Marketing And Demographics
78% of gamers play on mobile, with 44% considering it their primary device
Tinuiti examines the primary motivations of gamers, and how brands can appeal to them
Award
Matchingham Games wins Rising Star award at the Google App Summit in Dublin
The award is an endorsement of Matchingham’s rapid rise over the past few years
Analytics
Monopoly Go developer Scopely estimated to surpass $7bn in lifetime user spend
The Monopoly Go developer has earned big bucks from their portfolio
Saved From Stress
Almost half of all gamers find a good friend or spouse through gaming
The majority of gamers use games to de-stress and improve skills along the way
Indie View
"Our ultimate goal is to keep creating memorable and enjoyable experiences": Latchback Games discuss standing out as an indie
Latchback Games won the Very Big Indie Pitch in Helsinki - we discuss their road to the Big Indie Pitch
Hot Five
Hot Five: Unity’s new CEO, Applovin rumours, and the biggest deal in games industry history is complete
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Interview
GIMZ CEO Nikita Guk talks Unity Runtime Fee aftermath and 1000 signature-strong collective letter success
Unity’s runtime fee sparked near instant backlash, prompting a rapidly banded together of likeminded creatives to make their voices known. Here's their story.
Acquisition
Metacore to acquire Merge Mansion and Clash of Clans animators studio Piñata
The animation studio is Metacore’s first acquisition and will serve to bolster their creative abilities
China
Swedish-based Flamebait Games sees pay-to-play mobile title Passepartout receive 100k downloads in China
The ISBN licence for the game apparently took almost four years
Milestones
NoxGames’ Hexapolis hits one-million downloads milestone
The turn-based civ-like is an example of a smaller studio finding success even at a turbulent time for games
Done Deal
Microsoft's mobile mishaps: Why the Activision Blizzard deal had to happen
The tech giant has had a troubled history on mobile. Could gaming's biggest ever deal finally put right their wrongs?
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news, including acquisitions, giving Apple the swerve, shutterings, layoffs and more...
Interview
Wooga’s Nai Chang on Ghost Detective and collaborating with Netflix Games
“We are pleased to be breaking new ground with this launch, inspiring an ever-broader audience through our games and stories.”
Acquiblizz
Bobby Kotick out at Activision Blizzard
The company's CEO has confirmed he will continue his role until the end of 2023 after which time he'll be handing over to Microsoft management
It's Over
It's official. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is now complete
The "legendary teams" at Activision Blizzard and King are now part of Team Xbox
Opportunities For Indies
PG Connects Jordan 2023 is a MUST for Indies! Here's why...
Get an exclusive look at the unmissable opportunities for indie talent at PG Connects Jordan
Five New Games
New release roundup: Our weekly pick of the best new mobile games from pixel pandas to Roman adventures
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Q&a
Mike Levine on Mystic Moose’s auto chess battler Mojo Melee
The game is currently available on android and playable in a browser with an iOS release in beta testing
Podcast
Xsolla CEO Chris Hewish on creative commerce solutions to take control of your game | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team welcome Xsolla's Chris Hewish to the studio to talk about the company's creative commerce solutions and putting power back into the hands of developers worldwide
Acquiblizz
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: The complete timeline
From inception to lawsuits - how has the biggest deal in gaming history progressed?
