Data
South-east Asian mobile gaming market to exceed $7 billion in revenue by 2027
Mobile games remain the dominant part revenue in the region
Hybridcasual Hype
A casual revolution: Why even console devs want in on hybridcasual
Mobile changes fast, and while brave devs lead the way, there are plenty more happy to follow the lead
Payments
Supercell to partner with Carry1st for in-game purchase support in Africa
The Finnish developer’s games will soon support seamless payment in the emerging market
Spending And Selling
Epic Games delivers another 120 "fucked up" layoffs with Bandcamp sale
After 800 layoffs last month, Epic offloading Bandcamp has only led to further redundancies
China Vs Apple
Tim Cook makes a surprise appearance at Chinese Honor of Kings tournament
The unexpected live appearance comes amid a turbulent period for Apple’s relations with China
Making Of
Socialpoint's Akshay Bharadwaj on the making of Top Troops
Hybrid genres FTW! The team at Socialpoint shares how they built a fantasy RPG game with a blend of strategy, kingdom building and merge mechanics
Interview
GameHouse CEO Simonetta Lulli: “When I started there were zero females on the management team. Now after two years we make up 60% of it.”
GameHouse were recently visited by Apple CEO Tim Cook where the team shared 25 years of gaming making and developing with women in mind
Generations Of Gamers
94% of Gen Alpha are game enthusiasts, but gaming has universal appeal
Newzoo’s latest report analyses the different motivations of gamers in a variety of age groups
Women In Games
Big Fish Games’ Janice Gao on how keeping an open mind helped build up her mobile marketing skillset
Janice Gao talks to PG.biz about the value of marketing, the need for strategy, sustaining growth and the challenges of forging a career in the rapidly evolving global games market
Pokemon Party
Pokémon Go’s new Party Play aims to get even more gamers outside
The new feature sees players team up in groups of four and take on challenges
Cash And Grab
Will Grand Theft Auto be coming to Netflix?
There's early evidence and suggestion that Netflix is in discussions with developer Rockstar to secure GTA for their gaming platform
Bringing Bitcoin
AdInMo’s ZBD partnership will pay players Bitcoin in exchange for ad views
The partnership marks a first for their Rewarded InGamePlay and is available to community members now
Sundering Stereotypes
Gamers actually spend MORE time outdoors, but 58% still think they’re lazy
Research breaks down stereotypes around gamers and their health
Acquisition
Pole to Win’s SIDE acquires Star Trek: Fleet Command audio studio Vibe Avenue
PTW is a significant force in game localisation and other areas
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