Hot Five: Where Winds Meet launch numbers, 2025's biggest trends and game releases, and Supercell restructuring
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) Where Winds Meet makes $557,000 during launch weekend outside China
Everstone Studios’ Where Winds Meet is the latest high profile global release from a Chinese developer. According to AppMagic estimates, after generating more than $130 million on the Chinese App Store, the mobile version’s international release saw the title pick up $557,000 in three days overseas.
2) Asia dominates 2025’s biggest mobile releases as top 10 new games make $2.2bn
We took a look at the most successful new game launches of 2025, with titles like Kingshot, Delta Force and SD Gundam G Generation taking the top three spots. The majority of places were taken by Asian companies, highlighting the ability of developers and publishers in the region to build global success stories (as spotlighting their lucrative home markets).
3) Supercell elevates Sara Bach to president as key teams unite under Live Games banner
Supercell’s Sara Bach has been promoted to the role of president of live games at the company as the developer continues its restructuring of the last couple of years. New departments have been folded into the live games arm of the business, including Game Tech, Business Operations, Marketing and Community, and People.
4) The mobile games industry trends that shaped 2025
We round up the top mobile games industry trends of the year, including regulatory changes powering the direct-to-consumer revolution, China’s rising global influence, AI’s increasing use in games development and marketing, the growth of non-gaming apps, transmedia trends and the world of UGC.
5) Greenlighting is a lottery: How Voodoo, SLG Giants, and Habby turn ‘luck’ into ‘math’
Hyperjoy CEO Lemon Choi delivered his first PocketGamer.biz column, diving into the data behind hit game launches. As he notes: “While indies pray for a hit, the industry giants have turned mysticism into mathematics. Here is how they calculate the optimal solution in an uncertain market.”