Platform Partnership
ByteBrew partners with Mintegral to offer ad measurements and tracking tools to users
The 2021 startup has accrued 5,000 devs so far
Fireside Chats Part Two
Seven more fireside chats with the mobile world's movers & shakers from PGC London 2023
Another seven pioneers, founders, creators and leaders from the world of mobile games speak to the HyprMX team about the tools, tech and trends from Pocket Gamer Connects London 2023
Flexion X Digital Turbine
Flexion and Digital Turbine partner for alternative app distribution
The partnership combines the services of both companies
Major Milestone
Bitcoin Miner surpasses 1 million players and becomes the biggest play-and-earn game
A week of celebratory events set to take place
Audio Ads
Odeeo and Any Ever partner to offer new touchpoint for audio campaigns
Establishing in-game audio ads in Germany
Reported Restructuring
UK-based Team17 is supposedly laying off employees from art and design teams
The publisher is currently aiming to restructure
Candy Crush The Competition
Candy Crush Saga breaks records with All Stars Tournament
The upcoming tournament will have the biggest prize pot in casual mobile gaming history
New Expansion
Dream Games expands with new office in London
This marks the first international office for the Turkish studio behind Royal Match
Interview
Dream Games CEO Soner Aydemir talks Royal Match and future expansion
We spoke to Aydemir following news that the company is expanding to London
Views Week
Week in Views - What caught our editorial eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news and discuss loot boxes, mobile moves and giant slaying…
Q&a
Elena Grigoryan on the struggles and success of My.Games
The CSO of My.Games discusses the ongoing changes in the mobile industry and how their company weathered both the pandemic and their departure from Russia
It’s Showtime
Persona: The Phantom X available for pre-order in China
The game is the first in the franchise released on mobile
Game Dev Rebellion
Game Dev Rebellion: Jennifer Estaris and Joost Vervoort on activism in games
How can gaming inspire positive change in the world?
Talks
Matej Lancaric on iOS14: “If you’re testing creatives on iOS, just stop”
The Two & a Half-Gamers host discusses why ATT hasn’t killed mobile gaming
Event Latest
Global Games Pitch Returns with Exciting New Features
365/7 Matchmaking Portal and Online Game Pitching Show on April 5-6
Event Latest
Outer Edge LA is set to take place on March 20th to 23rd
The conference formerly known as NFT LA retuns to Los Angeles next week
Roles
Living the dream: CSR2 fan lands job designing cars for Zynga
Guillaume Mille's passion for cars and games turned into an incredible job opportunity at developer NaturalMotion
Taxes
UK budget ups tax relief for British game companies
The new credit will offer a 34% rate relief, up from 25% in its previous incarnation
Tiktok Trouble
TikTok banned on government phones in the UK
The social media app has faced criticism regarding security concerns
New Label
NetEase launches Exptional Global label for international releases
Games such as Dead by Daylight Mobile and Lord of the Rings: War have been shifted to the new label
Stocks
Hero Wars developer Nexters to resume trading on Nasdaq
The formerly Russian-based developer has divested nearly all its operations in the country
Mobile Mena
David Fernandez Remesal of Sandsoft Games: "Why MENA’s gaming growth isn’t just about business"
There's a bigger story at play in the MENA region, changing perceptions, fostering understanding and improving relations all around the world
Creation Operating System
Fragnova unveils Creation Operating System to revolutionise game creation
Fragnova unveils its network and exclusive games creation system that will shape how future generations create User Generated Content
Studios
UK developer Creative Assembly to open new studio in Newcastle
The longtime collaborator with mobile developer Feral Interactive is set to bring their new development studio North-East
Playstation Mobile
PlayStation Mobile continues its hiring spree
The company has been making a concerted effort to break into the mobile space
The Next Era Of Horror
Dead by Daylight Mobile launches The Next Era of Horror with a horror icon
Ringu villain Sadako has made her debut in the game’s mobile port
Stakeholders
Abu Dhabi firm G42 acquires $100m+ stake in Bytedance
The owner of Nuverse and TikTok receive a new stakeholder
Mobile Browser Gaming
AviaGames launches a new browser-based gaming service for phones
Pocket7Games WebGame allows players to access the company’s titles on their phones without downloading
Trends 2023
Mobile games industry trends for 2023: Publishing predictions: Part two
MobileGroove's Peggy Anne Salz looks at intellectual property and brands, social media, streaming, and esports
Updates
PUBG Mobile’s fifth anniversary brings custom build tools to the game
The mobile battle-royale’s new suite of tools will allow players to build custom modes and maps
Spreading Sustainability
10 Weeks To Save The Games Industry – Week 8
Matchmade CEO Jiri Kupiainen and GamesForest.Club's Maria Wagner's journey takes in Zürich and Munich and heads to the Baltics
Releases
Honor of Kings becomes Brazil’s most successful free mobile game
The game has been heavily pushed in Brazil with exclusive trailers and more
Time To Invest
Meet active investors at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle’s Investor Connector!
Find funding for your next project and meet your dream collaborators during May’s leading games industry conference!
Please Welcome Gamelight
Spotlight becomes Gamelight
Game marketing platform Spotlight rebrands as Gamelight as growth continues
New Partnership
S8UL partners with Krafton to launch Road to Valor: Empires in India
The new partnership aims to boost India’s gaming ecosystem
Acquisitions
Plug In Digital acquires FTP developers Celsius Online
The free-to-play mobile and web pioneers were acquired by the French publisher
Celebrating Success
Supersonic passes 3.4 billion downloads in three years
The publisher is celebrating its third anniversary this month with a massive milestone
Chinese Gaming Industry
Chinese games industry publishes draft of rules for self-regulation
The rules aim to address problems in the industry such as copyright disputes and gaming addiction without the need for government interaction
Adaptations
Raid: Shadow Legends is set to become an animated series
The billion-dollar mobile franchise is set to become a television series
Flexion X Netease
Flexion launches Vikingard on alternative app stores
The company has partnered with NetEase games for the launch
Google
Google Play Games for PC comes to Europe and Japan as service expands
Google’s cross-platform service will no longer require developers to optimise before submitting
Will Of The Industry
VOTE NOW: The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2023 Finalists are live
Inaugural industry-wide vote now open until April 6th
See You Next Week
Attending GDC 2023 next week? Connect with the Steel Media team!
Book a meeting with the Steel Media team ahead of GDC next week. We will be in San Francisco for GDC, let's discuss how we can best support your business in 2023!
Regulations
Call of Duty: Mobile team attempt to clarify Warzone confusion: “We are committed.”
The team behind CoD Mobile clarifies their position and reiterates their commitment to the title
Gdc 2023
Brazil Games delegation announced for GDC 2023
More than 43 companies will showcase Latin American innovation at the conference
Unity Report
Unity Report: More players are turning to mobile, but paying less
The median game saw an 8% increase in daily active users worldwide in 2022
Unity Gaming Report
Marc Whitten of Unity: "There are more players… But payers are in decline."
Released today, the 2023 Unity Gaming Report serves up both solutions and challenges for developers both big and small
Appointments
Sybo appoints new CMO Philip Hickey
The Seriously veteran will take on the role of chief marketing officer
Startups
App Radar wants to use AI to make advertising easier
The startup wants their AI tool to make analysing reviews and understanding player sentiment easier
Cryptotheft
FBI warns that fake games are stealing cryptocurrency
The agency has issued a PSA to address the issue