Fold
Tencent axes poker game as China tightens the leash on gaming
Servers for “Everyday Texas Hold’Em” will go offline on September 25th
Pubg
Tencent is holding its first PUBG Mobile tournament in India
PUBG Mobile Campus Championship 2018 will pit teams from 1000 colleges against each other
China
A third of the Chinese population is playing mobile games
China’s 459 million large mobile audience rivals the total population of Japan and the US combined
China
China’s gaming crackdown pushes Tencent towards further age restrictions in Honor of Kings
As part of a government campaign to prevent myopia amongst children and reduce gameplay time
Come Together
NantWorks invests in H1Z1 developer Daybreak and forms new publishing division
Mobile versions of H1Z1 coming
Publishing Deal
Mobile internet giant Cheetah Mobile secures publishing rights for Ministry of Games' Trade Town
Cheetah Mobile beat multiple publishers to win the deal
Earthquake
Nintendo Direct delayed following earthquake in Japan
The games showcase will be rescheduled soon
East Meets West
South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss acquires Eve Online studio CCP for $425 million
Icelandic studio claims it will maintain independence while supporting Pearl Abyss' current and future projects
Switch
Nintendo Switch closes on five million sales in Japan
Handheld hybrid has sold almost five million units in its home market
Listed
Chinese mobile games publisher CMGE looking to raise $500 million through Hong Kong IPO
The company originally delisted from Nasdaq in 2015 in the US
Sponsor Profile
Inside the Asian games scene with G-STAR and Pocket Gamer Connects
Meet our partners from South Korea and discover essential insight to a huge new market
Suspended
Tencent suspends Arena of Valor global CM following sexual harassment accusations
Nick Zasowski to undergo full investigation following claims of inappropriate messages being sent to women
Straight Fire
Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes brings in over $417m in revenue
The tactical RPG has made up 78 per cent of Nintendo’s mobile revenue since launch in February 2017
Switch
Sony’s Hiroyuki Oda believes the Nintendo Switch has had “positive influence” on the industry
But kind words won't change the company line on collaboration in the gaming sector.
Summoned
Summoners War draws in revenues of over $1.3 billion
The turn-based strategy MMO title initially launched back in June 2014
Pressing On
Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo will push on with fixed price model for mobile games
The Nintendo developer also believes companies should “deliver games at reasonable prices"
Revenue
King of Avalon ventures abroad to bring in $380 million outside of China in two years
Online strategy is the third-highest grossing Chinese game in the USA
Mighty Recruits
Singapore’s Mighty Bear Games lands senior ex-Bigpoint and Bandai Namco devs
Jan Richter and Pauline Pun join the team
Jesus
Tencent's value plummets by $20bn after China dishes out new regulations on games
Company has lost $164bn in value since January
Company Shake-up
Service provider Pole To Win drafts up new regional structure after strong growth
Services provider divides itself into three new regions with three new presidents
Another Partnership
Tencent and Square Enix team up to form new company and develop triple-A franchise
Chinese tech giant providing internet capabilities; Japanese game developer providing the creativity
Igdc
NGDC rebrands to The India Game Developer Conference
Event returns to Hyderabad on December 4th and 5th 2018
Restrictive Policies
China’s block on new game licenses could be coming to an end - but fresh regulations are incoming
Calls to restrict the number of new game releases
Building A Blockchain Strategy
Animoca Brands acquires The Sandbox dev Pixowl for $5 million
Betting on blockchain user generated content
Live And Kicking
Three years on: Bandai Namco on the evolution of Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle
"That pure fanboy spirit is something I believe I share with our users and something I take into my work on the game"
Take A Xhance On Me
Adrealm’s general manager for Europe Mei Li-Berlit talks Xhance and tackling fraud
"it may be true that cryptocurrencies are a temporary hype, but we don’t think that the underlying technology itself is a fad"
Early Bird Gets The Worm
“In 2030 the market will be in the top five economies in the world” How to get into Indonesia’s mobile market early
Agate’s Shieny Aprilia gave a talk at Devcom on how to get into the industry
Worldwide
How Chorus Worldwide helped indie developers to release mobile games in China
"As I’m sure everyone knows, the Google Play store is not a big player in the market. Instead, the area is dominated by local Chinese app stores"
Starring Role
Revenue up 616 per cent for Supercell's soft-launched Brawl Stars in July
The month saw the Finnish developer add new countries to the soft-launch along with new content
Live And Kicking
Three years on: Square Enix on the evolution of Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius
Producer Hiroki Fujimoto delves into keeping players invested, events and Ariana Grande
War
Pixonic’s War Robots racks up $190m in revenue
The third-person shooter originally launched back in April 2014
Time Out
Tencent's relationship with Riot strained over differences on mobile gaming
Riots declining playerbase also a point of contention
Nice
PUBG Mobile has made $50 million in revenue
The battle royale received a shot in the arm following the introduction of the Royale Pass
Winner Winner Chicken Salad
Tencent soft-launches PUBG Lite in the Philippines on Android
Just a lite update for you
Get Online
Nintendo Switch Online will arrive in the second half of September
Long-delayed online subscription services pegged for the end of next month
Field Trip
Indian learning platform Quizizz raises over $3 million in funding
Homework gamification app has amassed over 10 million active users
Fine Catch
Pokemon Quest captures $8 million in revenue from mobile after one month
The RPG has proved most popular in Japan followed closely by the US
Oh No
Netmarble shares plummet to all-time low as Lineage 2 popularity fades
Shares dropped 11.27 per cent on August 9th to close at 126,000 won
Banned
No end in sight as South Korean games companies locked out of China for over a year
No signs of issues being resolved
Chinese Exports
Chinese games raked in more than $600 million in the US for the first half of 2018 alone
The haul was a 52 per cent increase year-on-year
Games Suspended
China hasn't approved any new mobile games since March 28th
Market sees single-digit growth in first half of the year, the slowest since at least 2009
Financials
Square Enix profits drop after three months with no new games and new mobile titles fail to perform
Three-month financial results show a slow quarter for the Japanese publisher
Diverse
Mobile diversification strategy helps drive NetEase to $2.5 billion revenue for 2Q18
Horror game Identity V and battle royale title Knives Out were namechecked specifically
Not Too Shabby
Nexon’s MapleStory M hits five million downloads globally in two weeks
The side-scrolling adventure game originally hit three million within its first week
Mobile Awards
One week left for International Mobile Gaming Awards Southeast Asia submissions
Deadline is August 15th
Don’t You Mean Football?
Sociable Soccer dev Tower Studios snags China publishing deal with China Mobile
Arcade football game is will land in China first and is pencilled in for launch in Autumn 2018
Decline Continues
GungHo revenue and profits fall again as publisher struggles to replace Puzzle & Dragons
New release Yo-Kai Watch World surpasses one million downloads
Take To The Seas
Pirate Code walks away as the second Big Indie Pitch in China winner
Big Ear takes second while Hexland Heroes walks away in third
Who Are Ya
Bandai Namco soft-launches Doctor Who collectible card game on Android
The collectible card game is currently available in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Thailand
Billions
Lineage 2 Revolution follows Lineage M in breaking $1 billion barrier
Still making $30 million a day 20 months on