Epic Deal
Disney invests $1.5 billion into Epic Games as it plots new "entertainment universe" with Fortnite
The Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger labels partnership the company's “biggest entry ever into the world of games”
Mobile Marketing Insights
New SocialPeta 2023 white paper highlights growth and emerging markets
New white paper analyses the core dynamics of the global mobile gaming market in 2023 and gives insight into the data behind the biggest marketing trends
Roblox Victory Rally
Roblox rises with $2.8 billion in revenue and 68 million DAUs in 2023
Roblox users spent 60 billion hours on the platform in 2023
Rpg Revenue
Netmarble net loss down 65% in 2023
RPGs advanced Netmarble’s Q4 to its strongest quarter of the year
Gaming Growth
MENA-3 games market grows 7.8% to $1.92 billion in 2023
The total number of gamers reached 68.4 million in 2023, indicating a 2.9% year-over-year rise, with that number expected to reach 79.6 million by 2027
A Good Year
Stillfront Group profits grow 84% to $15.5 million in 2023
“Stillfront’s bookings returned to positive organic growth for the months of November and December in the fourth quarter," said CEO Jörgen Larsson
More Than Gdc
Five ways to get the most out of GDC week outside of the main event
PG Connects San Francisco has all you need to make the busiest week in March the best for your business
Dena Data
DeNA pulls back from China as game profits fall 95%, but there’s optimism for Q4
DeNA’s games made a loss in Q3, though its livestreaming revenue is on the rise
Difficulty Balance
Difficulty curves: Find the right balance and boost retention and revenue
Product design director Guy Agiv discusses maximising your games monetisation and retaining players via the perfect difficulty curve
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: "I connected with lots of fantastic people in the industry"
Global Game Jam's Tarja Porkka-Kontturi and Smilegate's Jiwon Kim share their favourite PGC memories
Esports Growth
PUBG Mobile Global Open all set for $500,000 showdown in Brazil
Ticket sales for the event will open on February 16 with one lucky winner taking home a bumper prize pot
Digital Deal
Nitro Games receives further €3.5 million to continue Warframe mobile development
Digital Extremes’ popular IP turns 11 this year with a mobile version on the way
Translation Tech
Roblox introduces AI powered chat translator supporting 16 languages
Roblox continues to find new applications for AI, this time implementing a real-time chat translator, with more features to come
Dmarmageddon Asteroid Incoming
DMArmageddon? It doesn’t have to be the end of the world
The EU Digital Markets Act will significantly impact the games market. Usercentrics reveals why game creators will have to get serious about user consent
A Flying Start
Space Ape’s Chrome Valley Customs on track to beat Beatstar with $40m earned
Following Space Ape's most successful ever launch, the casual puzzler now has their other smash hit Beatstar in its sights
It's In The Game
EA reach $2.36 billion in Q3 earnings thanks to EA Sports FC
“EA SPORTS FC outperformed expectations again this quarter, delivering 7% year-over-year net bookings growth," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA.
Super Mario Success
Nintendo’s mobile and IP sales are up 93.4%
Nintendo reveals $9.38 billion earned in total sales across the first three quarters of its financial year
Mobile Adaptations
Elden Ring free-to-play mobile game reportedly in the works from Tencent
Rumours come after Tencent Holdings acquired a 16 percent stake of FromSoftware in August 2022 but progress has been slow
Analysis
Is Honkai: Star Rail cannibalising Genshin Impact?
Andriy Zmeul analyses the revenue drop for Genshin Impact and investigates if their own Honkai: Star Rail is to blame
A Major Update
Honkai: Star Rail hits 100m downloads and launches V2.0 today
The update will see the highly-anticipated Penacony realm make its debut with Apple Vision Pro compatibility on board too
Tencent Turnaround
China approves 32 overseas licences including Nexon and Tencent’s Mobile DnF
While an unstable landscape for games, China continues to prove a lucrative one
Wake Up Call
ByteDance CEO warns employees against mediocrity amid AI disruption
CEO Liang Rubo made the statement during a call to ByteDance employees across the globe.
Gaming Trends
65% of game studios are working on live service games
30% are working on updates, while 65% of studios plan to increase their use of off-the-shelf tools, reveals new game development report
Peak Performance
Match Factory! surpasses $20M… With 99% coming from iOS
Peak Games’ Match Factory! has taken the 3D puzzle world by storm since its August 2023 release
It's Play Time
Which games were played the most in 2023?
