent's external investments have dropped 87% in two years From healthcare to AI start-ups, the number of Tencent investments in external companies decreased from 299 in 2021 to just 39 in 2023
January 3, 2024 Passing The Buck Top Chinese official removed following gaming crackdown confusion Top publicity official Feng Shixin has been relieved of his duty after the release of work-in-progress tighter gaming regulations wiped $80 billion from top Chinese gaming stocks
January 2, 2024 Update China's latest gaming crackdown: What's new and what it means for mobile's biggest game makers The introduction of spending limits and bans on everything from regular login rewards to gacha gaming mechanics have thrown China's gaming giants into chaos
December 22, 2023 Tumble Guys Tencent and NetEase lose $80 billion in market value as China cracks down on game monetisation tactics New rules prohibit daily login rewards, first-time purchase bonuses and rewards for repeat spend
November 13, 2023 Meta Manoeuvres Tencent backs Meta’s VR push into China after a 14 year ban Meta and Tencent are teaming up to bring a new lower-spec VR headset to China, pitched between Quest 2 and 3
October 23, 2023 Trends Chinese gaming trends revealed as 52% of the population play games Trends, censorship, approvals, mixed genre games and more come under the microscope
October 10, 2023 Regulation Apple and Google could be on the hook for $50.5 million fine in Korea The KCC has sought remediation after accusing the two companies of anti-competitive practices on mobile
October 3, 2023 An Apple A Day Apple's App Store steps into line to comply with Chinese regulations The company has previously come under fire for the Chinese government, but it appears it's ready to play ball
September 28, 2023 Chinese App Market Apple isn’t complying with China’s new app store regulations The Cyberspace Administration of China has named 26 app stores complying with its new rules
September 21, 2023 Comment & Opinion "Your mobile game studio is dying. Here’s how to save it" Village Studios founder Will Luton takes a deep dive into the changing mobile industry and how developers can survive this evolving market
September 6, 2023 Chinese App Stores China’s app stores begin compliance with China’s latest regulations Tencent and Xiaomi are among the app store owners now complying with the government’s regulations
September 4, 2023 Meta Subscriptions Meta may offer EU users an ad-dodging subscription service The move would allow them to circumvent new EU policies regarding data collection practices
August 11, 2023 Week That Was Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news including developer hardships, IP disputes and China's ongoing war against games
August 11, 2023 Chinese Restrictions China’s game restrictions aren't working A new study by Nature Human Behaviour has found that players are willing and able to circumvent restrictions
August 2, 2023 Chinese Restrictions China to implement new restrictions on children's smartphone use Just when it looked like China legislation was opening up, new moves to restrict the market are afoot
July 18, 2023 Loot Boxes UK game makers agree to impose new restrictions on loot boxes The controversial game mechanic has been the topic of increasing scrutiny in recent years
July 17, 2023 Sustainable Phones Europe will require all phones to have user replaceable batteries by 2027 The regulation aims to extend the lifespan of gadgets and improve sustainability
July 13, 2023 Talks Should you care what the UK government thinks? UKIE's Daniel Wood things you should More attention equals better support, but far more scrutiny says the UKIE co-CEO
June 30, 2023 Legislation South Korea could enforce an approval system for Chinese games The Game Industry Promotion Law may soon be amended based on overseas practices
June 24, 2023 Event Highlights Global trends, influencers and esports: insights from GameExpo Summit Our first live event in Dubai delivered essential facts, figures and opinions about the worldwide game development scene (part I)
June 19, 2023 Payments Japan to stop Apple and Google charging through proprietary payment systems Alternative payment systems will need to be offered
May 15, 2023 Keep Play Safe Roblox ads come under fire from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit The platform was found to have breached the industry watchdog’s guidelines
April 28, 2023 Week That Was Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news and discuss Apple's 'win' over Epic, all that AquiBlizz action and Scopely's stumble to victory
April 4, 2023 Mobile App Fraud Consumers were exposed to $5.4 billion in app fraud during 2022 Games saw six times fewer levels of fraud compared to other apps
March 30, 2023 Loot Box Legislation Australia proposes a crackdown on loot boxes and in-game gambling The proposed changes would impose an advisory age limit on loot boxes
March 16, 2023 Tiktok Trouble TikTok banned on government phones in the UK The social media app has faced criticism regarding security concerns
March 14, 2023 Chinese Gaming Industry Chinese games industry publishes draft of rules for self-regulation The rules aim to address problems in the industry such as copyright disputes and gaming addiction without the need for government interaction
February 6, 2023 Aquiblizz UK Competitions & Markets Authority rumoured to block Activision Blizzard acquisition According to sources, Microsoft are actively anticipating a possible block on the Activision-Blizzard acquisition by the UK CMA
January 4, 2023 Revenue Genshin Impact surpasses $4bn in lifetime revenue Genshin Impact hits new revenue highs, bringing in over $4bn of revenue within two years of launch
January 3, 2023 Regulation China lifts licencing freeze with 44 new approved international games Chinese regulators granted 44 licences for international games to be distributed in the country, including to major corporation Tencent
December 24, 2022 2022 Highlights 2022 In Review – January’s Best Bits As the year draws to a close, we take a look back with our pick of the stories that shaped the last twelve months. Starting with… January
December 15, 2022 China And Cyberspace China’s Cyberspace Administration plans to confront mobile app "chaos" The body aims to tackle a supposed prevalence of fake apps, illegal data collection and more
November 3, 2022 Lacking Licences October saw the return of no new game licences in China for the first time in six months But concerns of another licence freeze may be overly hasty
October 25, 2022 Chinese Gaming Market China’s gaming market decreases 19.1% quarter-on-quarter The Chinese market is valued at $8.2 billion
October 4, 2022 Microsoft Activision Deal EU antitrust regulators set a date regarding Microsoft's acquisition of Activision The investigation will conclude in November but if concerns are raised an extended phase could begin
October 3, 2022 Children's Code One year on - how is the gaming industry dealing with the Children's code? Companies are uncertain about age verification standards
August 11, 2022 Gaming In China Niko Partners: 40% drop in Chinese young gamers after September regulations However, the number of Chinese gamers will rise to 115 million by 2026, predicts the market intelligence provider
July 20, 2022 Home Of The Hoyoverse miHoYo selects Singapore as metaverse division headquarters HoYoverse development will be focused in the city state
July 18, 2022 Government Clamps Down On Loot Boxes UK government demands games industry reevaluate loot boxes The government stopped short of a crackdown
July 12, 2022 Rules And Regulations Tencent confirms strict gaming restrictions for minors in China will continue Strict regulations attributed to stagnation of growth in Chinese tech industries
June 20, 2022 Chipset Court Case Qualcomm wins four-year battle against $1 billion fine from EU antitrust regulators Following accusations of paying Apple for exclusive use of Qualcomm chipsets
June 8, 2022 Regulatory Reversal China approves 60 more games in 2022 58 titles approved by the National Press and Publication Administration are explicitly mobile games, in continuation of regulatory reversal
May 23, 2022 Regulate This US to tighten advertising guidelines against “fake reviews” and manipulative advertiser behaviour The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking to strengthen its guidelines in an effort to stop advertisers from posting fake positive reviews and abusing social media platforms
May 20, 2022 Cites Regulatory Crackdown Tencent revenue growth slows to a crawl following China’s crackdown on tech companies Net profit fell to 23.4 billion yuan in Q1 2022 – down 51 per cent year-on-year from 47.8 billion yuan