Hot Five: Fire Emblem Shadows’ first year, Google Playground, and Minecraft Blast’s testing phase

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) Fire Emblem Shadows makes $892,000 in first year, just 0.3% of Heroes’ initial success

Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Shadows generated $892,000 in its first year on iOS and Android, just 0.3% of the revenue Fire Emblem Heroes made in its first year.

AppMagic estimates suggest revenue peaked early at $230,000 in Shadows’ first month, equating to 37% of its full year-one earnings.

2) Google launches Playground for prompt-based game creation

Google has launched browser-based platform Playground, allowing users to create, play and share custom games using text prompts.

The platform uses a conversational interface where users can describe what they want to build.

3) MTG postpones PlaySimple’s potential IPO

Modern Times Group has postponed a potential initial public offering of PlaySimple due to conditions in the Indian capital markets.

The company continues to believe a potential public listing of the casual games developer would create significant shareholder value and intends to revisit the timing in 2027.

4) Minecraft Blast testing phase expands: developing for new and lapsed fans

Minecraft Blast is expanding its testing to the West this October, with a limited-time playtest coming to Canada and Australia.

PocketGamer.biz played a handful of levels early while speaking with Mojang’s Magnus Nedfors and King’s Gavin Lammin about development timelines and plans.

5) Google faces £1bn Play Store commission trial in the UK

Google is facing a trial over claims of overcharging around 20 million UK consumers and businesses through its Google Play Store.

The claim alleges Google abused its position by charging developers commissions of up to 30%, and argues costs were passed on to consumers.