Finnish Game Awards
Finnish giant Metacore's CEO and co-founder Mika Tammenkoski reflects on a difficult year for the industry
However, Tammenkoski remained bullish about the industry’s potential
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 and discuss a fragmented Apple eco-system, games going all-in on AI and Fortnite's return to iOS… Kinda
Apple Arcade
Fingersoft CEO Jaakko Kylmäoja on Hill Climb Racing’s move to Apple Arcade
What does this move mean for the future of the franchise?
Canada-bound
Pocket Gamer Connects is coming back to Toronto this summer – here’s everything you need to know ahead of the event!
Take your business to the next level and connect with global industry professionals at our next conference in Canada this July 19th to 20th!
Last Chance
Last chance to sign up to pitch your game to experts at PG Connects Seattle this May 16-17!
Registration closes for our popular Very Big Indie Pitch competitions in Seattle today! Submit your game for consideration before midnight tonight.
Socialpeta Report
More than 7.8 million new ad creatives were released in Q1 2023, with video ads on the rise
North America had the highest number of unique advertisers for the period, but lagged in creatives per advertiser
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight Seattle: Moloco's Donghwan Jeon on AI, big data, machine learning and more
With just a couple of weeks to go, we get up close with the speakers at our upcoming Pocket Gamer Seattle event. Don't miss out!
Celebrating Indies
Celebrate indie excellence with The Big Indie Zone Audience Choice Award sponsored by ByteBrew at PG Connects Seattle!
PG Connects Seattle attendees will vote on the best indie games in the Expo area, join us in celebrating the best in indie talent.
Investment
Phantom Gamelabs joins Supercell’s family of investees
The studio has received an undisclosed amount from the Finnish gaming giant
Ai In Gaming
Magmic uses ChatGPT to power Hasbro’s Scattergories
Now the popular AI tech will allow the game to create more creative categories
Finnish Game Awards
How did mobile do at the Finnish Game Awards?
Mobile saw big success at the Finnish game industry’s biggest night with Pako Highway scooping game of the year
Cloud Gaming
Fortnite is back on iOS
The title will be available on multiple devices, including iPhones and iPads via Amazon Luna
New Games
Apple Arcade quietly drops 20 new games
Apple's pushing a whole new wave of titles on their platform
Last Chance
Last chance to apply to PG Connects Seattle’s industry-leading matchmaking events!
The deadline to apply for our Investor Connector and Publisher Speedmatch matchmaking events is tomorrow! Apply while you still can.
Last Chance
Last chance to save up to $170 on your PG Connects Seattle ticket – prices rise at midnight tonight!
Secure your ticket to our Seattle show before prices rise at midnight tonight! You can save as much as $170 using our Midterm discount.
Legal
Krafton & NetEase get their day in court over PUBG inspiration dispute
Despite being settled back in 2019 Krafton still claims that two of NetEase’s titles infringe their copyright
Spreading Sustainability
10 Weeks To Save The Games Industry reaches Sweden
Get the first part of our eco duo's interviews from Sweden, featuring Daniel Hasselberg, CEO of MAG Interactive and David Olsson of We Don’t Have Time
Action! Adventure! Cards?
Mobile Players: Can We Have Your Attention, Please?
adjoe and Statista’s latest report reveals adventure, card, and action games now draw the longest engagement
Devil May Duel
Devil May Cry’s Dante is coming to Street Fighter: Duel
Dante will join the game's roster as part of the upcoming Devil Invasion event
Layoffs
600 jobs go as Unity completes their largest round of layoffs yet
The company is making an effort to “streamline” operations
Apple Buyback
Apple expected to announce $90 billion in dividends and new stock buyback
Analysts expect the company to announce the buyback in its quarterly report later today
Stillfront Financials
Stillfront Group celebrates 5% year-on-year increase in revenue
Net revenue rose to 1,758 MSEK, however organic net revenue fell 5%
Funding
Frantic Games raises $2.4m in pre-seed funding
The studio will use the fund to specialise in hybrid casual mobile games
Networking Opportunities
Discover networking and matchmaking opportunities at the Dubai GameExpo Summit this Summer!
