Online Safety
Roblox rolls out mandatory facial age checks for in-game chat worldwide
Users must now complete an age check before they can chat with others
Esports Growth
Esports World Cup Foundation unveils national team framework for Esports Nations Cup 2026
At least $20m per year will be committed to supporting national team programmes
Job News
Aghanim appoints new CRO and COO
The duo will lead teams across New York City and Los Angeles
Job News
NetEase Games veteran Lin Yunfeng resigns after more than 22 years at the company
His departure follows a major internal restructuring of the publisher's games business last year
New Offerings
Rovio and Sega unite Angry Birds licensing under global transmedia strategy
The move forms part of a broader long-term investment in the Angry Birds brand roadmap
Game Jam
Global Game Jam aims to surpass 500,000 lifetime participants ahead of 2026 event
The annual event brings together developers, students, and creatives to build games around a shared global theme
Anniversary
Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward talks four years of growth, major acquisitions and what comes next
“If the people who played Scopely’s games over the last 12 months were a country, they would be the third largest country in the world"
Creative Candy
Competitive or casual? Designing Candy Crush with "a spectrum of flavours"
King’s senior game designer Mick Heijkens shares insights into game system overhauls, experimental design, and pleasing "a wide mix of playstyles"
Layoff News
Ubisoft closes Halifax studio weeks after unionisation
The closure will result in 71 employees losing their jobs
Titanium Sponsor
Xsolla kicks off two weeks of industry programming, community events and expanding support for global developers across the UK
Coordinated activations in the UK underscore Xsolla’s ongoing commitment to building all the things for the video community in Europe
Milestone
Block Blast reaches 70m daily active users and 300m monthly active users worldwide
Hungry Studio credits the milestone to a year-long experimentation system running more than 10,000 A/B tests
Discovery Decision
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board unanimously rejects Paramount’s latest offer
The offer was made after an $82.7 billion deal with Netflix was already agreed, meaning multiple fees would be charged for backing out
Speaker Spotlight
"I admire anyone who manages to successfully release games with heart and personality"
Duolingo's Nicoll Hunt discusses passion projects, inspirations and team motivation
Funding News
NEOM selects five studios for funding in expanded Level Up accelerator
An additional 18 studios will join an expanded mentorship phase, marking the programme’s largest cycle to date
Speaker Spotlight
Why publishers should treat monetisation as one revenue system, not just a collection of tools
TeqBlaze chief product officer Olga Zharuk discusses optimising user acquisition, black boxes, and AI's potential in games
Speaker Spotlight
Almedia's Jan Sommerfeld on why an over-reliance on short-term ROAS is the mobile sector's most common mistake
The COO discusses the rewarded UA space and why companies should look further than D30 ahead of his PGC London talk
Speaker Spotlight
"Web and cross-platform strategies are often overlooked, yet they’re critical to long-term success"
We catch up with Morgan ahead of the show to discuss the present and future of web gaming.
New Offerings
Roblox reveals new Homepage Feature and expands programmatic partnerships
The company said younger audiences are shifting from passive viewing to active participation in creator-led environments
Very Big Indie Pitch
Oh! Robot: Legendary Mechanic wins the Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Korea 2025
Find out who took the top three spot at PGC Korea's mobile big indie pitching content
Going Public?
Report: Discord confidentially files for US IPO
Chat platform said to be working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co
Marvellous Mena
How MENA studios can attract funding in 2026
Securing capital this year will require more than creative ambition alone
Milestone
Mattel163 surpasses 550m players worldwide across its digital games portfolio
Players have completed more than 65bn matches globally, marking a major milestone for the publisher
Ai-assisted Optimisation
Teqblaze - from manual monetisation platform to AI-assisted optimisation
Find out how Teqblaze helps publishers build more predictable, sustainable monetisation without sacrificing transparency or control
Job News
Kuro Games taps ex-Scopely GM Jay Kim as new general manager of Korea
Kim will lead Kuro Games’ Korean operations, focusing on community building, market growth, and player support
Market Growth
UK games spending hits £5.4bn in 2025 as mobile powers strongest growth since 2020
Mobile games generated £1.88bn after an 8.8% year-on-year rise
Pgc London 2026
Full three-event Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026 schedule revealed
Start 2026 with the latest industry insight and connections that matter
Expansion
Aream & Co opening Singapore office
The new branch will be headed up by Anjan Sarangi
Sophisticated Soft Launch
Soft launch is changing in 2026: How and where should you release your game?
