Positive Momentum
Trinity Gaming India, Lenovo, Intel, and YouTube join forces to bolster the Indian creator economy
Partnered creators will collaborate to produce content and participate as a team in BGMI, Valorant, and CSGO battles.
New Partnerships
Naraza Technologies snags deals with four developers as it ramps up new publishing arm
Nazara intends to release around 20 games across mobile, web3, VR, and PC platforms over the next 12 to 18 months
Platform Power
Tencent is advertising DreamStar on ByteDance platforms in competition with NetEase
After a fierce rivalry, Tencent and ByteDance are finally warming up to one another
Resilient Growth
New Zealand games industry revenue surges past $270 million in 2023
The NZGDA report finds that PC is the dominant platform for developers followed by mobile, VR, and consoles
Kaiju Closure
Tencent’s Team Kaiju closes
Team Kaiju is believed to have secretly closed this June, with most staff reassigned to other projects
A Good Year
Australian game revenue soars to $345.5 million in 2023
The IGEA report showcases the country's positive growth and struggles within its local sectors.
Esports Glory
China's Wolves wins $1 million Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship
Runner-up GodLike becomes most successful Indian team in the competition after finishing second
Zenless Zenith
Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse opens closed beta for latest game Zenless Zone Zero
Title likely to see a full release in 2024
Impressive Growth
China's gaming industry bounces back with over $42.6 billion in domestic revenue
The Red Dragon's video games market has successfully bounced back, overcoming challenges in foreign markets
New Partnerships
Kwalee's John Wright on the strategy and vision behind Fahy Studios partnership
The VP of mobile publishing discussed Fahy Studio's unique qualities that led to the partnership, potential expansion into MENA, and their ambitious plans ahead
Regional Realities
India leads the charge while pricing concerns hinder Asian uptake in new monetisation report
Niko Partners' report shows that in-game purchases accounted for 87.8% of player spending in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
New Partnerships
Kwalee and Fahy Studios partner to develop global hit games in the KSA
"We are on a journey to build Saudi's first global hit game."
Industry Pioneer
IGDC founder Rajesh Rao departs after 15 years and announces successor
“I will still be around, but it is time for the torch to be handed over."
Expanding Reach
Africa and India are in Microsoft's sights for ad-supported game streaming
The Xbox giant is planning on using ads to reach new players and expand its audience
Popularity Surge
Battlegrounds Mobile India is the fourth most searched game of 2023
After garnering an impressive $58.9 million, BGMI now sits above acclaimed titles such as Baldur's Gate 3 and Diablo IV in Google's annual 'most searched' rankings
App Monetisation
Out-of-app monetisation outside of Google Play and the Apple App Store is on the rise
Coda and Niko Partners' insight into mobile game monetisation provides alternative revenue strategies and key insights for publishers
Highest Earners
Chinese mobile publishers see an end of year revenue turnaround despite industry challenges
Tencent dominates, but other publishers are also finding success with Chinese companies holding 37 of the top 100 global revenue rankings for November
Dance The Blues
Crunch time for ByteDance's gaming ambitions
Big tech pulls back from gaming again
Gaming In Africa
The Africa Games Industry Report sheds light on the region's challenges and triumphs
Reflecting rich diversity and a youthful demographic, the Africa games market continues to witness steady rise in mobile game development as its primary platform
Big Indie Pitch Stories
Three-time Big Indie Pitch winners Minidragon on embracing failure in order to succeed
Interview: We sit down with the Big Indie Pitch winner Minidragon
What We're Playing
Mobile Game of the Week: Warhammer 40,000 Warpforge
The legendary Warhammer universe gets its own collectable card battler on mobile
Pitching Time
Pitching your game: Big Indie Pitch manager Sophia Aubrey Drake's advice for indies
We sit down with the Big Indie Pitch Manager, Sophia Aubrey Drake, to learn about her experiences with the indie community
Debtmarble
Netmarble cuts losses by 90% in Q3 despite revenue decline
Workforce reduction and original IP stem losses, but publisher still has $1.29 billion short-term debts
Here We Go
Celebrate 10 years of incredible PGC conferences throughout 2024
Look back over a decade of doing business at PG Connects and be part of the future in 2024’s event series
Investments
Developer Funstop secures $1.5 million funding from Indian investors
