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
Hack Blocker
Defending against the dark arts of mobile game hacking with AppSealing
AppSealing delves into the problems at hand and its solution
Two Bans Two Months
PUBG banned in Nepal over addiction concerns in young children
“We have ordered the ban on PUBG because it is addictive to children and teenagers”
Reach For The Sky
Animoca Brands picks up majority stake in CCG developer Skytree for $606k
Developer could work on F1, MLB, Bundesliga or Bayern Munich IPs
One Billion Dollars
Mobile accounts for nearly a third of Black Desert franchise's $1 billion sales
Series began in 2015
Crime Does Pay
Games2win partners with Sony Pictures to launch mobile games based off iconic Indian show CID
“It’s an all-time epic”
Mobile Trends
Key mobile games industry trends for 2019 and how they’ll affect the sector in 2020
An overview of leading genres and new user acquisition formats and strategies for the year ahead
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent continues its dominance as China’s top grosser but Perfect World drops to second
Charts from March 25th to March 31st
Bring Me Thanos
Kabam and NetEase partner for Chinese Android launch of Marvel Contest of Champions
Perfectly balanced as all things should be
Job News
Animoca Brands hires former Sony managing director Michael Ephraim as head of partnerships
Will oversee Australia and New Zealand region
East Meets West
East Meets West: Game of Thrones joins latest China game approvals, and Hatch partners with Samsung on 5G
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Huge Growth
Global mobile user spending to reach $156 billion by 2023
Latin America and Africa were both noted as most likely to see the biggest increase in growth revenue
Wahooo
Mario Odyssey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild VR support coming to Nintendo Labo
Experience Breath of the Wild in full through virtual reality
Hatch A Plan
Hatch partners with Samsung to bring 5G games service to South Korea
Hatch Premium will be included with any purchase of Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G in the country
Busy Bees
Animoca raises $3.3 million and acquires German developer Stryking
Picks up studio initial $1.1m deal that could rise to $3.3m
Chicago To Asia
Niantic details worldwide summer events for Pokemon Go in 2019
I will travel across the land, searching far and wide
3g 4g 5g More
SK Telecom introduces new 5G data plan that includes exclusive games and promotions
Firm states that new 5G network will utilise its 34,000 5G base stations across the country
Emergency Maintenance
Nippon Ichi Software stock nosedives after Disgaea RPG suffers maintenance woes after launch
Game taken offline after March 19th launch and was due to come back online at end of March, but has since suffered further delays
Movers And Shakers
Ex-Konami head of emerging markets named Marvelous Europe GM as Harry Holmwood exits
Holmwood leaving to focus on "other business interests"
Pubg Prime
PUBG Mobile introduces in-app subscriptions for sixth season
Gross revenue grew 83 per cent in March 2019 overtaking Fortnite for the month
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: PUBG Mobile hits top spot in the US Google Play grossing charts
Charts from March 18th to March 24th