Strength In Numbers
Can mobile games weather the economic downturn?
As the global economy faces turmoil, which games are growing? And where do they fit in the app market? data.ai investigates
Regulations
China’s game regulations pose a major potential threat to mobile game business in the country
Unclear regulations, licensing freezes and more are all major challenges for both domestic and foreign game companies operating in China. Particularly for the largest platform, mobile
Easier Everything 3.0
Appodeal unveils its enhanced SDK 3.0
Appodeal updates its SDK, offering enhanced metrics, improving compliance tools improving distribution and more
Speaker Spotlight
Alun Evans of Freeverse.io discusses how Web3 approaches can offer new solutions
"Blockchain tokens that provide real utility are the future."
Country Overview
High potential for Egypt to become a gaming powerhouse
Esports are becoming increasingly popular with Egyptians
Country Overview
Gaming begins to take off in Bahrain
5G network is being rolled out across the country
Country Overview
Mobile gaming will need speed and capital to take off in Lebanon
The mobile gaming market in the country is showing signs of growth
State Of Stream
State of Stream: Mobile dominates stream charts in emerging markets, with Garena Free Fire topping charts on two platforms
Hours viewed shrank on both YouTube and Twitch this month
Hires
Kim Meltzer joins Mobile Global Esports Inc
A veteran of the industry, Kim Meltzer, who has worked directly and indirectly in esports for more than ten years, has joined Mobile Global Esports Inc
Speaker Spotlight
Andrey Kalugin of Xsolla on the most common mistakes in the gaming industry
Ahead of his talk at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan, we hear from Xsolla's MENA Regional Director about building relationships with players for better retention and engagement
Speaker Spotlight
Faisal Bitar tells us that Tamatem Games will be the next big disruptor in mobile
Product Principal of Tamatem Games chats to us ahead of his talk about the future of in-game payments at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
Speaker Spotlight
Bassam AlRomaithy of Nine66 on why he loves working in the gaming industry
Before taking part in Pocket Gamer Connects in Jordan next week, Bassam talks to us about the Arabic gaming market and learning from his mistakes
Hires
Jetsynthesys hires Krafton's ex-Head of Corporate Development
Anuj Tandon, previously Head of Corporate Development for India and MENA with Krafton, has been brought on as CEO of Gaming at Jetsynthesys
Tiktok
TikTok shows game companies that “TikTok makes them play it” in new virtual event
Bytedance announce “TikTok made me play it”, an event to push the social media app's use in game promotions
Mobile Dominance
The world’s top 10 game companies made $126 billion in 2021 from software, with mobile leading the charge
Tencent came out on top with $33 billion, three quarters of which came from mobile
Chinese Market
Chinese mobile market revenue to decline for first time in two decades
China’s lucrative mobile sector, has been forecast to decline for the first time in twenty years
Japanese Market
Hypercasual games dominate Japan’s charts by installs, but struggle to engage players
Mobile gaming is on the rise in the home of video gaming
Report
Genshin Impact scaling beyond mobile highlighted as defining industry milestone in Niko Partners' Gametech report
The latest cross-platform report goes into the current state of gaming technology with mobile playing an increasing part in pushing tech forward.
Guideline Update
Apple updates App Store guidelines to allow NFT sales (with a sizeable slice going to them)
You can officially trade NFTs albeit with a 30% fee. Plus new rules for purchases made using ads
Google Pay
India’s antitrust watchdog fines Google for $113 million
The country found that Google abused its dominant position in the market
Sega In Singapore
Sega announces Singapore-based subsidiary as it seeks to expand in the Southeast Asia market
Established as a "key base" for future activity
Financials
CyberAgent’s 2022 financials reveal 33.8 percent operating loss despite surge in advertising revenue
CyberAgent game sales are down, but that advertising growth holds steady as digital media investment is on the horizon.
