The Asia market has become the most lucrative and influential region in the global mobile games industry.
Companies in countries such as Japan, South Korea and China are highly successful at home and are increasingly expanding around the world through global game releases, international partnerships and M&A. These markets also offer lucrative opportunities for Western publishers.
To give you a deeper insight into this key region, each week we’re rounding up all the news from PocketGamer.biz and around the web. Don't forget to keep up with the news throughout the week on the Asia section of our site.
Got any news leads about the Asia market you'd like to share? Email PocketGamer.biz senior editor Craig Chapple at craig.chapple@steelmedia.co.uk.
You can gain more insights into the Asia markets at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong on July 17th to 18th. There are just a few days left to save on Mid-Term ticket prices.
Why Dragonest partnered up with Tencent to publish Drodo Auto Chess in China
Chinese publisher Dragonest says it has partnered with tech and entertainment behemoth Tencent to release Drodo Auto Chess in the region to help spread the word.
NetEase acquires minority stake Fallout Shelter dev Behaviour
NetEase claimed that Behaviour will continue to operate independently and that current president and executive producer Rémi Racine will remain in charge. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tencent launches Steam Link-like mobile streaming app for WeGame
Tencent has launched a new mobile streaming app for its PC storefront WeGame that lets users stream their desktop games to a mobile device over wi-fi.
Indian ed-tech firm Byju's raises $150m
There seems to be an increasing number of big deals taking place in the ed-tech space, this time with Byju's raising $150 million. According to Crunchbase, the firm has now raised $970m to date, with the latest investment said to value Byju's at around $5.5 billion.
Chinese live-streaming platform DouYu launches $775 million IPO
The big IPO took place on the New York Stock Exchange.
Zynga India moves to new studio in Bangalore
The need for a bigger office comes as the team continues to expand and is actively seeking to bring more developers into the studio.
Dr. Mario World encapsulates five million downloads in first week
Revenue-wise the title generated $500,000 in revenue, meaning it was outpaced by all other Nintendo releases on mobile.
Detective Pikachu becomes highest grossing video game film
The pokemon IP, hailing from Japan, has made the successful jump to a live-action film after grossing $436 million at the box office.
China looks to mobile game in bid to eradicate poverty
The Ministry of Finance’s poverty reduction office has partnered with messaging platform WeChat on a farming game in which players grow and sell their own products. It's part of the Chinese government's plans to eradicate absolute poverty in the country by 2020.
Learn how to launch and monetise your mobile game in APAC at our free mini-summit in Cologne
Gamescom is just a month away and during the week we’ll be hosting our own free mini-summit in association with Mintegral dedicated to providing insights on launching and monetising your mobile game in APAC.
The top global game advertisers in the US, Japan and South Korea for June 2019
RenRen Game Japan’s Beauty Rivalry: Dress up Story was the biggest advertiser in Japan in June 2019, while in South Korea Voodoo's Helix Jump took top spot.
Nintendo unveils new Switch model with longer battery life
Current systems offer between two-and-a-half hours and six-and-a-half hours, while the new hardware is said to have up to nine hours of portable play. The recently unveiled Switch Lite will have between three and seven hours of battery life.
Nintendo Switch owners are suffering Joy-Con drift issues
Claims have been made that people are suffering from a fault that sees the controller's joystick move on its accord, with camera control seemingly most affected by this.
Snap and Baidu renew sales partnership to continue reach in Asia
Advertisers in the region will have the opportunity to utilise Snapchat’s global reach and promote themselves to the platform's 190 million daily active users.
Crazy Racing KartRider managed to overtake most of its competitors in the top grossing rankings but was stopped in its tracks by Game for Peace, which took first place. That means that China's regular top grossing game finally was knocked off the summit and into third, a position it has not fallen to for a long time.
Connect directly with the biggest players in the Asian market at G-STAR, the most accessible games event in the region. Busan, Korea, November 14th to 16th November. Register now here.
