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
Unity And Ironsource
Unity announce date for stockholders vote on ironSource merger
The vote will take place on October 7th, but neither company is likely to reject the merger
Optimise
App Store Optimisation's increasing role in user acquisition
App Store Optimisation Q&A tips from Simon Thillay, Head of ASO for AppTweak
Hot Five
Hot Five: September 12th. The five stories you need to know before you start your working week
The biggest stories on PocketGamer.biz in the last week
Nintendo
Nintendo RPG Dragalia Lost to shut down in November
Nintendo’s mobile RPG Dragalia Lost will no longer be accessible after the 30th of November.
Layoffs
Garena to lay off up to 15% of its Shanghai staff
Game developer Garena is laying off hundreds of staff
July Charts
Uma Musume Pretty Derby raced into July’s charts
Stumble Guys unseated Subway Surfers as the month’s most downloaded iOS title
Animoca Brands Secures Funding
Animoca Brands raises $110 million in funding
Animoca Brands had a successful funding round of $110 million the round was led by investment company Temasek
Block Breaking Beats
Tackling the technology gap to build web3 mobile games
From its origins as a successful hypercasual games studio to the cutting edge of web3 mobile games, PlayEmber CEO Hugo Furneaux, charts the company's quest to reimagine development
Financial Report
NetDragon sees a 26.3 increase in revenue year-on-year
Eudemons proved to be a strong performer despite a decrease in overall revenue
Tencent X Guillemot Bros
Tencent now owns 49.9 per cent of Guillemot Bros
The investment follows reports that Tencent was seeking majority control of Ubisoft
Investment
Metaverse Magna raises £3.2M in latest seed funding round
Multiple investors including WeMade participated in the round
Layoffs
ByteDance reportedly downsizes games divisions
Hundreds of employees have reportedly been laid off as the brand refocuses
Series A
Xterio game publisher and developer raises $40M for mobile Web3 games
Xterio has raised over $40M in a round of Series A funding including investors such as Animoca Brands and FunPlus.
Financial Report
XD sees 15.6% year-on-year increase in revenue
The company saw high MAU in China, despite a decrease in international markets
Funding Round
Temasek to head funding round for Animoca Brands
The investment sees Temasek double down on its interest in Web3 companies
Guest Post
How to build a winning ad strategy through creative testing
LifeStreet CEO Levi Matkins on how to create the best ads possible
Hot Five
Hot Five: September 5th. The biggest stories from the last seven days, in a bite-sized digest
The HOTTEST stories on PocketGamer.biz in the last week
Gotta Catch Em All
Pokémon GO Fest 2022 drives more players outdoors - and in game
Increased spend shows the ongoing value of events - both in-game and live in keeping an active and engaged audience