Earnings Report
Mobile powers Take-Two bookings growth to $1.4bn in Q1
CEO Strauss Zelnick signals continued focus on mobile direct-to-consumer growth
Mobile Games Awards
Last chance to book a spot at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025
Attend the live reveal and celebrate with the winners in Cologne, August 19th
Investment News
Impact46 invests $6.7m in five Saudi game studios
Investments align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and National Gaming Strategy
Acqusitions
Chinese publisher XD Inc acquires 5.3% stake in Miao for $14m
Deal values studio at approximately $264m
Earnings Report
Konami's games division grows 14% in Q1 as eFootball soars
eFootball surpasses 850m downloads across PC, console, and mobile
Hot Five
Hot Five: Clash Royale’s Brawl Stars moment, AppLovin vs Unity, and the NextBeat team joins Duolingo
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Podcast | Episode 63
The Esports World Cup unpacked and lightning strikes twice for Supercell | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 63...
Week In Views
AppLovin and Unity spar, Talofa’s fitness-first focus, and is the Online Safety Act fit for purpose? | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Earnings Report
Netmarble revenue falls to $502m in Q2 despite promising new launches
Seven Knights Re: Birth and RF Online Next were the company’s biggest revenue generators last quarter
New Games
New release roundup: Talking Tom & Friends: World, Mecharashi, Farlight 84 and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Regulations
Japan orders Apple and Google to open payment systems and level app store competition
New guidelines will take effect from December 18th 2025
Subscription Strategy
Games subscription opportunities and challenges after "people have been trained to play for free"
GameHouse CEO Simonetta Lulli spoke at PGC Barcelona about lessons to learn from other industries
Money Makers
How much direct-to-consumer revenue are mobile games publishers making?
All the major mobile games companies are talking about it. And the results are in
Milestone
Castle Duels celebrates first anniversary with 3.5m installs and $13m lifetime revenue
My.Games launches Creator Programme to reward and monetise community talent
New Partnerships
Odeeo and Claritas partner to power full-funnel measurement for in-game audio ads
The collaboration aims to direct ad budgets toward game titles
Mobile Mavens
“Like airport security for UGC”: The Mobile Mavens react to the UK's Online Safety Act
New safety laws raise questions for the future of online play
Fighting Talk
AppLovin brushes off Unity Vector challenge to ads business
"Our market penetration inside gaming is really large at this point. It's materially higher than 70%"
Fitness Formula
How Talofa Games' Monster Walk aims to stand out from Pokémon Go
CEO Jenny Xu discusses raising $6.3 million, making exercise accessible and fun, and why it's targeting a Gen Z audience
Financials
Playtika eyes bullish 40% direct-to-consumer revenue
DTC sales were up 1.3% year-over-year to $175.9m in Q2
Investment News
Apple to ramp up US manufacturing with additional $100bn investment
The iPhone maker plans to invest $600bn in the United States over four years
Expansions
Territory Studio partner with Savvy Games Group to expand into the Middle East
Territory will open its first Middle East location in Riyadh later this year
Talking Tom
Talking Tom & Friends: World launches globally with emphasis on sandbox experiences
The title is the second of three Talking Tom mobile games slated for 2025
Funding News
Liberty Pixel raises $1.1m for casual and hybridcasual games
Latest round brings the studio’s total funding to $2.3m
New Beat
Why the NextBeat team is joining the gamified learning revolution at Duolingo
Co-founders Simon Hade and Olly Barnes discuss why they went from seeking funding to joining the learning platform
M&a
Duolingo acquires majority of team at London studio NextBeat
Acqui-hire will see staff working to expand Duolingo Music
Financials
AppLovin revenue surges 77% to $1.3bn in Q2
Net income rises by 164% Y/Y to $820 million
Ai Ambitions
Unity game engine "competitive advantage" for AI ads platform Vector
CEO Matt Bromberg discusses substantially ramping up the tech firm's AI investments
A New Vector?
