EA’s creative control, Switch 2’s early success, and a wave of new mobile hits | Week in Views
The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can't let go of…
So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we've created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.
Craig Chapple
October 2025 mobile game charts: New hits rise as PUBG Mobile falls
The top grossing charts are much more interesting than they used to be when I was writing about the world’s top games nine years ago.
When looking at AppMagic estimates for October, it was fascinating to see the new hits that have steadily scaled up (and some that continue to do so) into the world’s most successful mobile games. Dream Games’ Royal Kingdom, Century Games’ Kingshot, and MicroFun's Gossip Harbor are all on the up.
Then there’s Delta Force, Pokémon TCG Pocket, SD Gundam G Generation Eternal, and Love and Deepspace. Meanwhile, Supercell's Clash Royale has sprung back to life with $100 million last month. Not bad for a title launched in 2016 that had faded from its highs over the years.
For all the talk of a mature market, that it’s harder than ever to launch a game, as an industry executive and investor told me today, new games and companies break through all the time. It’s not easy, but don’t fret the naysayers.
Just take a look at Chinese developer Florere, which has grown its revenue every month since 2024 and was the world’s 14th top grossing mobile games publisher across the App Store and Google Play in October.
New games and publishers are breaking through to challenge the old guard, making it an exciting time for the industry.
Paige Cook
EA assures staff it will retain full creative control under the proposed $55bn sale
EA is attempting to calm nerves around its proposed $55 billion acquisition and it’s clear the company wants to get ahead of the conversation.
In a staff FAQ, the publisher stressed that its mission values and player-first approach will remain unchanged, insisting it will retain complete creative control under its new investors.
While on paper that may sound great, foe some fans, especially in communities around long-running franchises like The Sims, I've seen a lot of concern. Many are worried the acquisition could alter the progression certain games have seen around inclusivity and other features players have spent years advocating for.
Large deals like this usually come with change, so the concern is understandable and upset fans aren't good for business.
EA maintains that nothing major will change in the general running of the business again, perhaps a statement to get ahead of other concerns we have seen from the likes of US senators who raised an eyebrow around foreign influence and national security implications.
EA may want to present as confident about the path forward, but not everybody is so sure. And who can blame them? When a major acquisition happens, it almost always causes some type of significant shift. But for now, we wait and see if the deal goes ahead.
Aaron Astle
Nintendo Switch 2 surpasses 10m unit sales in under four months
The Switch 2 has already surpassed 10 million unit sales just four months on from release, breaking Nintendo’s prior record and the games industry’s more broadly.
The original Switch sold 4.7m units in its first four months, meaning its successor has more than doubled those early sales figures.
The Switch 2 has also hit seven figures in half the time of the PlayStation 5, which took eight months to reach 10m. And, the sales milestone goes to show Nintendo’s stark turnaround over the past decade, as its latest hybrid console already approaches the lifetime sales numbers of the Wii U, which sold fewer than 14m units in four years.
Evidently, the Switch 2’s launch has been a resoundingly successful one: a major victory for Nintendo in the console wars - if console wars were still really a thing.