Mission Accomplished
Done deal: Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal approved by UK regulators
Video game's biggest deal ever just got approved with Activision Blizzard becoming part of Microsoft for $68.7 billion
Round-up Report
New releases, new modes, and new events: Here's what's new in mobile gaming
A new GameRefinery report analyses the gaming market to identify September's top performers
Legacy
Why good legacy mobile games deserve a new lease of life
SuperScale’s Ivan Trancik discusses legacy game management and how publishers have revived old games through new methods
New Announcements
EA announces turn-based football game for mobile, EA Sports FC Tactical
Not an extension or update to EA Sports FC but a whole new strategy football game exclusively on mobile
Rebrands
Game Taco renames itself to WorldWinner after acquisition of trademark
The original WorldWinner was acquired in 2021 by Game Taco
Redundancies
Team17 cuts are so deep that devs are concerned whether company can still function
A third of the company’s workforce may now be axed
Acquisitions
Xsolla acquires Lightstream, Rainmaker and API.stream in big third-party assets round-up
The three assets were all acquired from previous owner Videndum
Industry Investigations
India arrests Vivo smartphone executives in latest China retaliation
Vivo has previously come under investigation in a money laundering probe
African Advancement
Sony Ventures to invest $10M via new fund for African startups
Fintech may be Africa’s biggest funding category, but Sony’s focus is on entertainment
Welcome To Mo.co
Supercell has announced its latest game. Take "a leap into the unknown" in mo.co
The new monster-hunting game will enter beta testing in the USA in late October
New Releases
Developer Jadu to launch “first ever” AR mobile fighting game
The alternative reality title features collaborations with famous names such as Michael Bay
Halloween Activations
Zynga kickstarts Halloween early with in-game events across 17 titles
The company is running its biggest ever campaign of activations to celebrate the season
Closures
Alien: Isolation spin-off mobile game Alien: Blackout to be shuttered, joining raft of closures this year
The loss of titles that have been closed down during 2023 continues to grow
Battle Of Behemoths
Monster Hunter Now is Niantic’s second biggest game with $31.44 million in one month
Niantic and Capcom’s latest project is a roaring success by every metric
Runtime Rumour
AppLovin may make a second attempt at buying Unity, rumours suggest
Unity’s Runtime Fee backlash has led to a 40% drop in shares
Parental Perception
UK kids are most likely to make in-game purchases, but only 4% spend on loot boxes
Ipsos’ latest report for Video Games Europe finds in-game spending among children is highest in the UK
Disney Acquisition
Disney CEO Bob Iger is considering the acquisition of a major publisher
Disney is one of the world’s best known entertainment brands, may be on the brink of a major gaming acquisition
Statistics
Stumble Guys & Monopoly Go struggle in Latin America as report reveals the region's top games
Global chart toppers struggle to cut through in Latin America
Q&a
Behind the scenes: The making of Netmarble’s Grand Cross: Age of Titans
CEO Woo Won Seo and project director Min Suk Kang tell the story of the game and their plans for its future
10 Years Of Pgc
PG Connects celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2024
Join us in London and share your own PG Stories from a decade of games industry connecting
Chessboard Champs
Chess is playing the long game: The rise of the auto chess genre
Auto chess has been a popular genre since 2019 and is working its way into more and more games
Runtime Result
Everything you need to know about Unity’s new CEO Jim Whitehurst
With John Riccitiello stepping down after nine years, who's Unity's new boss and how much will it change under his watch?
Xsolla Payments
Xsolla unveils its new payment system Headless Checkout
The company are further enhancing their popular Xsolla Pay Station service giving devs the ability to build customisable, branded purchasing experiences for their players
Green Gaming
Tencent, Apple, Ubisoft, and Nintendo lead the industry in carbon emission reduction
The games industry is slowly going green, but still emitted 81 million tonnes of greenhouse gases last year
Mobile-to-pc
Supercell to bring Clash of Clans and Clash Royale to PC for the first time
Supercell’s flagship title and spin-off will be available via Google Play Games
Gaming In Korea
RPGs account for 60% of Korea’s mobile game sales
MMORPG's proved particularly successful, while squad-based RPGs showed strong growth
Unity Runtime Fee
Unity's Runtime Fee Farrago: The whole story in one place
From start to finish. Want to know why the games industry got so blazing mad at one of its most popular development platforms and why its CEO just got offed? Look no further…
September Success
China’s top publishers generated $1.96 billion this September
39 out of 100 top publishers were based in China last month
Q&a
Homa's Henry Lowenfels: "I’ve been part of successful companies in the past, but the level of ambition and grit that I see at Homa is unparalleled"
Homa’s new president and chief business officer shares details on his new role and the state of the mobile market
Two Tactics
Too big for your rules? miHoYo tried to dodge Apple App Store fees twice in one month
Apple has scuppered miHoYo’s fee aversion tactics twice - removing apps and disabling features