InfoEdge continue their investment in home-grown talent as part of India's increasingly vibrant mobile tech scene
Game Publishing
India's Nazara Technologies launches publishing division to support local and international developers
The company aims to launch up to 20 games across a variety of platforms over the next 18 months
Empowering Everyone
Empowering Everyone - How Xsolla Plans To Give Developers The Power To Find And Keep Players Content
In the era of ‘forever games’ Xsolla CEO Chris Hewish outlines the company’s goals of empowering developers to own and understand their players directly
A Glimpse Of Growth
The complete list of Netflix Games
From original IP and hypercasual to racing and match-three, December 14
Credit Where Its Due
Appodeal & Pollen VC partner to offer a new kind of mobile growth platform
New Appodeal & Pollen VC partnership offers a mobile growth platform with credit lines to scale your monthly revenues
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
Best Of 2023
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2023
The movers and the shakers of the last 12 months
Tencent Acquisition
Tencent acquires visual novel company Visual Arts
The move follows the company’s acquisition of Techland earlier this week
Very Big Indie Pitch
Smash Head Studio's roguelite action platformer wins the first ever Dubai Big Indie Pitch
Winners breakdown
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact records lowest monthly revenue as Honkai: Star Rail soars
The success of Honkai: Star Rail saw the original smash hit game’s revenue drop to $53.8 million
Women In Games
Zynga's Paula Neves shares her journey from psychology to mobile marketing
From a psychology major in Brazil to a Senior Product manager with Zynga in Montreal, Pocketgamer.biz finds out more about Paula Neves' journey in games
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight Seattle: Maintain UA and performance within the changing privacy landscape with Mark Menery of Dataseat
We get up close with the speakers at our upcoming Pocket Gamer Seattle event. Don't miss out!
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight Seattle: Phil Shpilberg of GameChangerSF by Pixis outlines the future of AI in games marketing
We get up close with the speakers at our upcoming Pocket Gamer Seattle event. Don't miss out!
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight Seattle: Delivering premium live services with Kazutomo Niwa of Game Server Services (GS2)
We get up close with the speakers at our upcoming Pocket Gamer Seattle event. Don't miss out!
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight Seattle: Moloco's Donghwan Jeon on AI, big data, machine learning and more
With just a couple of weeks to go, we get up close with the speakers at our upcoming Pocket Gamer Seattle event. Don't miss out!
Esports
Snapdragon Pro Series partners with Activision to bring Call of Duty: Mobile to Mobile Masters
The title will join other mobile heavyweights Garena: Fire and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Pending Deal
Sega to snap up Rovio for $1 billion?
Will Sonic join forces with the Angry Birds?
Events & Awards
It's Awards Season: Vote for PG Connects and come to the Mobile Game Awards
If you love Pocket Gamer Connects London, don't forget to vote for us. And don't miss our own Mobile Games Awards next week too!
Rumours
Could Playtika be a target for a buyout?
After a strategic review last year resetting the company's course, buyers are reportedly showing interest
Playx4 May 2023
Korea's leading B2B games event - PlayX4 - returns for 2023 - with online and live events supported
PlayX4 Korea’s leading B2B games event PlayX4 will be held on May 11th & 12th 2023 with both on and offline participation supported
Feature
Hypercasual macro overview in 2023 for developers
Google’s Analytical Consultant, Daria Yakovleva dives into the hypercasual market to share some key points of interest
Insights
LifeStreet CEO Levi Matkins on generative AI and its role in mobile advertisement
Generative AI has caused quite the buzz in 2023 but what does it mean and how can it be used
Various Visits
Tim Cook represents Apple in visits to miHoYo and other Chinese partners
Meeting creators behind games like Genshin Impact
Finance
ByteDance hits record revenue of $80bn, but at the cost of gaming?
Their latest figures has them head-to-head with fellow tech giant Tencent
Feature
Game Analysis: Taking a deep dive into the world of Frozen City
AppQuantum's Oleg Lomakov explores Frozen City to reveal what makes this hit app tick
Feature
The hyper-casual landscape in 2023: Trends and insights for developers
Azur Games publishing lead, Sergey Martinkevich shares insights on the development and monetization of hyper-casual games