Jobs Roundup
April 2026's Movers and Shakers: Scopely, Rovio, Blizzard, Ubisoft, King, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Industry Insights
Forecasting mobile game profitability: How publishers predict UA performance
Iaroslav Kobozev discusses how mobile studios predict long-term profitability from early user acquisition performance
Competition Case
Aptoide sues Google over alleged Android App Store monopoly
Aptoide claims Google unfairly steers developers toward the Play Store while limiting rival app stores
Latest
Global Merchant Of Record
Navigating the global payments frontier - an interview with Fastspring's Christopher Bunk
“We become the seller of record in every transaction, which means we own the tax obligation, we own the fraud risk, and we handle compliance globally”
Partnership Extension
Games for Change and Tencent expand Raising Good Gamers initiative to support families
The programme focuses on promoting healthy play, respectful behaviour and positive gaming communities
Finding Funds
Mission Control Games launches with $4m pre-seed to rethink casual puzzle design
The funding will be used to grow the team and build its first title
Milestone
War Robots marks 12th anniversary as My.Games reports 325m registered users worldwide
War Robots continues to grow adding around 20m players annually
New Studio
New studio Kemet Entertainment opens in Cairo
While starting with mobile games, the studio plans to expand into broader entertainment experiences
Digital Dice
Dice Throne launches $100k Kickstarter for digital adaptation
The digital adaptation will feature full cross-platform play across Steam, mobile and VR devices
Editor's Picks
Studio Strategy
Supercell president: "If we want to be one of the very best mobile game companies in the world, great live ops isn't enough"
We speak with Sara Bach about Supercell's new and live game challenges, lessons from China and how it's restructuring to adapt to the modern mobile market
Us Best Of 2026
The Top 30 US Mobile Game Makers of 2026
The US movers and shakers of the last 12 months revealed!
Live & Kicking
How Tilting Point and AN Games are taking on the 4X strategy space with Avatar: Realms Collide
We chat with project director Junhyoung Lee about the developer's live ops strategy and working on the popular IP
Opinion
We view direct-to-consumer as a meaningful growth driver.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick eyes a further push into D2C alongside other top games publishers
Ads remain the most common and viable monetisation model across Africa's gaming markets today.
Africacomicade founder Michael Oscar Esio debates Africa's monetisation landscape
#Pocket Gamer Connects
Big Indie Pitch
How pitching competitions support indie developers
Turn your indie game from work-in-progress to global launch
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Discover how to enter and navigate China's games market in 2026 at PGC Summit Shanghai
Gain insight and connect with China’s game professionals in Shanghai on July 29th
Pgc Summit MalmÖ
Find out the secrets behind Sweden's games industry success in Malmö on May 27th to 28th
Gain market insight and build partnerships as the Nordic games industry meets for business
Pgc Nordics
Tickets now live for Pocket Gamer Connects Nordics on October 20th to 21st
Must-attend games industry event in Helsinki gets a Nordic makeover
Industry Voices
Africa Is Mobile
Why monetisation in Africa is still a retention problem
"The studios that win here will be the ones who understood the conditions that actually exist, not the ones chasing a market size number that doesn't reflect their reality"
Week In Views
Playtika’s next move, The Division Resurgence’s early numbers and Game of Thrones’ next mobile title | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Mobile Recognition
What Ilkka Paananen's BAFTA Fellowship means for mobile
BAFTA honours a mobile leader and snags Google Play as its headline partner in show of recognition for mobile
Discord Developments
Selfless spending, linked accounts and how developers get the most out of Discord
Discord senior developer Anthony Tešija talks increasing play sessions and getting users spending on games they play, as well as games they don’t
The Big Interview
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen on a 25-year career in mobile gaming
As the Finnish entrepreneur receives a BAFTA Fellowship, we catch up with Paananen to discuss his career in games and the mobile market's key challenges
#MENA
Enhancing Esports
ESL FACEIT Group teams up with KICK for esports streams
Viewership of Counter-Strike and Dota 2 competitions will aim to expand in the MENA region
Esports Nations Cup
Esports Nations Cup 2026 takes shape with 100,000 players set for global qualifiers
The tournament is backed by a $45m funding commitment, including a $20m prize pool
Mobile Mavens
“The centre of the game industry isn’t moving from West to East it’s dissolving entirely”: The Mobile Mavens on gaming’s global power shift
Our Mobile Mavens discuss whether power in games is moving from West to East