The Mobile Gaming Index by Gamelight ranks games and genres by minutes played. If you want to know what gameplay and game design is winning right now, look no further
Mega Mobile
A huge 72% of 2023 game revenues came from mobile
Xsolla’s State of Play report reveals the latest gaming trends and a trajectory akin to e-commerce
Gaming Trends
China at the forefront of mobile gaming as global market hits $85.76 billion
China's gaming dominance is bolstered by Tencent Games, a revenue powerhouse contributing 100 billion yuan ($14.13 billion)
Job Moves
Devolver Digital CEO steps down and moves on
Douglas Morin is leaving the company following their latest on-track financials, after a difficult year, delays, cuts and an underperforming IPO
Hot Five
Hot Five: Layoffs stack up, strategic investments are abound, and Nintendo finds cause for mobile celebration
Our quick-fix start-the-week roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Week in Views - Apple gives and takes while Nintendo quietly makes a billion
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from anime spin-offs to triple-A console conversions
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Launch Day
Apple Vision Pro launches with over 600 dedicated apps
Today's the day that Apple's 'next big thing' lands with users and it's App Store opens up offering early movers a new audience for games and apps
Tencent cans Nier mobile game after two years in development
Publisher reportedly concerned about monetisation model and small margins from licensing fees
Criticism Grows
European Games Developer Federation "disappointed" over Apple’s new “anticompetitive” EU rules
EGDF joins Xbox, Epic Games and Spotify in criticising new policies
China Gaming
Tencent play the AI card to brush off gaming worries
At their annual meeting this week CEO Pony Ma recognised increased gaming competition but praised AI advances
Fire Emblem Burns Bright
7 years of Fire Emblem Heroes: Evolving beyond an SRPG into Nintendo’s only billion-dollar mobile game
Fire Emblem Heroes is seven years old today, and I’m still playing…
Growing Games
Scottish Government backs new National Games Strategy
Following this new initiative Scotland becomes the first part of the UK with a dedicated games strategy
New Appointments
Gameloft roll out new leadership at Gameloft for brands extension
The company's new leadership team are on board to expand advertising solutions to new platforms and technologies
Hypercharged Performance
What's going on with Brawl Stars? Supercell's 2018 game is having a major payday
While 2023 was a perfectly good year for Brawl Stars the past two months have seen the game's earnings go stratospheric
Gaming Gold
Nordcurrent acquires legendary Cinemaware games line-up
CEO Victoria Trofimova: "We want the future players of our Defender of The Crown to say – yes, that’s the one!"
Podcast
NAK3D’s Kelly Vero on merging fashion and gaming to revolutionise commerce | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode…
Record Breaking
Genshin Impact is the fastest ever game to reach $5 billion consumer spend
While joining the 5x unicorn club, the internationally popular action RPG has proved to be the fastest ever game to do so
African Expansion
“Africa will be one of the top three regions for the global games market over the next ten years”
Usiku Games game producer Denis Odera on developing mobile games in Africa and what makes the region prime for expansion
Women In Games
Niantic’s Karen Tong shares her experience marketing the world’s biggest AR game, Pokémon GO
As part of its ongoing Women In Games series, Liftoff speaks to Karen Tong, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Niantic about her achievements, challenges and aspirations.
Lifestyle Marketing
Bingo Blitz launches $1 million sweepstakes promo for the Super Bowl
A lucky winner will get the prize money if either team achieves a record-breaking eight quarterback sacks
Fueling Indie Fire
Day of the Devs becomes a non-profit organisation
The decision to become non-profit as it "opens us up to better funding opportunities..."
Redefining Storytelling
Xsolla launches Story3 platform to empower creators
The platform is designed to embody storytelling freedom and foster a creative ecosystem for makers
New Studio
Ex-Mojang and Toca Boca devs raise €1.5m for new studio Roro
Stockholm-based developer working on "3D digital dollhouse" for mobile
Strategic Boost
8SEC secures €1.5 Million investment from Kwalee
The move will see Kwalee’s CFO Matthew Farrow and VP of mobile publishing John Wright join the 8SEC board
China Regulations
China greenlights 115 games in January, largest batch in 18 months
Tencent, Lilith Games and others have had their titles approved this month