Hot Five: Clash Royale’s Brawl Stars moment, AppLovin vs Unity, and the NextBeat team joins Duolingo

To help get you primed and ready for another week in mobile gaming, we’ve curated the biggest stories you need to know from the last seven days.

1) Is Clash Royale having its Brawl Stars moment?

Clash Royale generated $77m in player spending this July, hitting its highest level since December 2017. The sum marked a 251% increase year-over-year, according to AppMagic estimates.

Clash Royale more than doubled Brawl Stars’ $37m and Clash of Clans’ $33.6m for the month - and outearned both games combined.

2) AppLovin brushes off Unity Vector challenge to ads business

AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi brushed off Unity’s challenge to its ad tech with Vector during an earnings call.

"We're obviously very good. Our models are cutting edge," he said. "We've got very good visibility into what matters in the gaming category given how large we've become."

3) The Pokémon Company defends TCG Pocket illustrator in artwork fiasco

The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket social media account released a statement regarding two illustrations removed from the game, calling out fans’ criticisms of their associated artist.

Illustrator Sie Nanahara was provided with "an incorrect concept sketch", leading to the artist’s faithful reproduction of the incorrect Ho-Oh image. Thus, the post reaffirmed Nanahara was in no way responsible.

4) Why the NextBeat team is joining the gamified learning revolution at Duolingo

The majority of the NextBeat team has been bought by learning platform Duolingo.

23 staff from the studio will establish the firm’s first official presence in the UK to focus on building Duolingo’s Music course alongside a small existing team.

5) Talking Tom & Friends: World launches globally with emphasis on sandbox experiences

Outfit7’s Talking Tom & Friends: World has launched globally on iOS and Android.

The title’s launch marks the second of three series entries slated for 2025, this time with a focus on customisation and sandbox experiences.