Share Surge
DeNA shares on fire, surging 24.4% after Pokémon Trading Card Game reveal
The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket mobile game is a collaboration between The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc and DeNA
Big Brands
Mattel gets together with Zynga's Rollic for an all-new Barbie game on mobile
Some of gaming's biggest names get together for a "mass market" Barbie game on mobile that aims to deliver "best-in-class immersive entertainment"
Scuti Incentives
Scuti.ai raises $10 million to incentivise player spending
The AI platform looks to retain players through rewards on its platform
Going Green
How the video games industry can promote an eco-friendly future with PlanetPlay
CEO Rhea Loucas and head of business development Felix Bradshaw discuss how collaborating with PlanetPlay helps the planet and ups your game
Pokemon Presents
Pokémon’s power in full force as five big mobile games align for updates
Pokémon Go, Masters, Unite, Sleep, and Café Remix all have updates planned around Pokémon Day
Pokemon Presents Pocket
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is the latest leap for mobile
The latest Pokémon Presents event has revealed a digital card game for collecting, trading and battling
Financial Outlook
Playtika no longer up for sale as it pays share dividends and promises more M&A
Their latest numbers have prompted the company to pause its "strategic alternatives process" which saw them halting work on new titles and changing direction
Job Cuts
Sony Interactive Entertainment axes 900 staff across the globe
Around 8% of PlayStation's global gaming staff will be laid off, with only the UK studios affected being named so far
Partnership Pathway
Smartphones to come pre-installed with Web3 game in Mystic Games and Jambo partnership
New JamboPhones launched in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America will come with Call of the VoYd pre-installed
Star Speaker
Wizards of the Coast’s Eugene Evans to discuss the key pillars of making a great game with IP at PGC San Francisco
Evans to host session 'Expanding Brands Through Mobile: 3 Things to Know When Licensing for a Mobile App'
Project Packup
Die Gute Fabrik enters indefinite hiatus as funding dries up
The studio’s co-founder Nils Deneken will return as CEO if funding is found to complete they're current project
Retention Tips
How to generate lasting player loyalty with omnichannel messaging
CRO of OneSignal, Josh Wetzel explains how using a multi channel approach to engaging with players can help with long term retention
Empowering Players
Ex-Homa staff raise $1.5 million for UGC platform PlayMakers
Start-up aims to make suite of tools available to any developers looking to add user-generated content to their games
Financials
Unity shares fall 18% despite revenue growth to $2.2 billion in 2023
Cost-cutting measures bite as company closes offices and pulls back from Professional Services and hardware units
Festival Fundraising
ESA’s winter charity speedrun raises $85,000 for Make-A-Wish International
Fundraising records were broken by a Sonic the Hedgehog game
Installs For India
Ludo King surpasses 1 billion Play Store downloads in meteoric moment for Indian games industry
Ludo King is the first Indian mobile game to surpass the one billion install figure
App Marketer Insights
What game marketers need to know about driving user acquisition through ad campaigns
Liftoff's VP of Global Sales, Joey Fulcher dives into the results of the company's recent survey to lift the lid on why App Marketers are optimistic about the future - despite market challenges
Educational Games
Rovio launches two new educational Angry Birds games to make learning fun
Angry Birds Eggstraction and Angry Birds and the Multiplication Portal keep the series moving forwards
Generative Gen 3
"The future of generative AI is hybrid": Qualcomm brings on-device AI to next-gen mobiles
Qualcomm unveiled its latest tech at Mobile World Congress Barcelona, including the FastConnect 7900 mobile connectivity system
Jobs Cuts
EA lays off staff after sunsetting MLB Tap Sports and F1 Mobile Racing
“Unfortunately, the game was unable to meet our performance expectations".
Hot Five
Hot Five: Microsoft goes multiplat, Fortnite to return to iOS, but global games industry layoffs continue
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Star Speaker
Gamefam CEO Joe Ferencz to share UGC insights for Roblox and other platforms at PGC San Francisco
Ferencz will take part in the session 'The UGC Gaming Takeover: Where are Roblox & Other UGC Platforms Headed?'
Week That Was
Week in Views - Tough talk, turning tides and big players go mobile
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Cross Platform Success
Nitro Games and Digital Extreme's Warframe on mobile is off to a flying start
Three days after release, the iOS only game is approaching 400,000 downloads with an Android version on the way
Eu Excluded
Why has Apple killed Web Apps in Europe?
