Asia Bulletin
Chinese consortium acquires Playtika, M&A reaches record smashing $25 billion, and more
Here's your weekly Chinese summary of the top stories in mobile gaming
No Local Hero
Analyzing Pokemon GO's relative failure in Japan
Lacks sustain
Perfect Publishing
How to publish a game perfectly in China, according to CMGE
Keep your eye on the market
Spending Habits
Chinese mobile game players spend more at midnight but play more at midday
Key user habits and profiles based on 100 million players
Cultural Clash
Cultural clashes are still holding back Chinese developers overseas
Companies should focus on quality over quantity, panel suggests
Pokemon Gone
Iran bans Pokemon GO
And other strange goings-on around the world
King Crab
iCandy Interactive's Crab War gets its pincers into one million users
Most successful game for the company to date
Total Dominance
Apple loses ground as Android swallows up 97% of India smartphone market in Q2 2016
iOS market share for the quarter fell to 2.4%
Instant Community
KTplay launches its instant in-game community platform for western developers
SDK already boasts 150 million active users in China
Reality Strikes
In Pictures: The Global VR Challenge
Visions of China
Great Winners Of China
The Global VR Challenge goes out with a bang
From West to East
Pawapuro Power
Konami's game sales rise 6% on the back of 25 million Power Pro downloads
Hitting a homerun
Tricking The Eye
Chinese Global VR Challenge runner-up Mirage Interactive raises $1.5 million
Investment led by SongHe Capital and Wistone
Virtual Winners
Global VR Challenge: The winners in the spotlight
The rising stars of VR games development
From China To Israel
Chinese consortium trumps Netmarble to acquire Playtika for $4.4 billion
Includes Giant and Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital
Apply Now
Singapore publisher GoGame hiring for development, marketing, and business development roles
Sega Networks-backed firm now hiring
Ea Targets Asia
Devin Nambiar leaves Kabam to join EA as Head of Product Management, Asia-Pacific
Kabam's ex-Director of Product jumps ship
Scaling
Taptica partners with Adways to target Asian mobile gamers
Part of an Asian shift
Global Vr Challenge
Broken Window Studios' exploration game Reflections wins Global VR Challenge
Winners announced within
Slipping Down
Apple's revenues tank in China
Halved in 6 months
Virgin Ground
Fallout Shelter comes to Chinese App Store thanks to Shanda Games
Shanda Games take publishing role
Territorial Passings
Chinese Pokemon GO players behaving badly in Japan
They could turn up anywhere
6-8 Week Contract
Sydney studio Not Doppler seeks 3D Artist for short-term contract
Remote workers welcome
Challenges Ahead
With shareholders wising up to Nintendo's small stake in Pokemon GO, pressure on its next mobile games is higher than ever
A true one-off
Poke Tumble
Nintendo's market cap drops $7 billion as company says Pokemon GO won't dramatically impact financials
Only owns a small slice
Top Draw
Finalists revealed for Global VR Challenge
Developers a step closer to winning from cash prize pool of $35,000
Underdog Comes Good
Mumbai-based UnderDOGS Gaming Studio funded for undisclosed amount
Intelli Reboot Digital acquires stakes
Good News
How Halfbrick automated its in-game messaging to drive player engagement
Right message, right time
More Than Crossy Road
Hipster Whale sets up as a publisher, hires new president
Clara Reeves joins from Film Victoria
Beyond Japan
Japanese App Annie competitor Fuller raises $4 million from Sega and others to go international
Expanding analytics and making apps easy
Poke-day In Tokyo
Servers braced and Giga Big Macs primed as Pokemon GO preps to go live in Japan
Coming home
Indian Mavens
Indian Mavens discuss the value of Indiagames founder Vishal Gondal's new early stage game investment fund
And is Vishal Gondal the one to provide it?
Bits & Pieces
Chinese companies including Qihoo 360 and Kunlun Games buy Opera's consumer businesses for $600 million
Focus for a quick sale
Look At Me
Worth 3 Supercells: SoftBank gets back into the expansion game with $32 billion acquisition of ARM
Indebted Japanese firm spends more
Buying Data
Chinese mobile ad platform Mobvista continues its westward expansion buying GameAnalytics
Deal #2
"craft Games Studio"
Monument Valley lead designer founds Mountains, a new Melbourne games studio
Three-person team focused on premium mobile games
Gotta Count Them All
Pokemon Go adds $8 billion to Nintendo's value over the weekend
Market cap up 40%
Clash China
Tencent starts distributing Clash Royale through China
Not that it wasn't already there
Ninten-go
Nintendo's market value shoots to $23 billion following launch of Pokémon GO
Share values rise 10%
Kitted Out
DeePoon VR dev kits make way to Global VR Challenge contenders
Developers ready their games for next round of judging
Apple Crumble
Apple drops to fifth place in China's mobile market as local competitors thrive
Not even a new iPhone could help
Choked By Bureaucracy
Chinese government's new mobile game approval rules already drawing the ire of indies
Indie devs take aim at SAPPRFT regulations
Crashing China
Koukoi Games partners with MyGamez to bring Crashing Season to China
Despite further restrictions on mobile games
Up And Up
Indian studio Nazara announces revenues of $32 million
Domestic market focus pays off
Gunning For The Top
How Canada-made FPS Kill Shot Bravo hit #5 in Chinese App Store downloads with little culturalization
Hothead Games Director of Development Vlad Ceraldi shares insights
Poker Face
Netmarble reportedly eyeing social casino with a $4.3 billion Playtika acquisition
New markets
$0.82 Difference
India's paying mobile consumers spend almost as much on IAPs as global average
Smaller, more frequent purchases
Nintendo For All
Mario Mobile?: Nintendo plans to open all original IP up for mobile development
Looking to make games and apps for everyone
Nintendo Controllers
Nintendo looking into smartphone controllers, VR, and more
The sky's the limit
From 2015
Rewind Wednesday: Nintendo's $30m Niantic Labs investment shows it's not taking the conventional mobile approach
Deal shows that Nintendo remains bold