Partner Up
Nintendo could partner up with more developers to make mobile games
"If we find other partners that can bring unique strengths that are not found within Nintendo, then we may work with them as well"
Smart Expansion
Mobile a key driver for Nintendo's growth in Asia and Middle East
Access to IP leads to strong Switch sales, says company president
Ready To Float
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi files for world's biggest IPO since 2014
Could value company at as much as $100 billion
Heroic
Crazy Defence Heroes helps boost Animoca Brands’ revenues to A$3.4 million for 1Q18
The tower defence RPG game brought in A$2.6 million during the quarter
Not Bad
Fate/ Grand Order helps launch Sony Music’s revenue to $7 billion in FY17
The division saw a 24 per cent year on year increase
On The App
Annual consumer app store spend to increase to $157 billion by 2022
Mobile app downloads will also increase to 258 billion by 2022, according to App Annie
Less Mario, More Rpg
How Nintendo plans to create an annual $1 billion mobile games business
Starting over with a clean slate
Formulated
Gumi’s The Alchemist Code racks up five million downloads worldwide
The Japanese mobile games developer is celebrating with special in-game events
Making Of
Hack and slash: The making of MIHOYO's Honkai Impact 3rd
MIHOYO president Forrest Wei Liu breaks down Honkai Impact 3rd's world
Top Tips
8 tips for mobile games publishing success in China
Mobvista lays out some key advice from its ‘Looking East: How to launch mobile games in China 2018’ report
Connect
CyberAgent’s new release Princess Connect! Re:Dive propels games revenues to $368m in Q2 2018
Company credits Princess Connect! Re:Dive for the improved financial performance
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Little Lost Fox's Niamh Fitzgerald on Valleys Between and finding the balance
"Some of my favourite days are ones where I get to focus on game design or technical art"
Big Deal
Tencent eyes investment in Playerunknown's Battlegrounds outfit Bluehole
Local media reports investment could equal around $468 million
On The App
Mobile games revenues to hit $70 billion in 2018
Revenues will account for more than half of the $137.9 billion made across all platforms
Key Release
$1 billion mobile title Disney Tsum Tsum comes to Facebook Instant Games
'Introductory version' launches globally
Lost And Found
Nintendo taps up Cygames for new RPG game Dragalia Lost
New RPG will be released this summer
Switching It Up
Nintendo’s mobile games brought in $359.5 million in the last year
Overall revenue increased 116 per cent to $9.66 billion
Going Up
Chinese publisher 37 Interactive doubled its mobile revenue to more than $500m in 2017
Overseas revenue for mobile games also jumped up 80 per cent
Stepping Down
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima to retire
Leaves after nearly three years in the role
China Gathering
Tencent to publish new Magic: The Gathering games in China
Deal also includes Southeast Asia territories
Mobile & Conquer
Tencent revives Red Alert game series for mobile
Red Alert Online set for China release
Heading East
Tencent backs Fortnite China release with $15 million investment
Chinese publisher plans esports push
Closed
Nexon removes LEGO Quest and Collect from iOS and Google Play stores
The title had been in soft launch since June 7th 2017
Going East
Fortnite heads to China
The battle bus ventures East
Fold On A Minute
Nintendo Labo lands in the US, Australia and Japan
New arts and crafts style accessory will find its way to Europe on April 27th
Local Launch
How Mech Mocha culturalised Halfbrick’s hit mobile game Jetpack Joyride for India
CEO Arpita Kapoor tells us what's changed in the title to suit the local market
Head Of The Pack
Tencent leads the way in $22 billion spent on games deals in last 12 months
The internet giant participated in over $4 of every $10 invested in games companies and was involved in over three-quarters of all games M&A
Hack And Slash
Platinum partners with DENA for Okami spiritual successor World of Demons
The hack-and-slash title will make its way to iOS this summer with an Android release set for later in 2018
Event News
International Game Show 2018 PlayX4 heads to South Korea in May
Event houses B2B and B2C exhibitions
All Out
Indian publisher Nazara partners up with Royal Challengers Bangalore for second mobile game
RCB Epic Cricket features multiplayer mode and stars team's players
Going Offline
China’s app crackdown removes 370 livestreaming apps
Major players like Douyu and Huya also under investigation
Count On It
Konami readies Castlevania mobile game in Japan
Grimoire of Souls will host a closed beta ahead of its launch on iOS later this year
Tech Line-up
Line launches new mobile games developer tools to combat clones and track player behaviour
Also includes automated QA and testing platform
New Studio
Former Scopely and EA execs head up new narrative-focused studio Ordinal Games
Start-up wants players to create stories and take a share in revenues
Legal Investigation
Report: South Korea’s FTC investigates Google Play over claims it abused market leading position
Storefront accounted for 60 per cent of all mobile app content sales in 2017
Mobile Games Trends
Singapore snapshot: Mobile Legends and battle royale games lead the way
Niko Partners Analyst Daniel Ahmad on what the charts tell us about the local games industry
Impact
New mobile RPG Honkai Impact 3rd racks up 35 million downloads
Players who download the game will earn launch rewards and bonuses throughout April
You What?
Tencent introduces social credit score system to combat cheaters and reward good behaviour
Game Credit currently only available to Chinese users
Boycotted
Report: China still refuses to license new South Korean-developed games
Tensions originated with South Korea’s THAAD missile defence system which led to China’s unofficial license boycott
Instant Gaming
Tencent opens up WeChat mini-games platform to external devs
Chinese publisher expects significant share of sales
Looking East
Unity to open Centre of Innovation for games developers in Malaysia
Tech firm will team up with Malaysia’s Digital Economy Corporation to open the facility
Going Public
Chinese livestreaming platform Huya files for $200m IPO in US
But no date set
Education
Chinese developer NetDragon buys online learning community Edmodo for $138 million
Deal paid via a combination of cash and shares of an affiliated education company
Crack Down
South Korea’s FTC deals out fines to Nexon, Netmarble and NextFloor over misleading loot box promotions
Nexon Korea hit by $887,000 penalty
Investment News
New VC fund Altered Ventures plots $36 million investment focusing on emerging markets
Fund works by revenue share, rather than equity stake
Rad
The Witness developer Thekla puts up $100k for underrepresented developers
RAD Game Tools' Jeff Roberts matched the initial $50k to double the prize pool
Partners In Education
Tencent partners with Age of Learning to bring ABCmouse English curriculum to China
Consists of more than 5,000 learning activities, including games, puzzles and books
Mixed Picture
2018 so far for mobile game company stock
Winners and the losers
What's Trending?
The must know Japan mobile games trends for 2018
AppLovin's Johannes Heinze on what's hot in one of the world's most lucrative mobile markets
Clone Dinner
PUBG developer sues NetEase over mobile 'clones' Rules of Survival and Knives Out
Lawsuit demands removal of titles