Pakistan’s Gaming Market
Pakistan halts overseas payments for mobile gaming
Telecommunication companies reportedly fell foul of the country’s regulations
Tencent On Trial
Tencent to stand trial in copyright infringement suit tomorrow
The company has been accused of infringing on the rights of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang by Moonton
Life’s A Beach
Boom Beach: Frontlines to shut down its servers in January, just six months after soft launch
The game has failed to meet Space Ape Games’ standards
Vacancies, Or Not
Vacancy trends show UK games industry continues to slump despite mobile holdouts
Although most disciplines and companies closed or filled vacancies this year, a few key areas and companies are still hiring
User Retention
Tightening privacy regulations have caused day 30 retention rates to plummet 10.3% in Q3 2022.
AppsFlyer examines how to improve retention in a new report
Market Analysis
Digital future to be led by Mexico, Slovakia and Saudi Arabia, as China set to feel brunt of global slump
A breakdown of growing digital markets sees China slump, and a shift in the top three growing markets, which affects mobile gaming
Week In Views
Week in Views - What caught our editorial eyes in the last seven days
The PocketGamer.biz team give their take on what happens when a game dies and why the UK is so behind on games funding?
Updates
Krafton reaches November update for New State mobile
Krafton’s latest update for the second instalment in the PUBG franchise includes additional mechanics, and may be a new source of focus
Events
Fifth African Games Week to be held in Cape Town, South Africa
Africa, one of many emerging markets in the mobile gaming industry, will be seeing its African Games Week hosted in Cape Town this December
A New Record For The Franchise
What makes Pokémon such a monster game?
Ten million sales of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet show that colourful characters and deep gameplay help a franchise thrive
Gdpr Regulations
EU apps are routinely failing to comply with GDPR regulations
Usercentrics finds that 90% of apps studied were found to be non-compliant, including 100% of gambling apps
Anniversaries
Netmarble marks Seven Knights 2’s first anniversary with more special events
The Seven Knights 2 celebrations are being extended with in-game events and log-in bonuses for players
Seasonal Events
World of Tanks Blitz sees top Hollywood talent team up to promote Holiday event
The entire World of Tanks lineup are seeing the introduction of new cosmetics, items and quests themed around the team of Mila Jovovich and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Anniversary Event
Postknight 2 celebrates a successful year with the Ann1versary event
The game has achieved $200 thousand in revenue and 1.4 million players worldwide in its first year on the market
East To West
"There is a dragon’s hoard waiting there": game publishing opportunities in Iran and Morocco
Game developers from distinct ends of the MENA market talk about the challenges and potential in their regions
Analysis
China may still be top of the mobile game, but India is closing in
India has been picking up the pace in recent years with a view to overtaking China as the biggest mobile market
Updates
Rovio adds first new Angry Birds character in seven years
Rovio’s Angry Birds 2 saw the addition of its first new character in seven years with the introduction of songbird character Melody
Hybrid Casual Help
Hybridcasual: a winning formula?
In the first of a new Knowledge Base series, Homa offers insight into the emerging Hybridcasual genre, highlighting opportunities and challenges for developers
Green Gaming
Ubisoft to educate players on environmental matters through in-game activities
The gaming giants wants to speak to all its players about the climate crisis
Rumour
FTC rumoured to block Activision-Blizzard acquisition deal
The hotly anticipated acquisition of Activision-Blizzard may face another hurdle as outlet Politico reports on rumours the FTC may see to block the deal
Football Gaming
Live mobile game KnockOut kicks off to celebrate the FIFA World Cup
ITV and Live Tech Games’ new partnership comes in the wake of the resounding success of WordSurge
Slow And Steady Wins The Race?
