Interview
“Hyper-casual isn’t a phase, it’s a culture shock for the whole mobile industry”
Kwalee publishing manager Jack Griffin dives into the state of hyper-casual games publishing
Staff
Natalie Clayton
About Natalie Clayton is an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and game developer. Besides PCGamesInsider and Pocketgamer.biz, she's written across the games media landscape and was named in the 2018 GamesIndustry.biz 100 Rising Star list.
Articles by Natalie Clayton
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Region Focus
Region Focus: Finding opportunities in Hong Kong's small games industry
In-depth analysis of the sector with input from Animoca Brands, Ember Entertainment and 6waves
Data
Roblox hits mobile revenue of $750 million ahead of its Chinese launch
Roblox was making over $1.2 million daily over last month
Fin
Minecraft: Story Mode goes dark on June 25th
Story Mode joins the Telltale catalogue in being pulled from store shelves
Stroll
Square Enix wants players to put on their fantasy shoes in Dragon Quest Walk
The latest entry in the RPG series is Square Enix’s take on Pokemon Go
Korea
South Korean government is split over the WHO’s decision to classify Gaming Disorder
The Ministry of Welfare and Ministry of Culture bash heads over the WHO decision
Moba
Mobile Legends bucks the US MOBA decline by growing revenue to $5.8 million in Q1
But the bigger picture proves that the competitive genre just isn't landing in the region
Safe
Google Play introduces new target audience features to make the platform safer for kids
All apps will need to meet the new standards by September 1st 2019
Events
Gamescom is heading to Asia in 2020
Koelnmesse claims "the region has been hungry for a Tier One gaming event"
Network
Mobile firm EE launches UK’s first 5G network
"This is the start of the UK's 5G journey and great news for our customers that want and need the best connections"
Tariffs
The US-China trade war could see the States impose a 25 per cent tariff on game consoles
“Tariffs will hurt the American economy, its industries, and its consumers," said the ESA in response
Zoom
Hutch’s first Formula One-partnered game is F1 Manager
“We’re excited to bring this mobile-first F1 game to fans around the world.
Interview
Resolution Games on the fresh momentum in VR and AR in 2019
There's a bright future ahead for VR and AR, claims the Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs developer
Magic
Magic Leap snaps up holographic teleconferencing start-up Mimesys
Belgian spatial-presence startup teams up with AR giant Magic Leap
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Game for Peace the second top grosser in China behind Honor of Kings
Rankings from May 6th to May 12th 2019
Super
Publisher NetEase is bringing new original Marvel content to China and beyond
The two firms will create original games, television and comic books with Marvel IP
Gaming Disorder
World Health Organisation set to judge whether "gaming disorder" will become a recognised illness this week
The ESA continues to push back on the perceived risk of listing obsessive gaming as a disorder
Report
Keep an eye open for Indonesia, the fastest-growing nation in Adjust’s Global App Trends 2019 report
Mid-core games are also on the rise in the measurement organisation's latest overview of global trends
Finance
Weak mobile and browser game performance led to a poor 2019 financial year for Square Enix
Solid releases couldn't sway the tide against slower-than-expected mobile and MMO performance
Finance
Ubisoft’s mobile bookings grew nearly 75 per cent in a record year for the French publisher
Mobile might be a minor part of Ubisoft's business, but it's only going to become more important in the coming years
Jobs
Angry Birds VR developer Resolution Games names new COO
Dreber joins to help drive the AR/VR studio's business strategy and growth
Crunch
An EU court ruling could help cut crunch in the games industry
European Court of Justice looks to enforce the EU's existing Working Time Directive
Epic Award
Epic Games to receive special award from BAFTA
“Epic is at the forefront of the evolution of the global games industry and the impact of their innovation is undeniable”
Faster
Bidalgo’s new Accelerator program wants to help small to mid-sized app developers scale up
Bidalgo aims to put smaller studios on a level playing field when it comes to user acquisition efforts