New Offerings
Maysalward launches Golden Agers workshop for 65+ gamers
The initiative aims to help seniors build confidence with technology in a practical, supportive setting
Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions
Milestone
CookieRun: Kingdom launches KPop Demon Hunters crossover with limited-time event
The collaboration runs until May 6th 2026, giving players a window to engage with themed content and limited-time rewards
Funding Round
Cloud gaming firm Playruo raises $2.5m
Company aims to expand its services globally following investment
Developers Unite
Five studios come together to form Nova Assembly
Developers unite to share specialised expertise and production experience
Developer Support
Codfish Academy partners with Dear Villagers to launch game pitching clinic in Portugal
Five selected teams will present their projects directly to a publisher with the potential to secure funding and publishing support
Freedom Regained
Quantic Lab exits Embracer Group
The transition took effect on April 1st, 2026, marking the end of Quantic Lab’s period within the Embracer portfolio
Acqusitions
LY Corp acquires majority stake in Kakao Games with $198m investment
Kakao will remain a strategic partner despite stepping down to second largest shareholder
Esports
Esports Foundation selects 40 clubs for $20m partner program ahead of 2026 Esports World Cup
Participating clubs can receive up to $1m each to expand their brands and fan engagement ahead of the tournament
Jobs News
Industry Outlook
UK games sector loses 1,537 jobs as 14-year growth streak ends
Large studios also reduced staffing levels, shedding more than 700 development roles across the sector
Closure
Rec Room to shut down after failing to achieve profitability from 150m players
The company cited shifts in the VR market and broader games industry pressures as key factors behind the decision
Jobs News
Nodwin Gaming appoints chief strategy and investments officer ahead of potential IPO
He will lead mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy and fundraising to support the company's global expansion
Job Losses
Epic layoffs spark launch of ‘Awesome People List’ job site for more than 1,000 displaced staff
The platform allows hiring managers to browse candidates across engineering, design, production, community management, and security roles
Podcast | Episode 87
Was Epic's app store battle worth it? | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 87...
#Regulation
Mobile Mavens
"This is a fundamental shift in the way that games are rated": The Mobile Mavens on PEGI's new rules
Our Mobile Mavens share their insights on PEGI's updated age rating criteria and what it means for the wider games industry
Apple Troubles
German publishers urge antitrust fine against Apple ATT
Industry groups say Apple’s proposed ATT changes fail to resolve competition concerns
Security Review
Report: Trump administration reviews Tencent gaming investments over security concerns
Officials are assessing whether the company’s investments pose potential national security risks.
Child Safety
UK consultation on kids’ online lives: what the video games industry needs to know
Celia Pontin explains the UK government’s consultation on keeping children safe online
More News
Titan Tech
Supercell’s Titan engine: Spanning flagships to "the cheapest, oldest Android handset" in the world
The "homegrown" engine is built for mobile and aims to enable reach to as many players as possible
Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass "too expensive for players", as per leaked memo
New Microsoft Gaming EVP and CEO Asha Sharma’s internal memo has been leaked
Disney Development
Epic Games reportedly developing a Disney extraction shooter
A Bloomberg report suggests the new game will launch in November this year
Uk Valuation
UK games market hit record £8.8bn in 2025
Latest figures from Ukie highlight impacts of digital software, mobile and transmedia
Funding Support
Government pledges £28.5m for UK Games Fund to boost industry
The support marks a doubling of the fund and forms part of the UK Games Growth Package announced earlier this year.
Parental Controls
Roblox introduces new age-based accounts as it fights to alleviate safety concerns
UGC platform further expands parental controls and age-verification rules
Podcast | Episode 89
Week in Mobile Games podcast: Episode 89
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 89...
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Podcasts
Podcast
PocketGamer.biz Podcast: Skillz, Beamable and the live ops shift
We unpack Skillz's acquisition of Beamable, what the future looks like for the two companies, and more
Podcast | Episode 88
Unity copies the AppLovin playbook with Vector | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 88...
Podcast
PocketGamer.biz Podcast: Data doesn't solve problems - decisions do
We talk with GameAnalytics head of BD and customer success Falko Boecker to discuss data, AI and finding the right insights
Podcast | Episode 86
The final word on GDC | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 86...