Lukewarm
Tencent’s mobile revenues remain steady in Q3 despite China’s freeze on games licenses
Mobile revenues grew seven per cent year-on-year to $2.8 billion
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile game charts: Old School RuneScape racks up the downloads as Football Manager 2019 strikes gold
Google Play and App Store rankings in the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and China for the week of October 29th to November 4th
Chopping Block
Tencent culls games marketing budget as China’s freeze on the industry continues
Publisher plays conservatively as the block on new game approvals continues
Event
The Big Indie Awards this week!
Join us at G-STAR in Korea to find out the winners, plus two Indie Pitches and one sweet party
Top Stuff
Global Top Round names the 10 games and studios chosen for this year’s accelerator
Final ten studios are eligible for up to $300,000 of investment from GTR
Developing Story
Nanobit on the opportunity for narrative games in China
"If it’s bigger than the US, and the US is our biggest market, and we can make a game that fits into that space then it’s what we need to do"
Summoned
Overseas sales accounts for 83% of Com2uS’ $106.7m total sales figure for Q3
Profits for the third quarter came in at $33.8 million
Flat-lined
Bandai Namco shuts down soft-launched title Doctor Who: Battle of Time
Doctor Who: Battle of Time will come to a close on November 26th
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile game charts: Command & Conquer Red Alert Online fires up China's top grossing list
Google Play and App Store rankings in the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and China for the week of October 22nd to 28th
Oops
Mobile underperforms as Square Enix posts $33m loss in half-year result
Restructuring at the recently-formed Luminous Studios blamed for the sharp decline
Partnership News
DENA partners with Tencent to launch mutli-billion dollar hit Arena of Valor in Japan
Will Japan prove a successful venture for the hit MOBA?
Lessons From Down Under
5 things we learned from the Melbourne International Games Week
No amount of jet-lag can stop us learning enough to write this feature
Artificial Intelligence
4 ways China’s AI industry could transform video games in the country across the world
Mobvista investigates the hot new tech and its potential effects
Game Advertising
Facebook marketing partner ZingFront aims to be a key ad creative player in global markets
A look at the company's SocialPeta and UnrealFront products
Seige
Castle Clash charges past worldwide revenue of over $550 million
Three quarters of the strategy game's audience is playing and paying through Google Play
Check
Tencent will soon require Chinese players to verify their identities against a police database
Publishing giant continues to try and appease a government looking to crack down on gaming addiction
Partnership News
Gree partners with Chinese video sharing platform BiliBili to develop new mobile games
Also plans to explore the virtual YouTuber space
Big Indie Awards
The Big Indie Awards 2018 Top 20 Countdown Part 1 - 20 to 11
We check out 20 -11 Big Indie Awards countdown highlighting the very best indie games from the last 12 months
The China Effect
Newzoo's drops 2018 global games industry revenue forecast by $3 billion
Mobile dip by $8bn, PC and console forecasts lower overall decline
Gains
Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot: Asia mobile segment "growing significantly"
Digital and back catalogue drive French firm's H1 18/19 financials
Up
Animoca Brands Q3 revenue rises 283 per cent year-over-year following Crazy success
The Chinese firm has also consolidated its position in blockchain through a string of investments and acquisitions
Found
Dragalia Lost is making four times the revenue per download of Fire Emblem Heroes in Japan
Nintendo’s action RPG has brought in $28 million over its first month
Winners
The 3rd International Mobile Game Awards SEA names its winners
In a high-quality competition, no single game stood out above the rest to take home Grand Prix winner
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile game charts: Tencent's Command & Conquer Red Alert Online rolls into China as a top grosser
Google Play and App Store rankings in the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and China for the week of October 15th to 21st
Gcap
“In 2018 one of the most punk, transgressive, brave and bad-ass thing you can do is to care about each other”
