Douyu Not
Chinese live-streaming platform DouYu halts US IPO
The company announced the IPO late last month
Chinese Regulations
Loot box design 2.0: Complying with China's new rules
The Yodo1 team discusses the latest changes and offers help on figuring out your best strategy for legal monetisation in the country
Rapid Growth
China mobile games revenue to surpass $25 billion by 2023
95 per cent of gamers in China are playing mobile titles; 40 per cent spend money
East Meets West
East Meets West: DOCOMO invests $280m in Magic Leap, the Middle East's growing games market, and Let's Hunt Monsters a top grosser in China
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Jobs News
Mobile ad tech firm Pocketmath appoints Joanne Joynson-Hewlett as CEO
“It is a time of unprecedented growth and opportunity for Pocketmath”
Event
Win FREE expo space in the Big Indie Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong
Get the chance to demo your game to the global games industry FREE this July, worth $650
Impressive Numbers
Voodoo outpaces hyper-casual rivals with 771 million downloads in six months
Lion Studios and Playgendary follow in second and third
Event
Things are heating up! Here’s the 15 conference tracks at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong
Check out the amazing tracklist for July's two-day B2B games industry event
Partnered
Animoca Brands is partnering up with global venture accelerator Brinc
Both firms seal the relationship with a mutual investment of $750,000 in shares
Future Of Streaming
Synative’s revolutionary playable ad tech is like Google’s Stadia for mobile
The company operates cloud-based gaming technology that lets users try games without downloading them
Error Code 403
Nintendo removes A Dark Room from Switch eshop after developer includes code editor
“I deeply regret how this has blown up"
Jobs
Square Enix is hiring over 100 new positions at its Montréal Studios
Square Enix Montréal and Eidos Montréal are scaling up as part of an international collaboration.
Exciting Times
Maysalward CEO: “The Middle East market is a key player in the mobile industry”
The MENA video games market has a 25 per cent year on year growth with the largest youth population in the world”
Online Success
Nintendo Switch online subscriptions reach 9.8 million in six months
A third of Switch owners hold an online account
New Office
Dutch 3D tracking tech developer Xsens opens new office in Shanghai
"The Shanghai office will support the further growth of Xsens in China, which reflects the rapid growth of Xsens worldwide”
Banned
Google is wiping a Chinese developer with half a billion installs off the face of the Play store
DO Global has been accused of committing widespread ad fraud
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Clean Road cleans up in the UK in a strong week for SayGames
Charts from April 15th to 21st
Magic Funds
Japanese mobile operator DOCOMO invests $280 million in Magic Leap
Yet another investor brings total funding to date to around $2.6 billion
East Meets West
East Meets West: Chinese regulator starts approving new games, China debates long working hours, and Perfect World is world's top grosser
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Nintendo Cashes In
Nintendo mobile division sales up 17% to $412m in FY2019
Total sales for the fiscal year rose to $10.7 billion
On Your Marks
Mario Kart Tour beta signups have begun
Nintendo’s financials re-asserted that the mobile racer is still due in 2019
Revenue
King of Avalon and Guns of Glory rake in over $1.3 billion in revenue for Funplus
Funplus wants both games to rake in a combined $1.5 billion by the year's end
Crunch
Chinese activists 996.ICU blast Tencent and NetEase for intense overtime policies
But some leaders have fired back, claiming workers who don't put in their 12-hours-a-day are unambitious
Digital World
Tencent’s Perfect World was the top grossing mobile game globally in March 2019
Honor of Kings follows in second place
Project Imagination
Qualcomm partners with Tencent and Vivo to create new AI game experiences on mobile
Optimise experience in games including Honour of Kings
Real-money Competition
Indian esports platform Mobile Premier League raises $35.5 million
Series A to fuel product and user growth
Court Order
Nepal Supreme Court suspends PUBG ban
Ruling intervened with Article 17’s freedom of expression
First Wave Of Speakers
Tencent, NetEase, Giant Interactive and Super Evil Megacorp head first wave of speakers at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019
Expect 120 speakers sharing 55 hours worth of cutting edge content on July 17th to 18th
Korea
South Korean FTC will carry out an “extensive review” of consumer regulations
The antitrust body wants to combat games taking advantage of children spending money they don't have
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent’s Let’s Hunt Monsters storms China’s free downloads rankings
Charts from April 8th to 14th
China Regulations
China’s games regulator resumes new submission approvals as it continues through backlog
The State Administration of Press and Publication details the new regulatory landscape for games developers and publishers
Cash Royale
Mobile picks up $65m of PUBG Corp's $920m sales in 2018
Mobile likely low due to Chinese approval freeze
Going Public
China's biggest live-streaming platform Douyu files for $500 million IPO in the US
The company is backed by Tencent and is considered China's answer to Twitch
China
Tencent extends its digital lock age cap to 16 in China
Under-16s will now require parental consent and be limited to two hours play a day
Acquisition News
Keywords snaps up work-for-hire mobile development studio Wizcorp for $1m
Service provider expands footprint in Japan
East Meets West
East Meets West: Tencent could be launch a gaming phone, and how China and South Korea are driving Eve online into the future
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Indie
Google’s Indie Games Accelerator is back, and now open to 37 countries
Google opens up its indie program to developers in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America
Money Money Money
Newzoo: Tencent responsible for 15% of 2018's global games revenue
Chinese tech and entertainment giant saw close-to $20bn coming in last year
Event
Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong - what's it all about?
Two-day games industry event features 15-track conference schedule, Big Indie Pitch, Investor Connector, networking and more
Indie
Family-focused publisher Natsume debuts its new indie program with Cosmic Defenders
"We are proud to support and collaborate with inspiring developers who are building the future of video games"
Handheld
Report: Tencent may be set to launch its own gaming phone
Mobile gaming giant could create the perfect hardware for its overwhelmingly popular mobile games
Grow
Global mobile gaming revenue hit $14.6 billion in Q1 2019
Gaming accounted for 76 per cent of all app revenue last quarter
Eastern Growth
Plug In Digital continues expansion by opening office in China
Publisher and distributor expands Eastward following $2.25m funding round
Mobile Star
Supercell’s Brawl Stars is making $50 million a month
Sales pass $200 million to date
East Meets West
Save the date! Free London mini-summit and mixer this May
Join us for East Meets West In Association With Mintegral
Develop Reboot
China and South Korea are driving Eve Online into the future
"I have Eve Echoes in my pocket. It is like an artefact from the future"
Blockchain Go
Tencent launches its own take on Pokemon Go and CryptoKitties in China
Said to be a hybrid of Pokemon Go and CryptoKitties, Tencent’s ‘Let’s Hunt Monsters’ makes use of an interesting blockchain ecosystem
Not Fortnite
NetEase renames FortCraft to BuildTopia as it bags one million pre-registrations
Battle royale copycat edges closer to launch
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Clash of Clans the US top grosser thanks to new Gold Pass
Charts from April 1st to 7th
East Meets West
Kabam partners with NetEase for Marvel Contest of Champions China launch, and Black Desert picks up $1 billion
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market