Chinese Gaming Market
China’s gaming market decreases 19.1% quarter-on-quarter
The Chinese market is valued at $8.2 billion
Speaker Spotlight
PGC Jordan speaker Phil Shpilberg on how AI is transforming game marketing
The Head of Gaming at GameChangerSF will be giving us the lowdown on the increasing role of AI at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
Speaker Spotlight
Mohamad Haj Hasan and Thamer Matar of Jawaker discuss mistakes and opportunities
The CEO and BDM talk to us ahead of their appearances at Pocket gamer Connects Jordan in November
News
Drake Star's Global Gaming Report reveals the gaming industry’s top investors
The Embracer group lives up to its name with numerous acquisitions as we break down some of the top investors in Drake Star's new report.
News
Xsolla integrates Alipay support for game monetization across Asia
Xsolla has partnered with Alipay, part of Jack Ma’s Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group. The deal will offer coverage of digital wallets across Asia.
Lag Kills
44 per cent of gamers respond to latency by quitting their games – what can we do to stop this?
As mobile games become more reliant upon fast reliable connectivity how can smaller developers compete with the industry leaders? Mathieu Duperré, the CEO and Founder of Edgegap explains
Esports And Play-to-earn
DFNN: Gaming for profit will remain a part of the Philippine industry despite crackdowns
The rise of Illegal POGOs have led to calls for a total ban on legitimate operations
Gotta Collect Em All
Collect Em All - From hyper to hybrid-casual hit
Voodoo outlines the company's new focus on hybrid-casual games and explains how it turned a hypercasual prototype into a success
Return On Ad Spend
The Ad Network Quickly Gaining Speed on the AppsFlyer Performance Index
Mintegral, the ad subsidiary of Mobvista, discusses the challenges - and opportunities - created by the ongoing evolution of the global mobile advertising market
Billions And Blockchain
PocketGamer.biz Podcast - From breakout to billions
Nick Button-Brown explores the tools, tech and trends shaping the global mobile games market - and we welcome the first members of the all-new PocketGamer.biz editorial team
Mischief Managed
Harry Potter mobile titles hit the magic $1 billion milestone
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is the IP’s top-grossing title
Future Acquisitions
Tencent changing strategy to acquire more majority deals
The tech company is hoping to secure future growth by expanding its gaming assets
Trouble For Tencent
Tencent loses status as China’s biggest company
The company’s stock price has fallen $623 billion from its peak
New Hire
NetEase hires Jonathan Morin as creative director
Morin will be joining the Montréal office and focusing on creating new IP
Break On Through
Domination and subgenre - finding your niche in the global mobile market
In a market dominated by huge franchises data.ai discovers there’s a lot of space for new games across a wide range of genres and niches
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia eyes up acquisition of major publisher
The acquisition is part of a $38.7 billion games strategy
Milestone
Pokémon Go reaches $4.5 billion in lifetime revenue
The popular Pokémon Go title reaches milestones in revenue and downloads
The Growth Of Mena Gaming
Saudi Arabia launches gaming and esports strategy
The scheme is expected to create 39,000 jobs by 2030
Big In Japan
How did Apex Legends top the charts in Japan?
Apex Legends was in Japan's top 10 for 54 consecutive days! What did EA do to ensure they cracked such a valuable - and challenging - market?
Ascension In Asia
Niko Partners: Games with metaverse elements will be most profitable short term
Cloud gaming predicted to reach 500 million in Asia by 2025
Israeli Gaming Market
Israeli gaming market worth $9 billion
74 percent of the country’s mobile gaming workers specialise in social and casual games
New Team Member
Diablo veteran David Brevik joins the Torchlight: Infinite team
David Brevik is getting involved as a consulting producer
Rmg Gaming
50 percent of genZ gamers in India actively participate in real money gaming
A report by Newzoo and MAAS delves into the Indian mobile gaming industry
App Store Price Hike
Apple is raising App Store prices next month
The price increase will impact those in Asia and Europe
New Advisor
Former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden joins Tencent Games
Shawn Layden joins Tencent Games to offer guidance as a strategic advisor
Apex Predator
Apex Legends hits new heights on mobile
data.ai investigates how the successful battle royale shooter title changed its approach for mobile market success
Making Money Matters
Survey: Making money in mobile games
Help Wappier understand more about the ways in which developers are monetising mobile games with this online survey
50 Million Lifetime Registrations
Black Desert surpasses 50 million registered players
Video game developer Pearl Abyss announces that hit title Black Desert has exceeded 50 million lifetime registrations