At Melbourne International Games Week, Mountains creative director Ken Wong delved into the new revolution that the industry needs
Igdc
India Game Developers Conference 2018 reveals its first wave of speakers
Five speakers from studios including Avalanche, Zynga, Geogrify and Tabtale have confirmed attendance at this year's IGDC
Gcap
“We shouldn't see similarity as a requirement for helping each other"
At Melbourne International Games Week, The Working Lunch director Ally McLean delved into how mentorship can better the industry
Event
Free expo space for indies at G-STAR
Big Indie Awards open access to free booth spaces at Korea’s leading exhibition and conference
Freeze
China reportedly halts “green channel” approvals during a government restructure
Local developers and gamers are increasingly turning to Steam to remain active in the space
Expansion
How the esports landscape will change in Australia and New Zealand over the coming 12 months
ESL managing director and EGAA chairman Nick Zanzetti gave a talk on the topic at the Melbourne International Games Week
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile game charts: Candy Crush Friends Saga inevitably dominates the download rankings
Google Play and App Store rankings in the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and China for the week of October 8th to 14th
Huge
Monster Strike and Puzzle & Dragons have grossed more than $7 billion each
More than five years later, Mixi’s game is still experiencing revenue growth
Cherry On Top
Hollow Knight dev Team Cherry snags Studio of the Year accolade at Australian Game Developer Awards 2018
Mountains also got a nod for mobile narrative game Florence
G-star 2018
Meet Pocket Gamer and Jagex Partners at G-STAR
We’ll be at the Korea show with the Big Indie Awards, a Big Indie Pitch and a sweet PG Party
Woah
Fortnite developer Epic Games to open new Australia and New Zealand branch
GDA Australia CEO Anthony Reed will be stepping down from his role to help start it up
Blast-off
NetEase’s Eve: Echoes is a mobile take on CCP’s space-faring MMO slated for a 2019 release
Mobile space sim will try to capture the full PC experience on Android and iOS
Globe Trotting
Yoozoo VP on finding the next great games market and the importance of localisation
“It’s down to them because games publishing and making there will be very different to how they are in China”
G-star 2018
Indies: Sign up now to be part of G-STAR's Indie Game Zone in November
Limited space available, register now to not miss out
Esports
Arena of Valor 2018 International Championship sports a $600,000 prize pool
Grand finals will take place in Thailand on December 15th to 16th
Region Focus
Region Focus: The opportunities and challenges facing South Korea’s lucrative games industry
In-depth analysis of the sector with comment from executives at Netmarble, Com2uS and Pearl Abyss
Indie Focus
How the Busan Indie Connect Festival is connecting developers with consumers
Event director Dustin Lee gives us the lowdown on the show
Fight
Huawei wants to take on the Switch with a $1,000 phone
Chinese manufacturer wants its new gaming phone to compete with the hybrid console
Trendy Sector
What's up with the South Korean games market?
Mobile and PC MMOs rule the roost in a sector-defining part of the world
Lineage Of Ips
Netmarble on Lineage 2 Revolution's runaway success and finding the next big hit
Simon Sim talks up the company's global strategy and M&A activity
Studio Profile
South Korean developer Ekkorr on Endless Frontier making $60m and the importance of sharing ideas
CEO Myeong Yong Shin offers up the details on the studio's work
New Pad
Lords Mobile developer I Got Games has opened a new office in Indonesia
Company celebrates opening of branch with grand ceremony and orchestral performances
Event
India’s biggest media and entertainment expo is just weeks away
25,000 visitors expected for December’s 15th festival, IndiaJoy
Top Performers
PUBG Mobile and Lineage M top download and grossing charts in South Korea in H1 2018
The top 10 grossers and downloaded mobile games across the App Store and Google Play for the first six months of the year
New Horizons
Animoca Brands' Yat Siu on why mobile games are leading the charge to take blockchain mass-market
Time to gain scale
Cutting Out A Niche
NetEase’s PUBG-like Knives Out pulls in over $370 million
97 per cent of that figure comes from China and Japan