Hot Five: Mobile Games Awards winners revealed, India bans real-money games, and NextBeat shutting down Beatstar

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) Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025 winners revealed

Winners of the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025 were revealed at a ceremony in Cologne during Gamescom, celebrating mobile game makers everywhere.

Among the winners, Pokémon TCG Pocket claimed Game of the Year, Supercell took Best Developer and Scopely won Best Publisher.

2) India bans real-money games but looks to legitimise esports as competitive sport

The Indian government has introduced the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025, banning real-money games but promoting esports.

Real-money games were accused of often "leading to financial ruin" through manipulative design features, addictive algorithms, bots and undisclosed agents.

3) Roblox shares decline 6% after new lawsuits raise child safety concerns

With months of share growth with record figures like the snowballing success of Grow A Garden, Roblox’s share value has doubled since the beginning of 2025.

However, the company’s shares fell back down to a two-month low on August 15th, down by 6% in the aftermath of two new lawsuits.

4) NextBeat to shut down Beatstar and Country Star

NextBeat is ceasing development of Beatstar and Country Star, with plans to shut both titles shut down on October 31st, 2025.

After that date, neither game will be accessible. In the meantime, players can continue to access servers but purchasing additional content with real money is no longer possible.

5) Supercell hires Drussila Hollanda as first-ever head of new games

Drussila Hollanda has been hired as Supercell’s first-ever head of new games, marking her return to the company after previously working on Hay Day.

She is set to report directly to Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen as a part of the leadership team, in a role that has been "very hard" to fill.