Once the only way to get your app on iPhone, Steve Jobs "sweet solution" is now officially dead in Europe as Apple gets heavy handed following the EU's digital markets act
Podcast
The PGC Wrap-Up: Webshops, AI, avoiding Apple fees and more! | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode…
Rallying The Troops
“2023 was a shitty year. 2024 will probably be even more shittier": EGDF president Hendrik Lesser talks tough
The European Games Developer Federation's president spells out his thoughts and confidence in a comeback in an open letter
Star Speaker
Netflix’s VP of external games Leanne Loombe to speak at PGC San Francisco
Loombe will be a speaker on our roundtable entitled ‘Walking the Walk: Are Games Companies Actually Championing Inclusivity and Diversity?’
Out Now
Sybo's Mathias Gredal Nørvig and Playmob's Jude Ower talk Gaming For Good
The Sybo CEO and Playmob founder's new book is an eco call-to-arms with contributions from Phil Spencer, Ilkka Paananen, John Hanke, Robert Antokol, Rob Small and more
Chinese Market
My.Games executive producer Boris Burangulov on bringing War Robots back to China
“The Chinese market is of great importance to us being one of the key regions in the gaming industry”
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from psychological sequencing to Invincible iteration
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Challenging Times
Will 2024 be the year that mobile game developers master ‘Expert’ difficulty?
SuperScale COO Nikola Mitic looks at the challenges facing the mobile games industry in 2024 and how developers can navigate them
Extreme Expenses
Thunderful lost $59 million in 2023 after Q4 profit fell 574%
Thunderful is laying off approximately 100 staff in the first half of 2024 to cut costs
New Partnerships
Zeptolab's Om Nom Stories lands 25 season deal with Disney+
The collaboration with Disney+ offers Cut the Rope a new audience, bridging the gap between gaming and animated series
Community Growth
Networking event Unwind is now the South Australian Games Association
“Our goal is to grow the South Australian games industry into the largest state games sector in Australia," says SAGA
Multiplat Microsoft
What does Microsoft's "more games to more people on more devices" mean for mobile?
Microsoft walks a fine line with Xbox fans while naming the first four titles coming to other platforms
Job Cuts
Global layoffs at Gameloft as staff in Ukraine and Canada confirm redundancies
At least 38 staff are leaving their Lviv, Ukraine office with as yet unconfirmed numbers departing Toronto, Canada
Investment News
XPLA secures funding from Play Ventures to foster Web3 innovation
The strategic investment signifies a milestone for XPLA by positioning the platform towards accelerated growth within the gaming industry
Excited Spenders
More games are making millions as player spending on 2023 releases soars
The US, UK, China and other markets all show an increased willingness to spend on new releases
Player Power
TreesPlease Games plants one million trees via LongLeaf Valley
The game from ex-Square Enix staff has already led to one million trees being planted in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Hyper Debate
“Hypercasual is definitely not dead”
Embrace CEO Eric Futoran says genre is evolving, but game economist Phillip Black says it’s “like a wounded animal that no one will just go out and shoot”
Vc Trends Report
Venture capital funding set to remain subdued through 2024
Pitchbook expects the fundraising gap between content and development startups to become narrow due to alterations in the investor landscape.
Invincible Introduction
Ubisoft launches first Invincible mobile game for the 21-year-old franchise
Invincible: Guarding the Globe is set in the Invincible universe with a brand-new story
Claps
From losing a job to millions in revenue: How Clap Clap Games began
“Everything felt like it was going wrong" before “everything spiked”, says CEO
Live From Pgc San Francisco
Championing British gaming excellence at PGC San Francisco's UK Games Showcase!
Get up close with iconic titles, meet emerging talent, network with industry leaders, and experience the future of gaming at our British innovation showcase
Install Increase
ATT consent reached 39% in 2023 as racing games turbo-charged installs
Action games generated the most installs and longest play sessions of 2023, but racing games saw the largest year-on-year install increase
Mena Market
Honor of Kings makes MENA debut ahead of Esports World Cup
The popular MOBA game will make its way to MENA for the first time since its 2015 launch
Data Deluge
Mobile game downloads fell for the first time ever in 2023 to 88 billion
The Indian market downloaded over double the mobile games of any other region, but didn’t make the top 20 for spending
Netflix Gaming
Netflix and Ubisoft announce Rainbow Six SMOL mobile game
The new, officially licenced mobile exclusive offers “a tiny, whimsical take on the Rainbow Six universe."
Profitable Performance
Com2Us escaped the red in 2023 despite "negative seasonality"
Com2Us’ financial report reveals a difficult Q4 but overall successful 2023