Devcom 2023
Devcom Highlights: Is Cologne the new capital of Germany’s games industry?
The panelists at today’s Devcom roundtable certainly seem to think so
Devcom 2023
Devcom Highlights: The Psychology of Play
Anna Brandberg, lead UX designers for Funcom studio The Outsiders digs into the mindset of every developer’s best friend… and greatest challenge
He Shoots He Scores
Goalscorer – the football world’s most inclusive strategy game
When is a football game not a football game? PG.biz interviews game designer Paul Carpenter about the origins of Goalscorer which combines 'speed chess' with soccer
Interview
My.Games Elena Grigoryan: “As we venture into the future our unwavering focus remains on crafting distinctive player experiences”
Chief strategy officer Elena Grigoryan gives us a big update on War Robots and all things My.Games
Interview
Play games, win for real: Tiv CEO Jed Strong outlines the business and benefits of rewarded gaming
Gamers earn from playing the games they love and developers get a new audience and opportunities. What's not to like?
Deconstruction
Under The Hood: Discovering the secrets of successful free to play games
Vikram Khatri shares his system for deconstructing successful free to play games with a view to finding similar success
Feature
The PR expert's guide to modern mobile games PR
ZiMAD’s Anastasia Zaiceva discusses the role of public relations in the modern mobile market and how it can contribute to the success of your game
Q&a
Colossi Games' Manuel Prueter: “We stay bullish for mobile and keep working to entertain players everywhere.”
As their Daisho: Survival of a Samurai notches one million downloads, the Colossi CEO explains how the studio navigates the current gaming market
Game Design
Breaking the rules: Magical secrets of game design
Fundamentally Games’ Oscar Clark breaks down the core rules of game design and how they drive gameplay
Feature
Navigating Google TCF 2.2 requirements with GamesBiz Consulting's Božo Janković
Game on or game over? We take a deep dive into the consent management landscape of Google TCF framework
Women In Games
Nordcurrent’s Gintarė Maraulė on her transition from e-commerce to mobile gaming
Gintarė Maraulė, Head of Digital Marketing at Nordcurrent talks to PG.biz about her career in games and where she had to leave e-commerce behind.
Interview
Fein Games Lea Schönfelder: “We firmly believe that if you want to change something you have to do it from the ground up”
Lea Schönfelder shares how Fein Games is handling workplace culture differently
Interview
Global Champions founder and CEO Gokhan Celiker on achieving a milestone four million downloads
We spoke to Celiker about the company’s success and their work with Supersonic on Plane Evolution
Q&a
Gameloft’s Andrey Marinov on bringing the iconic character of John Rambo to War Planet Online
War Planet Online aims to keep players engaged with new content and the freedom of cross platform
Its Heart Of Vegas Baby!
Heart of Vegas - celebrating 10 years at the top of its game
PG.biz speaks to Product Madness' Bryan Hurwitz and Joraynee Sarno about the 10 year anniversary of the studios' social casino game Heart Of Vegas
Hexacore’s Mikita Khazau on pivoting from hypercasual to web3
While others are looking to hybridcasual as the successor to the crowded hypercasual market, Hexacore's co-founder and CEO is eyeing web3
Q&a
Waffle game creator James Robinson on Daily Waffle and future ambitions
Puzzle game Waffle garners the interest of Amazon Prime
Brand Attraction
How can the mobile games industry attract more brands?
Bidstack’s Chris Vincelli & Antoine Jullemier analyse what deters brands from entering the $118 billion mobile games ads market and what developers can do to entice them
Q&a
Bringing Second Life to mobile: "There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation in the community"
Second Life’s VP of product, Grumpity Linden tells us how the legendary PC pre-metaverse experience is making the leap to mobile
Generative Ai
Homa’s CTO Michael Le Bail explains why they're all in on AI
Homa’s recent hackathon event has cemented the company's commitment to the use of artificial intelligence
Generative Ai
Three ways to spot where AI can add value to your business
LifeStreet’s Levi Matkins discusses how digital advertisers and ad tech companies can get the best out of generative AI
Q&a
FanDuel’s Aaron Champagne on creating a skill based gaming platform for mobile
FanDuel FaceOff features competitive play on games such as Boggle and Breakout Blitz
Monetisation
Can Amazon Anywhere open up a new monetisation channel for mobile games?
Layer co-founder Rachit Moti explores Amazon Anywhere's moves to monetise your game with physical purchases
Q&a
Game Taco CEO Nancy MacIntyre on the creation of skill gaming platform FanDuel Faceoff
With the rise in popularity of esports gaming both Game Taco and FanDuel saw an opportunity for competitive real money gaming on mobile
Interview
Space Ape's Simon Hade: “Country Star benefits from several years of live ops R&D right out of the gate”
Space Ape Games co-founder discusses the tactics and tech behind BeatStar's new spin-off game Country Star
Innovation Insight
Innovating in a saturated market: Virtuos’ Matthieu Cheynut on the state of play for growing your games
When to invest and when to cut back. Virtuos’ business development director for Europe Matthieu Cheynut shows the road ahead
Mentorship Interview
A culture of collaboration: an interview with Finland's LGIN mentoring network
"It doesn't feel like we are competing with each other. We are competing against the world,” says Suvi Kiviniemi of the Living Game Intelligence Network
Monetisation
Free-to-play's finest: A games lawyer's guide to getting monetisation right
Isabel Davies shares her pick of great games design from across the world of mobile free-to-play
Q&a
Mighty Bear Games’ Simon Davis: "Blockchain technology should just exist to amplify the gaming experience"
Mighty Bear Games CEO Simon Davis discusses the untapped gaming potential of the blockchain and the challenges of today's mobile market
Collaborations
Why mobile is a crucial part of Barbie’s multimedia domination
With their new live-action movie in cinemas, Mattel are making mobile a cornerstone of their Barbie push
Interview
Speaker Spotlight: Skillprint’s Davin Miyoshi on using AI to personalise your games
Skillprint’s co-founder and CPO shared how AI can help developers to better understand their players
Q&a
Scriptic’s Nihal Tharoor: “AI is essentially another creative tool in the toolbox, not a replacement.”
Formerly known as ElectricNoir, Scriptic create interactive experiences on mobile
Growing Your Game
Socialisation in gaming: The trend for increased retention and revenue
Gameram’s chief partnerships manager Valeriia Diu explains how your community can help your game grow
Podcast
AR, AI, and Subscription Models — Oh, My! | Podcast
Our PocketGamer.biz team recaps GDC 2023 and riff on the topics that stole this year’s show.
Milestones
My.Games’ Left to Survive celebrates its five-year anniversary and 1.2m monthly active users
The title is a cornerstone of the company’s catalogue of free-to-play games
Podcast
Unleashing the worlds within worlds | Podcast
Charisma’s Guy Gadney on pioneering new forms of games entertainment by casting audiences inside the stories
Breakdown
Drake Star's Global Gaming Report: Breaking down the numbers, charts and more
What do Drake Star’s charts and graphs tell us about the gaming industry today?
Profile
Speaker Spotlight: Gameloft's Renee Wong on pushing your team without crunching them
The communication specialist talks us through her talk at PGC Toronto, and how you can create a healthy work environment in games
Women In Games Series
Jam City’s Radostina Zhekova and Winnie Wen on UA creativity and the rise of female gaming audiences
In part two of their series exploring inspirational women working in games, Liftoff invites Radostina Zhekova and Winnie Wen to discuss user acquisition, creativity and more
User Insights
Katya Moskalenko: “Brands need behavioural data to tap into the gaming industry's enormous potential”
Measure Protocol aims to provide brands with valuable user insights to help them make informed decisions
Game Design
Joel Beardshaw of Ustwo Games on the importance of design pillars
Joel Beardshaw shares the development process behind the mobile first title Desta: The Memories Between
Q&a
Yahaha’s Pengfei Zhang on making game development accessible to everyone
The new Co-Create game editor enables developers to work on the same game no matter where they are
Profile
Speaker Spotlight: CleverTap Gaming's Solomon Ruiz-Lichter on why some games lack originality
We sit down with CleverTap's senior director of global gaming to chat ahead of PGC Toronto
Profile
Speaker Spotlight: Moloco's Brendan O'Connor on the value of holistic marketing
We sat down with Moloco's Brendan O'Connor to talk about common mistakes in the games sector and holistic marketing
Design
The magic that makes mobile UI look good and feel great
Leanne Bayley of Atomhawk Advance chatted about the UX and UI design that goes into games, and touched on how mobile differs
Marketing
Federica Nocerino: “Marketing is connecting at the right time with the right person”
Women in Games ambassador Federica Nocerino shares her marketing expertise with the attendees at Develop Brighton
Structure
A brief chat with Embracer Freemode’s Alex Verrey
As part of Embracer’s in-house PR team and external agency Overload PR, Verrey provides some quick insights
Awards
Why the BAFTAs think mobile stands toe-to-toe with console and PC
We got the chance to speak to part of BAFTA’s game team about their views on the potential of gaming culturally, and where mobile sits in it
Doom Guy
John Romero on his career, Doom's legacy and the promise of mobile
Interview: with his autobiography about to drop, an industry legend talks to PocketGamer.biz about his love of programming and his advice for developers
Interview
Immutable Games’ CSO Justin Hulog on bridging the gap between Web3 and mobile
We spoke to Hulog about his work, Web3, and the blockchain’s potential on mobile devices