NetEase's Rules of Survival scores 15 million downloads, Discord clears 87 million users, and King launches a Candy Crush AR lens for Facebook
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been the talk of the industry all year, and it was only a matter of time before other devs took notice and rushed out their own battle royale games.
And while most of them are destined to fail - especially once PUBG launches for real on mobile - NetEase's Rules of Survival has attracted 15 million downloads, as well as the interest of our readers.
The second story on our Hot Five is the news that Discord has cleared 87 million registered users and is currently growing at a rate of 1.5 million users every week.
Candy, food trucks and Harry Potter
Third up is the launch of King's latest augmented reality toy, a camera effect for the Facebook app that has players eating digital Candy Crush-style candies thrown at their open mouths.
And finally, Nukebox Studios is working with Tilting Point on an $18 million UA campaign for Food Truck Chef, and Jam City has scored a licensing deal to launch its own Harry Potter mobile game.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention last week.
#1: NetEase's PUBG-like Rules of Survival racks up 15 million downloads
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NetEase's PUBG-like Rules of Survival racks up 15 million downloads »Who knew that a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds clone would do the numbers on mobile? Well, just about everyone, surely - the PC and console version has certainly generated plenty of sales, with other developers also following suit on these platforms.
NetEase got in fast and early on mobile with multiple titles, though Rules of Survival looks to be the most successful with 15 million downloads.
The developer is even launching in-game events with real-world cash to draw in the punters, with $100 up for grabs to any player who can kill specific influencers in-game.
Will these players stick around when the real PUBG mobile games launch? Who knows, but NetEase certainly seems to be putting in the legwork to ensure it doesn't hurt the company too much.
#2: Gamer messaging app Discord clears 87 million registered users
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Gamer messaging app Discord clears 87 million registered users »Discord might be more for the PC gamer crowd, but it does have a mobile app and Vainglory is apparently quite big on the service, so it absolutely counts.
And you can't deny that it's a big deal - the developer now reckons it has over 87 million registered users and 14 million DAUs.
Some other fun stats - 9.5 billion messages are sent every month and it's growing at a rate of 1.5 million users a week.
And that thing about Vainglory? Turns out Super Evil's MOBA has one of the top five largest verified servers on the platform. Not bad. Not bad at all.
#3: King launches AR camera effect on Facebook featuring Candy Crush
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King launches AR camera effect on Facebook featuring Candy Crush »While not quite the first camera effect to have landed on Facebook's platform, King's Candy Crush-themed effect has certainly caught attention.
Yes, you too can point a camera at yourself and have AR candies thrown at a digital projection of your mouth, before becoming a candy from the popular mobile game franchise.
It's not the first time King has made a fun AR toy for another platform - it made headlines earlier this year with a Bubble Witch 3 Saga lens on Snapchat too.
The question, therefore, is which one of its brands will it try next. Will its social casino partnership extend into a new Instagram filter? Only time will tell.
#4: Food Truck Chef developer Nukebox Studios partners with Tilting Point on $18 million UA campaign
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Food Truck Chef developer Nukebox Studios partners with Tilting Point on $18 million UA campaign »Food Truck Chef has been a storming success for Nukebox Studios, generating $500,000 in revenues in its first 45 days and recently hitting five million downloads.
This figure could go even higher now that Tilting Point has signed a deal with the developer to handle UA for the game for the next three years.
Tilting Point will be investing up to $18 million over those three years and is completely taking control of both funding and managing the UA campaign.
With plenty of money and an experienced team behind its marketing, Nukebox Studios can focus on making the best game it can be - and hopefully racking up even more downloads and revenues.
#5: Jam City seals licensing deal for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery mobile game
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Jam City seals licensing deal for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery mobile game »Not content with licensing one Harry Potter game, Warner Bros is also working with Jam City on a game called Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.
It sounds like it will be nothing like Niantic's take on Harry Potter - in Jam City's version, you create your own character and live life through the seven years at Hogwarts.
This means taking classes, learning magic and probably uncovering some dark plot that's destined to kill a bunch of children unless a plucky pre-teen can save the lot. You, for example.
Warner Bros has even launched a new publishing label, Portkey Games, which exclusively handles Harry Potter games.