Peace
Tencent’s "peaceful" PUBG clone Game for Peace earned over $14 million in three days
Game for Peace is already outperforming PUBG Mobile internationally
Enthusiastic
Newzoo: Over 46 per cent of all “gaming enthusiasts” are women
Women are likely to be killing time on mobile games in Newzoo's gaming demographic breakdown
Survey
ESA: 60 per cent of US gamers are playing on smartphones, survey finds
Almost three-quarters of games played are in the mobile-dominated casual genre
Vote
Australia's Labor party courts devs with pledge to reinstate the Interactive Games Fund
$25 million fund will be reinstated pending the results of elections this Saturday
Live
Gameloft is bringing Xbox Live support to three mobile games
Two Asphalt titles and Dragon Mania Legends are three of the first mobile games in Xbox Live’s lineup
Legendary
Apex Legends is pinging a mobile port
EA’s Q4 results suggest Respawn’s battle royale is heading to smartphones and China
Financial
MapleStory and Dungeon & Fighter shatter expectations to drive Nexon’s Q1 2019 results
Nexon predicts further growth as it heads into the next quarter
Telling Tales
Sam Barlow talks publishing and selling narrative games ahead of his next title Telling Lies
"The games market is still one of extremes with the huge $100 million games at one end and the indie games at the other"
Financials
New acquisitions drive Stillfront to $43.6 million results in Q1 2019
Development group hopes to add more indies to its roster in the coming year
Vr
Google puts headsets on hold as it focuses on VR software
Google is deep in R&D on its next hardware project
Loss
South Korea economy could lose over $9 billion once the WHO names gaming addiction a disease
Stigmatising gaming addicts could cost the industry trillions of KRW
Events
Catch up with Jagex, Microsoft, Rebellion and more at Develop: Brighton 2019
The full schedule for the seaside industry hangout is now online
Live Ops Landscape
Settling in for the long haul with Live Ops Landscape at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Keep your players coming back week after week with this dive into the world of LiveOps
Movie
Sonic movie director promises drastic design changes following criticism on the hedgehog’s new look
Nine months ahead of release, Sonic is going back to the drawing board
Interview
Ablegamers CEO Mark Barlet feels the future's bright for accessibility in gaming
“It’s not in a perfect state, but I believe everyone from the indies to triple-As is on that journey to a more accessible experience”
Launch
GameClub raises $2.5 million to bring old premium games into the modern marketplace
Mobile startup is already working on making over 50 games compatible with current and future devices
Esports
Fnatic expands its esports operation by raising $19 million in funding
British esports firm hopes to employ 1000 people worldwide by 2024
Great
Sea Hero Quest is a mobile VR game that can identify a player’s risk of Alzheimer’s
Glitchers' game uses spatial navigation challenges to detect early warning signs of the disease
Stack
Appodeal is now a part of umbrella ad tech solution brand Stack
Stack wants to help mobile publishers compete with an encroaching ad network industry
Fast
The first trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog film was 'interesting'
Gotta watch fast
Jobs
Square Enix is hiring over 100 new positions at its Montréal Studios
Square Enix Montréal and Eidos Montréal are scaling up as part of an international collaboration.
Awards
Here are this year’s nominees for the 2019 Google Play Awards
This year brings a number of new awards for Most Beautiful Game, Best Living Room Experience and Most Inventive Game
Banned
Google is wiping a Chinese developer with half a billion installs off the face of the Play store
DO Global has been accused of committing widespread ad fraud
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Clean Road cleans up in the UK in a strong week for SayGames
Charts from April 15th to 21st
18-plus
Nutaku opens new Android adult gaming store
Beta launches with 30 games, with 30 more planned this year
Uk Funding
UK government puts together $5.2 million funding for mixed reality games based on iconic British IP
British authorities are looking to push new VR and AR experiences for established properties like Wallace and Gromit