It's Acquisition Time
Animoca Brands snap ups Power Rangers: Legacy Wars developer nWay for $7.69 million
Animoca "immensely excited about the nWayPlay platform"
Accelerating
Mario Kart Tour downloads slump but revenue shows reasons for optimism
Player spending per download nearly doubled since first month
$$$
PUBG Mobile shoots through $1.5 billion in lifetime revenue
China brought in 40 per cent of total earnings
Jobs In Games
IronSource's Sandra Schneider on using ads to improve retention and monetisation
"Whenever I recruit someone today, the first thing I do is give them a long list of top games to play"
Nindies
Sports Story, Dauntless and Axiom Verge 2 headline Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase
16 games shown off during the December direct
Another World
Black Desert Mobile launches on iOS and Android globally
$1 billion franchise arrives on mobile devices
Super Jump
Nintendo's stock price jumps to 19-month high following China Switch launch
Console is region-locked however
Igdc 2019
How the Indian mobile games market is progressing in 2019
It is primarily a mobile market
Possible Deal
Rumours suggest iDreamsky is attempting a leveraged buyout of Leyou
Deal reported worth $1.4 billion
Switching Up
Tencent’s version of Nintendo Switch launches in China on 10 December
Priced at $300
Big Indie Pitch
Relax and unwind as Lo-Fi Room walks away as The Big Indie Pitch at G-Star champion
Relax and unwind with our G-Star 2019 Big Indie Pitch top three
Indie Winners
Mulled 2 takes the Very Big Indie Pitch crown in Jordan
Ball puzzle sequel from Hako Games headlines three great indie games from the heart of the Middle East
Coming At You Live
Tencent partners Chinese live streaming platform Chushou.tv
Users will be able to stream games from Tencent’s library
You Have My Sword
Pokemon Sword and Shield outsells Let’s Go, Pikachu/Eevee in Japan
Dual release took less than two weeks to overtake its predecessor
Anticipated
Black Desert Mobile picks up 4 million pre-registrations pending December launch
Franchise has already made $1 billion in gross sales
It’s Over 9000
Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle does $2 billion in revenue
Fighter makes $1 billion in 19 months
Igdc 2019
Super Krishna Crush: Block Blast Game picks up Studio Game of the Year at IGDC 2019
There were five awards overall
Cash In
NetEase invests up to $30 million into Bossa Studios
Hogwash will be the developer's first title in China
Welcome
16 international mobile games including World of Warships Blitz approved for China
Also Dengeki Bunko and Naruto - Next Generations
Hot Stuff
Indian powerhouse Nazara looking to invest $20 million in gaming and esport startups
Has already invested $50 million in past two years
Gigantamax
Selling 6 million, Pokemon Sword and Shield is Nintendo’s fastest-selling Switch game
Includes physical and digital copies
Mobile Leads The Way
Soaring to over $4 billion, southeast Asia is the fastest-growing games market
Up 14% in 2019
Storming
Pokemon Sword and Shield sold 1.3 million copies in Japan within first three days
Third biggest UK launch in Nintendo’s history
Emerging Markets Hit
Garena’s battle royale game Free Fire surpasses $1 billion of lifetime revenue
Ranked up the achievement in two years
Gotta Collect 'em All
Tencent spends $30 million acquiring 10% of UK studio Sumo Digital
Invests in Sheffield co-developer
Big Up
Tencent’s revenue grows by 21% thanks to Call of Duty and PUBG Mobile
Total revenue for the quarter came in at $14 billion
For All
SuperGaming raises $1.3 million for new social gaming platform
Building for a casual audience
Trending
Pokemon fans rally together to say #ThankYouGameFreak
The company was critcised for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Event
G-Star 2019 starts on November 14th
Featuring talks from the likes of CCP, Bungie, Gearbox and Creative Assembly
Tag Team
Bandai Namco revealed as a development partner for Mario Kart Tour
“Partially implemented in-games and 3D visual assets for courses, characters and machines”
Combining Talents
Tencent reportedly looking to use Nintendo IP as it expands internationally
May focus on a female audience
Block By Block
Minecraft nearing 300 million registered users in China
NetEase publishes the title
Videos
Three videos from Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong’s Game Changers: Hypercasual & IM track
Maximise your studio's potential with essential practical advice for indie devs
Videos
Six videos from Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong’s Esports and Key Opinion Leaders track
Get the competitive edge from the leading players and streamers
Financials
Mobile pushes Square Enix's game profits up 33%
Dragon Quest Walk and Romancing SaGa Re: univerSe come in strong
Bullseye
PUBG Mobile generated $154 million during October 2019
Honor of Kings in second place
Learn More
5 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong’s Developer Toolkit track
Everything a growing developer needs: essential, practical advice about all aspects of making games.
Negotiations
US and China agree to roll back tariffs that were set to affect console and mobile
A new deal is pending
Magical Mena
Pocket Gamer Connects launches into MENA with 700+ delegates at PGC Jordan in association with the King Abdullah II Fund for Development
First event in the Middle East and North Africa region
No Deal
Playtika considers international IPO after Chinese deal fails again
Giant Network gives up the attempt
Spoilsports
Chinese games regulator halves playtime for under 16s to 90 minutes a day
Also limits spending to $60 a month
Roster-rific
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is now the best-selling fighting game of all time
Move over Street Fighter II
Coming Soon
Fantasy Westward Journey 3D gets approval in China
One of 22 games to get licences
Blizzcon 2019
Blizzard unleashes new Diablo Immortal video
Including all the things you know and love about Diablo
New Channels
What Tencent, Amazon and Twitch’s great PUBG Mobile content giveaway means for game developers
Erick Fang discusses
Complementary
Switch Lite not cannibalising Switch sales, says Nintendo
Shuntaro Furukawa was speaking to analysts
Video
8 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong’s West Meets East track
The latest news about the world's hottest markets
Video
8 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong’s Trade Trends track
Facts, figures and insight into the latest industry trends from around the world.
Speaker Line Up
The India Game Developer Conference 2019 reveals speakers
It is being held between November 22nd and 23rd
Super Smashed It
Switch sells over 41 million as Nintendo's profits jump 53%
The power of Switch Lite