Unity pins hopes on Vector AI ads platform to spark revenue growth
CEO Matt Bromberg claims inflection point despite revenue decline
Industry Insights
Can AI replace ad monetisation managers?
GameBiz Consulting’s Damjan Kačar tests if AI can keep up with ad monetisation experts
Speaker Wave
Tencent, Neogames Finland and Critical Force among the first wave of speakers confirmed for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025
The first wave of the 150+ expert speakers confirmed to lead our 24-track schedule on October 7th and 8th
Funding For Games
Blue Ocean Games launches Rising Tide 2 to fund the next wave of indie developers
Submissions now open to indie developers and aspiring creators worldwide
Lean Ai Driven Ua Strategies
UA is broken - Here’s how developers can fix it without hiring a bigger team
MStars.AI marketing director Efrain Aldaz explains the shift toward lean, AI-driven strategies
Speaker Survey
Devcom survey: A third of devs prefer minimal AI involvement in game production
Devcom 2025 speakers say early access is still strong as platform exclusivity fades
Acqusitions
Gdev acquires Light Hour Games to expand mobile portfolio
First project is set for soft launch this October
Funding News
SuperGaming raises $15m to fuel global expansion of Indus Battle Royale
Funds will go towards game development, talent acquisition, and original IP creation
Clash Comeback
Is Clash Royale having its Brawl Stars moment?
This July, monthly spend grew by 251% Y/Y and hit its highest since December 2017
Studio Strategy
Inside Wooga’s strategic shift
New MD Dennis Korf on prioritising June's Journey, learning from Claire's Chronicles and what comes next
Epic Vs. Everyone: Linkouts
In the face of ongoing legal change, what are the opportunities for mobile games companies?
"Don’t be surprised if pretty soon players in any part of the world can start making off-platform purchases in-app with zero friction"
New Offerings
My.Games launches business modelling tool for AdsAdvisor
Tool is set to release in H2 2025
New Offerings
Coplay takes over Unity MCP as it reaches key milestones with public beta launch
Coplay now powers over 3,000 Unity development features weekly for studios using AI workflows
Building Blocks
Roblox daily active users surges 41% to 112m in Q2
Revenue and bookings up as losses continue
Funding News
GameRamp raises $5.4m to build AI-powered publishing tools for developers
Funding will support team expansion in the US and India
Pokemon Pickle
The Pokémon Company defends TCG Pocket illustrator in artwork fiasco
The card production team mistakenly provided artist Sie Nanahara with the wrong documents when designing Ho-Oh art
Pgc Helsinki
Bigger, broader, and better value - 2025’s must-attend B2B games event in the Nordics
What you need to know about Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, the biggest games industry event in the Nordics, taking place on October 7th to 8th
Marvellous Mena
"I was pleasantly surprised that singers actually want to be in video games"
Masseka Games founder Teddy Kossoko on building a mobile game that monetises celebrity feuds
Switch 2 Sales
Nintendo Switch 2’s launch month sales more than double original Switch’s
Over 5.8m Switch 2s were sold in the console’s first 26 days, helping drive net sales up 132%
Portugal's Egames Lab Consortium
Infinity Games’ André Miraldo on why Portugal is the perfect place to develop its soothing puzzling games
Infinity Games excels at creating relaxing puzzle games, a success André Miraldo, its marketing lead, attributes to the support provided by Portugal
Segment Sales
Capcom generates just 1% of net sales from mobile as segment falls 50% Y/Y
The Japanese developer highlighted PC and console games over mobile in its latest financials
Earnings Report
Apple revenue rises to $94bn in Q3 2025 despite $800m tariff-related costs
Americas lead regional sales at $134.16bn followed by Europe and Greater China
Hot Five
Hot Five: Uma Musume’s $22.8m overseas launch, Krafton’s record-breaking H1, and casual games’ strong market growth
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz