Inside Story
Nintendo files trademark for Mario & Luigi series following developer's closure
AlphaDream shut down in October following "sluggish" revenue
Bytedance Levels Up
TikTok owner ByteDance picks up Beijing AI developer LevelupAI
Expanding its games portfolio even further
Better Mental Health
China to crack down further on violence in games to improve children's mental health
Healthy China 2030 plan backed by 12 government departments
A Few More Knights
South Korean dev Npixel raises $25.9 million in series A funding
Reportedly the largest series A round ever for a South Korean game dev
Giganta-update
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon plus Sword and Shield expansion pass revealed in Direct
Pokemon Home will launch in February
Hotel Mario
Nintendo's former Kyoto headquarters to become hotel in 2021
20 rooms, including restaurant, gym, bar and spa
Top Trends
Sony's Fate/Grand Order was the most talked about game on Twitter in 2019
Second year in a row
Delayed Release
Square Enix partners with JSC and Gaea for Final Fantasy XV on mobile
Set to launch in China before releasing worldwide
Neat!
Nintendo announces next Pokemon Direct for January 9th
20 minutes of Pokemon-related information
Age Of 5g
Square Enix looking to "relaunch" and expand Indian business presence
Cloud streaming and 5G also touched upon
New Partnership
Tencent invests undisclosed sum in Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames
"We hope to use this capital to strengthen our foundation as a business"
Port-astic
Nintendo insider claims two further Wii U ports destined for Switch in 2020
Super Mario 3D Worlds? Star Fox Zero? Paper Mario: Color Splash?
Cutting Edge
Razer applies for a digital bank license in Singapore
It will hold 60 per cent of the new bank
Big Money
Xiaomi looking to invest $7 billion in AI, 5G and internet technologies in the next five years
It previously promised to invest $1.43 billion
Cut Losses
Nexon sells off mobile developer Gloops for one Japanese yen
Japanese studio was purchased for approximately $470 million in 2012
2020 Trends
Garena's Jason Ng on the rise of sophisticated gameplay on mobile
Free Fire breaks esport records
Big Year Coming
Ambitious Chinese publisher YOOZOO on its relentless vision for global success
Investing heavily in AI, esports and India
G-star 2019 Record
G-STAR reveals 2019 success: over 240,000 visitors attend the South Korean games event
Record attendance at B2B conference G-CON to boot
Kicked Out
NetEase to remove Arsenal football star from PES 2020 in China
Player made comments to social media regarding the treatment of Uighur Muslims in the country
Join The Monolith
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild developer looking to expand staff for sequel
Monolith Soft has been ramping up since the year's start
No Drops Here
PUBG Mobile Club Open Final 2019 draws in 532 million viewers
57 million hours viewed in total
Jackpot
Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat slashes its way to 500,000 pre-registrations
Licensed mobile title delayed to 2020
Oh Dear
Chinese publisher recieves $100,000 fine after releasing unlicensed mobile game
The country's license freeze ended late last year
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