Matej Lancaric and Claire Rozain discuss how soft launching games will change this year
Job News
Scopely-owned Niantic recruits Jori Pearsall as SVP of games
He will lead the creative and strategic direction of Scopely’s Tokyo Studio
Industry Insights
Should developers look for long-term partnerships and what makes a studio worth backing?
Evgeny Maurus shares insights on the shifting mobile games market and what studios must do to stay competitive
Pgc London 2026
Strategic reasons to join Pocket Gamer Connects London
Why missing the UK’s biggest B2B games conference on January 19th and 20th could leave your 2026 plans behind
Sonic Start
Sonic Rumble jogs to $772,000 in two months
The party royale had its most lucrative day early on, but events are keeping things moving
Eggy Endeavour
Eggy Party cracks $750m in mobile player spending
Player spending has fallen for two consecutive years, with 2023 still responsible for over 50% of the lifetime sum
Job News
Web gaming platform Entity names Tag Games co-founder Paul Farley as head of games
He will lead the platform’s games strategy and oversee the formation of its games team
New Offerings
Teebik to launch Plague Inc. and Rebel Inc. in China this year
The publisher is positioning the releases as part of a broader push for premium Western mobile games in China
Steam Mobile
The mobile gaming links from Steam's 2025 top sellers list
The rankings shows how publishers are extending their franchises across platforms
Funding Round
Fast-growing hybridcasual puzzle game Pixel Flow nets seven-figure investment
Arcadia Gaming Partners’s Akin Babayigit and early stage fund e2vc join seed funding round
New Studio
Former Boss Fight Entertainment team launch new studio Sunwise Games
The studio’s launch follows Netflix’s decision to shut down its internal games division last fall
Enhanced Experience
UX in Candy Crush and the "deceptively complex" world of boosters
King’s principal UX designer Andrea Serfaty talks player experience, the Super Colour Bomb, and more
Hot Five
Hot Five: Top grossing games of 2025, Nitro Games promotions, and New York’s mental health warnings for social media
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Game Closure
Game Freak’s mobile RPG Pandoland to shut down just 11 months after launch
A final “Thank You Campaign” is live to help players access rewards before March 6th shutdown
Speaker Spotlight
"2025 was a banner year for direct-to-consumer revenue"
FastSpring head of gaming Chip Thurston tells us why we're still in the early days of D2C ahead of his PGC London talk
D2c Revolution
Publishers bank record direct-to-consumer revenue
The latest results of the D2C revolution are in
Jobs News
Nitro Games appoints new COO and CPO
Developer has also secured a €1.6 million to continue working on a new mobile shooter for a European game developer
Competition
Neowiz Indie Quest dev contest closes in two weeks
Winners could receive $115,000 along with game promotion, mentoring and strategic consulting
Speaker Spotlight
Amber CEO Mihai Pohontu talks up the massive opportunities for AI and UGC
The chief exec of the development agency gives his opinions on the next big opportunities for games companies
Company Spotlight
Company Spotlight: Fluent
Find out more about how fluent helps studios acquire high-value players
New Year
Mobile Mavens' New Year's resolutions for 2026: Fewer bubbles, stop doomsaying, and sustainable growth
The Mobile Mavens share their ambitions for the coming year
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens' New Year's resolutions for 2026: Advocate through action, play more games, and keep experimenting
The Mobile Mavens share their ambitions for the coming year
Speaker Spotlight
AudioMob on maintaining a balanced, data-driven strategy across multiple adtech partners
AudioMob's Suma Amreiz discusses implementing successful audio ads and the importance of using a balanced network of adtech partners