Learn more about the opportunities for developers available at our upcoming Summit in Dubai, coming up June 21st-22nd.
Blog Posts
Rovio reveals the secrets of their level design
The studio’s latest blog post unveils some inside details
Industry Insights
Consensual healing? How user permission became a competitive advantage
With stricter regulations on user privacy in play Usercentrics Valerio Sudrio shares how allowing users to grant consent is good for everyone
New Ad Markets
AppLovin brings performance-based buying to CTV to AppDiscovery
App marketers can now tap into massive CTV supply across hundreds of ad-supported TV apps and 300 channels
Maximising Game Revenue
Maximising game revenue: the role of rewarded surveys and offerwalls in revenue diversification
Diversify your monetisation and maximise your game revenue with expert insight and advice from the team at TapResearch
Markets
Mobile proliferation pushes gaming market growth
According to new global gaming market report
Industry Insights
How combining UA and ASO learnings can enhance store performance
UA and ASO play an important part of a mobile app strategy so why not combine the efforts of both, asks Gameloft's Claudia Trujillo
Rovio Financials
Angry Birds Dream Blast was at the top of the Rovio pecking order in Q1
The game saw gross bookings of 23.9 million euros
Q&a
Aonic co-founder Olliver Heins: “We aren't just looking for the next cash-generating game, we aim to create real value."
Aonic recently became shareholders of game studio Milky Tea which is gearing up for big announcements this year
Anniversaries
It's been 10 years since Angry Birds Friends
Time flies… But what did the lesser-known Angry Birds hatchling bring to the (bird) table?
Blazing Trails
Tilting Point braves a new frontier with Oregon Trail: Boom Town
The new game puts a new spin on the Oregon Trail franchise
Unmissable Opportunities
Connect with The Pokémon Company, Big Fish and more at PG Connects Seattle’s Careers Zone!
Register your interest for PG Connects Seattle’s Careers Zone for a free ticket to the show and recruitment opportunities with lead gaming companies this May 16-17th!
Anzu Addition
Meta veteran Nerissa MacDonald joins Anzu global sales role
Bringing more than 20 years’ experience from Adform, Sizmek and Meta
Ios 17 Incoming
Will Apple’s iOS sideloading be a Europe exclusive?
Could major regional differences be coming in iOS 17?
Accelerating Growth
WePlay Ventures launches Europe’s largest accelerator program for gaming startups
The program will help train game studios in various aspects of development
Sunsetting
Apex Legends Mobile shuts down
The sunsetting was announced in February
Open Beta
AppLovin brings Google bidding’s open beta to all MAX publishers
The move follows a successful closed beta for the service
A Yes From Ukraine
Ukraine grants approval of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition
Ukraine is less concerned about cloud gaming than the European Commission
Ads Strategy
Unity Ads bidding now available in LevelPlay
The game creation platform deepens its game growth offering post ironSource merger
New Release
Honkai: Star Rail races to 20 million downloads on launch day
Hoyoverse’s latest game is on the right track to break records
Stocks
Monster Hunter Now boosts Capcom share prices
The AR title is set to be released by Niantic
Job News
Nintendo is targeting multiple platforms in new job listing - is mobile one of them?
A job posting sees Nintendo expanding its focus
Q&a
Milky Tea CEO Jonathan Holmes gets "supercharged" with Aonic investment
With a new partner and powerful IPs, we get the latest from Milky Tea as they tease big announcements coming this year
Expanding Markets
Dragalia Lost developer Cygames to launch American and European branches
The new branches will promote the studio’s games abroad
Charity
Ustwo's Maria Sayans on their ongoing charity work and sharing the profits from Desta: The Memories Between
"We always try to take what’s meaningful and great in games and deliver that to the widest audience possible."
Investment
Tencent takes the lead on European investment. Will the rest of China follow?
The company wants to hedge its bets abroad. Could more Chinese-funded M&A action be on the way?
Marketing Report
Longer ads lead to a 23% boom in purchasing intent
A new report analyses the impact of various factors in game marketing