Us Best Of 2026
The Top 30 US Mobile Game Makers of 2026
The US movers and shakers of the last 12 months revealed!
Company Profile
Pocket Gems
Website
www.pocketgems.com
About
Pocket Gems develops free-to-play mobile games that are ridiculously fun. It was founded in 2009 by Daniel Terry and Harlan Crystal, engineers and gaming industry outsiders, who wanted to bring the excitement of social gaming to the mobile platform.
Related People
Nihit Sinha
Product Manager
Ben Liu
CEO
Julie Dragland
Partnerships & Business Development
Nicholas Pezarro
Associate Product Manager
Cass Phillipps
Director of Story
Chelsea Ono Horn
Product Manager
Andrew Gaines
Product Manager
Alex Muscat
Executive Art Director
Brian Shih
Vice President of Product Development
Harlan Crystal
CTO
Carrie Simonds
VP of People and Brand
Daniel Terry
CCO & Executive Chairman
+9 more
Accolades
Articles featuring Pocket Gems
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Global Trends
Global Trends: Pocket Gems CEO Ben Liu on the art of making great games and the need for "luck and magic"
We catch up with industry leaders to get their insights on the state of play in the games sector
Women In Games
From SEGA to Pocket Gems: Julie Dragland’s decade-long journey forging industry partnerships
As part of its Women In Games series, Liftoff invites Julie Dragland, Director of Partnerships & Business Development at Pocket Gems to discuss her achievements, challenges & aspirations
2021 In Review
Pocket Gems' Ben Liu on the generational shift towards mobile games
Pocket Gems' CEO on 2021's challenges and opportunity
Making Of
How Adventure Chef: Merge Explorer was inspired by long drives and manga
The Pocket Gems team shares its mobile games recipe
Survey Success
Pocket Gems drives player engagement with rewarded surveys
Pocket Gems partnered with TapResearch to bring a new rewarded format to players which drove engagement and increased average revenue
Poc In Mobile
"Hiring managers should actively seek candidates from underrepresented groups"
Pocket Gems' Nihit Sinha advises ways to enter the games industry
Hiring Now
10 games industry jobs to apply for this week
Job vacancies from King, Zynga, Niantic and Playrix
Jobs In Games
How to get a job as a director of story with Pocket Gems' Cass Phillipps
"This industry has a reputation - sometimes correctly - of crunch culture..."
Soft Launch
Pocket Gems pushes into "mature" storytelling with soft-launched Ivy: Stories We Play
Available on iOS in Australia and New Zealand
Best Of 2019
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2019
Revealed: The movers, shakers and moneymakers!
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Pocket Gems Alex Muscat on how to get a job as an art director
"It’s important to realise that the artists are the tools - not the software"
Best Of 2018
The Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2018
Revealed: the movers, shakers and moneymakers!
Pocket Stories
125 million downloads later narrative game Episode is ready to fend off new competition
Episode studio head Michael Dawson discusses the game's success and the new competitors entering the genre
Take Your Pick
The interactive narrative games taking over the App Store
Why are story-based games on the rise?
Iap Inspector
How does War Dragons monetise?
IAPs from the players' perspective
Player Power
Move over Minecraft: Monetising a new wave of user-generated content on mobile
DIGIT Game Studios' Om Tandon takes a look at the big industry trend and what it means for developers
Best Of 2017
Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2017
The movers, shakers and moneymakers
Partnership Perfect
Pocket Gems partners with Universal Studios for new Episode story based on Pitch Perfect
Community writers can win a trip to Universal and face time with Episode writers
Live And Kicking
Two years on: Pocket Gems on the evolution of War Dragons
Product Manager Chelsea Ono Horn on the game's life so far
Maximum Leverage
Why Tencent’s M&A strategy is smarter than gotta buy ‘em all
Second Pocket Gems deal was beginning of the end
The Charticle
Why did Tencent invest a further $90 million into Pocket Gems?
Tracking the impact of Tencent's millions on Episode and War Dragons
Pocket Change
Tencent ploughs $90 million into Episode and War Dragons developer Pocket Gems
Studio to remain largely independent
Raise Your Dragon
Pocket Gems to reward top War Dragons players with limited-edition 3D figurines
Play well, get a figurine
Charitable Fiends
Apple's Games for (RED) sees millions of Best Fiends and Episode players raise money to fight AIDS
Seriously and Pocket Gems share some stats
Lovato Love
Demi Lovato tie-in scores big for interactive story game Episode, generating $13 million
Celebrity licenses paying off
Eventful
Pocket Gems on the importance and best implementation of in-game events
When to do them, and why they matter
Best Of The Best
Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2016
The shakers, movers and moneymakers
Making Of Episode
Demi Lovato, Mean Girls and moderation: The making of Episode
How major licenses helped boost the profile of the interactive fiction platform
Big Day Coming
Ben Liu on why 2016 is the year of dreaming big for Pocket Gems
Future trends from the remembrance of things past
Engagement Panel
Video: Industry experts discuss engagement in mobile games
How to keep them coming back for more
Get Hired
How to get a job at San Francisco mobile developer Pocket Gems
Carrie Simonds, VP of People and Brand, shares insights
Core Focus
Pocket Gems looking to bolster core games team with Lead Game Designer, Art Lead, and more
High-profile roles available
Skyscraping
Demi Lovato joins the celebrity mobile game deal club
US singer signs on the dotted line.
Deep Wallet
Tencent invests again, injecting $60 million into Pocket Gems
Rumoured to have taken a 20% stake
Fiery Launch
Pocket Gems takes flight with synchronous PvP-focused breed-and-battler War Dragons
Strategy game comes with Watch integration
Simply The Best
Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2015
The shakers, makers and movers
Solving UA: Pocket Gems hopes its Night at the Museum game will ride third movie's coattails to success
Hidden Object game out now
Jobs
Pocket Gems searching for talented software engineer
Be the best
Interview
The story so far: Pocket Gems on five years of growth
Daniel Terry looks back and forward
Jobs Board
LINE man joins Wooga, Zynga's reshuffle continues, and Next Games looking for designers
Job lot
Deal
Comedy Central and Pocket Gems to revive Ugly Americans on mobile
The power of Episodes
The write stuff: Pocket Gems' interactive story platform Episode hits 500,000 author signups
175 million chapters read
Data
Men play from cars. Women play from tablets
Pocket Gems' data shows men more likely to play on the go
Added flexibility with Flurry's mobile video ads gives Pocket Gems a 5x boost
Non/skippable options are key
Diary Of A Promiscuous Gamer
Week of the Big Uninstall
This guy will play anything as long as it's free
Expert Opinions
We're 'pretty damn close' to BioShock Infinite being built by 3 guys in a garage
Thoughts from a Bay Area breakfast roundtable
The Global View
Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2014
The shakers, makers and movers
PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: King gives up on Candy(TM), Rovio unveils new publishing program, and MagicSolver 'moves on'
The past 7 days in bite-sized portions
Storyboarding success: Pocket Gems opens the book on its new Episode platform
Redefining what is and isn't a game