Switched On
Nintendo posts strong quarter despite lowering Switch sales estimates to 17m for the year
Mobile spurs on approximately $300m in sales
Blame The Blue Shell?
Mario Kart Tour for mobile delayed until summer 2019
Was expected to launch by end of March
Demonic
DENA and Platinum's World of Demons possibly canned after App Store removal
The hack and slash game had initially soft-launched in Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia in June of last year
Destination Iran
Low CPI and high ARPU: Iran, the fastest growing mobile apps market in the Middle East
Delving into market data
Switch
Nintendo president: "We certainly want to release mobile games across a wide variety of genres"
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa believes the Switch is strong enough as-is to meet the company's ambitions
Charts
Weekly Global Mobile Games Charts: PUBG Mobile breaks into US top 10 grossing slots
Charts from January 14th to 20th
Locked
NetEase is enforcing an 11-hour curfew of mobile gaming for kids
New limits will also severely restrict daily playtime for young children
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: King's Candy Crush Saga the top grosser in UK and US
Charts from January 7th to 13th
Eastern Trailblazer
Jeff Lyndon awarded first-ever Eastern Trailblazer accolade at Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards
Recognised for a hugely successful career in building companies and bringing the global industry together
Frozen
As many as 6,000 games could be stuck in China's licensing backlog
The waiting list for those titles could be two-years also
Heating Up
China's backlog of new game approvals still holding up Tencent and NetEase
257 titles granted license for release since March 2018
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Tencent's Miley Chen on the ACE Publishing Program and premium games in China
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd
Publishing Initiative
Tencent wants to support your game through its Game Without Borders initiative
The games giant's new global publishing scheme explained
Advertising
Tracking popular ad creatives and marketing channels for efficient and effective UA
A peek under the hood of ZingFront’s SocialPeta tech
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Roblox a top grosser in the UK
Charts from December 31st to January 6th
India
United Nations: India primed to become the next great game development hub
Gaming joins VFX and animation as a growing industrial powerhouse in the country
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: NetEase VP Ken Li to discuss publishing in China at PGC London
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd
Sharp
Knives Out a big battle royale winner for NetEase in 2018 with $465m revenue
Knives Out benefited from Japanese fame and being monetisable in China
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Maysalward's Nour Khrais on the developing mobile scene in the Middle-East
"Today we live on 4G and Fiberoptic networks that allow us to deliver fun with over hundreds of MB's of Data packages"
China
China approves further 84 games as new regulatory body works its way through backlog of thousands
84 new games have passed China’s video game approvals system for the second time since the freeze ended
Asia Insights
Four experts explain: What you should know about Asia mobile gaming in 2019
How to get ahead in China, India, Japan and South Korea
Blockchain Engine
Cocos-BCX officially launches its testnet to over 1.3 million developers
A look at what the game engine brings to the blockchain
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Roblox moves up Western download and grossing charts over Christmas
iOS and Android charts from the US, UK and China from for the week of December 24th to 30th
Marvellous
Hearthstone director's Second Dinner snags $30m from NetEase and secures Marvel licence agreement
New studio has been working on its first game for six months
Growth
Square Enix eyes India as part of year of “aggressive” overseas expansion
India and China will play a key role in the Square Enix president’s plans for global growth
Say What?
Report: Nexon put up for sale as founder and controlling stakeholder exits
Total 98.64 per cent stake owned by Kim Jung-ju up for grabs, it seems
Restart
The indie spirit behind the rebirth and growth of the Australian games industry
"We have to share the knowledge that we keep to ourselves and the things that scare us. We have to connect"
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Brawl Stars fires into US top 10 download and grossing rankings
Rankings for the week of December 17th to 23rd
Blockade Lifted
China's games market is officially open for business again
First 80 games approved for release in China since end of games freeze
Indie View
The Big Indie Interviews: Niebla Games talks pitching all over the world
We chat to Niebla Games, who walked away with the third place prize at The Big Indie Pitch at ChinaJoy 2018
Indie View
The Big Indie Interviews: Codex7 Games talk winning The Big Indie Pitch with their PvP realtime sea battle game Pirate Code
We chat to the winner of the second Big Indie Pitch at ChinaJoy
Indie View
The Big Indie Interviews: We learn more about Battlebrew's idle clicker that's filled with cute bunnies on magical floating islands
We chat to the recipient of the third place prize at the second Korean Big Indie Pitch
Unstuck
China's big games freeze finally comes to an end after nine months
New licences set to be issued for fresh launches
Indie View
The Big Indie Interviews: We talk adapting retro beat em ups for the mobile market with the G-STAR Big Indie Pitch winner ThinkBIT
We chat to the winner of the second Korean Big Indie Pitch which took place at G-STAR 2018
Court Battle
Qualcomm insists Apple is in breach of Chinese court order it claims prohibits iPhone sales
“Apple’s statements have been deliberate attempts to obfuscate and misdirect”
Block In The Chain
Atari makes strategic investment in blockchain specialist and mobile publisher Animoca Brands
Hong Kong-floated publisher set to bring Rollercoaster Tycoon Touch and Good Squad to the blockchain
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Lion Studios' Popular Wars lives up to its name around the world
Rankings for the week of December 3rd to 9th
Spotted
Activision and Tencent’s Call of Duty Legends of War surfaces in Australia on Android
The classic shooter is currently in Alpha
Calm Down
Honor of Kings skips past $4 billion in lifetime revenue
278 million downloads to date
Smashed It
Super Smash Bros Ultimate sold over 1.2 million copies in Japan during its first three days on sale
First-week figures for crossover brawler are Nintendo’s best ever in Japan, excluding Pokemon
Legal
iPhone XS and XR could be banned in China amid Apple-Qualcomm battle
Though Apple maintains that its handsets are still for sale in the People's Republic
Eastern Stars
Is Supercell's Brawl Stars set to rise in the East rather than the West?
Recent soft launch performance indicates Asia audience preference, but is it enough?
Soulful
Netmarble’s Blade and Soul Revolution tops iOS grossing charts in South Korea one day after launch
The MMORPG will launch globally in 2019
Growing Up
India set for first-ever independent games trade body
Local studios come together as sector matures
Funded
Analytics platform AppOnboard eyes up London and Seoul offices following $30m funding drive
Los Angeles-based company claim $15m will come in off the bat from Breakaway Growth
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Kabam’s Marvel Contest of Champions enjoys Western surge in player spending
This week's charts cover the period from November 26th to December 2nd
Is It Over?
China establishes Online Games Ethics Committee as end of games freeze nears
20 reviews have taken place, nine games rejected under new regulations
Moba
NetEase is bringing Super Evil Megacorp’s flagship MOBA Vainglory to China
Mobile-exclusive MOBA is also coming to PC and consoles in 2019
Indie Spotlight
How Super Entertainment's Spin Rhythm is designed to combine flow with flare
“Spin Rhythm makes use of all the available inputs and gestures of a touch screen to make players feel like they are inside the music, almost composing as they play like some interdimensional DJ”
Award Winners
Star Trek: Trexels II picks up Studio Game of the Year at India GDC Awards 2018
Winners revealed at ceremony