Mobile to surge ahead as the console next gens are at least six years away
Mobile may not match them for sheer horsepower but the level of funding and work required to create a console means that the heavyweights will be playing catch up for years to come
Studio Formation
Formation Games are a new studio with talent from the worlds of game dev and soccer
Formation Games specialise in football games and will be led by former FA CEO, Alex Horne alongside ex-Bungie Jonty Barnes and ex-Sports Interective Neil Dejyothin
Netflix Games
Netflix is working on an AAA shooter at its new LA studio
The company is straying outside of its mobile gaming interests for the first time
Milestones
Sleeper hit Hungry Sharks passes 1bn lifetime downloads
Ubisoft's Hungry Sharks franchise had surpassed 1bn lifetime downloads, in a sleeper success story for mobile
Devsisters Financials
Cookie Run: Ovenbreak grabs 45 million users in Korea
Though developer Devsisters saw declining revenue in Q3 as the market continues to normalise
Retrospective
Deus Ex GO is dead. Here's what made the GO series so important
With the shuttering of title Deus Ex GO we take a look back at the GO series, Square Enix’s dip into the pool of premium mobile titles
Business Casual
X-Flow invests $6 million in casual developer Plummy Games after Star Merge launch
Company founded by veterans of Peak Games
Esports
Riot to refocus League of Legends: Wild Rift esports plans solely to Asia
League of Legends mobile adaptation, Wild Rift, originally was given worldwide plans for esports, however Riot Games have now said they intend to focus solely on the Asian market
Sign Up Now
What impact could in-game advertising have on your studio?
Sign up now for a free webinar exploring the impact of in-game ads, featuring strategies and practical tips from industry experts including Anzu, Unity and Wildlife Studios
Mobile Monopoly
Apple and Google investigated by UK regulator over suspected cloud gaming and mobile duopoly
In the UK, 97 percent of mobile web browsing took place on Apple and Google browsers last year
Huuuge Financials
Huuuge Games: EBITDA up 38.7% and ARPDAU up 15.7% as active players spend more
The company also took steps to optimise its earnings efficiency over the quarter
Adtech Approach
New advertising platform immersiion uses new "hybrid" approach to reach gamers
Launched by adtech firm iion for mobile, PC, console and more
Socialpeta Report
Bucking the downturn: Q3 Daily Active Users and Downloads are both on the up
SocialPeta's new report also shows that Android continues to dominate in terms of advertising
Financials
Pearl Abyss sees revenue rise in Q3 2022, above Q3 2021
Overall revenue is up for Black Desert and Eve devs Pearl Abyss, but peaking just over Q3 2021 levels
Chinese Market
Microsoft and Sony attempt to woo China's mobile devs with new investments
Mobile is king of China’s games space, but Microsoft and Sony are seeking to hoover up games and talent
Shuttering
Embracer to shut down Deus Ex GO, making it unplayable for existing owners
Onoma, formerly Square Enix Montreal, will be removing four games from stores on December 1 then shutting them down completely in January
Expert Interviews
6 Secrets for Success in MENA Gaming Markets
The Middle East continues to grow as a market for games - here are tips from two region experts to help you thrive there
Preservation
Opinion: Game Preservation isn’t just about disks and cartridges, but mobile games too
Physical, and digital, game preservation has become a contentious topic for players, developers and publishers alike, but it’s not just console and PC we should worry about
Interview
Flexion CEO Jens Lauritzson on the secrets behind his company's success
Following the sixth consecutive record-breaking quarter, Flexion's CEO discusses the company's success and its future plans
Now’s Your Chance
Join top executives from Microsoft, Tik Tok, PlayStation and more at Pocket Gamer Connects Leaders Summit Riyadh next week!
Last call to join us in Riyadh this November 30th to December 1st for our first ever PGC Leaders Summit! Here is what you can expect…
Regulations
China claims they have ‘fixed’ the problem of Youth Game Addiction
Chinese authorities have not only been strongly regulating the activities of game companies, but also of players themselves
Opinion
Screams on screens: The unrealised potential of horror in mobile gaming
Mobile gaming lags behind other platforms in terms of horror, but the potential for unique experiences is there
Investment
Playtika announces $25m investment into Turkish dev Ace Games
The Turkish developer Ace Games attracted a major $25m investment from mobile developer Playtika
Investment
Aoca Game Labs receives investment from Google Play’s Indie Game Fund
The company from Bahia participated in Google’s #WeArePlay editorial, and received a portion of a $2m investment from the corporation
Interview
Jacob Colvin on successfully combining content creation with a passion for marine conservation
Marine biologist and gamer Colvin has used his academic background to collaborate with Roblox
Guest Post
Where have all the mobile indie games gone?
Oscar Clark discusses the reasons behind an apparently declining number of indie mobile games being produced recently
Flexion Financials
Flexion celebrates its sixth consecutive record quarter with 138% revenue growth
The company reported $22 million in revenue in Q3
Creativity And Hospitality
Games from Spain shine at Gamescom Asia and fabulous networking dinner
The best of Spanish games and cuisine were both on display
Irish Tax Incentive
Ireland launch tax credit to support game developers
Companies can claim 32% of development costs back