Gateway To Chinajoy
Everything you need to make your last-minute ChinaJoy trip hassle-free
What international visitors need to know before they head to Shanghai
Deal Tracker
Show Me The Money: Scopely closes $3.5bn Niantic deal, UK gets £30m Games Growth Package, and Moshi Monsters' crowdfunding push in June 2025
Show Me The Money: The big deals from June 2025
Opening Up?
"It’s a great time to explore the Chinese games market"
We speak to MyGamez CEO Mikael Leinonen about the opportunities and challenges in China's lucrative games sector
Revenue Race
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby trots to $6.6m outside Japan after 18 days
Cygames’ flagship was Japan’s top-grossing mobile game in 2021 and 2022, and expanded into the West on June 26th, 2025
Marvellous Mena
MENA-3 games market set to reach $2.8bn by 2029
A Niko Partners report found that the region had 72 million gamers at the end of 2024
Strategic Move
Airship Interactive relaunches as Airmergent after entering administration
All employees have transferred to Airmergent as the company claims there has been no impact on contracts, payroll, or client work
New Offerings
Discord launches Orbs to scale in-app rewards
Orbs give Discord users new ways to earn rewards and explore premium features like Nitro
Pg Connects Helsinki
Join the biggest games industry gathering in the Nordics
Be part of the Nordic region’s leading B2B games event October 7th to 8th
Industry Outlook
Games industry deal value hits $6.2bn in Q2 2025
New report from Aream & Co shows that mobile revenue remains steady at $20bn quarterly
Coin Master Go
Moon Active takes on Scopely with Monopoly Go-like Coin Master - Board Adventure
Scopely took inspiration from the hit casual casino game - now Moon Active is returning the favour
Expansions
Side signs deal with Savvy Games Group to open Riyadh office
Firm plans to not only support Savvy’s initiatives but also launch its own training programmes in Saudi Arabia
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai 2025 agenda revealed
Connect with and learn from leading games industry experts in Shanghai, July 30th
Vote Now
Vote for Best Developer at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025
Voting ends at midnight on July 31st
Game Update
Steer Studios pulls Grunt Rush from app stores for planned updates
The studio’s debut title is currently unavailable to new players
Strategy Spending
Whiteout Survival hits $3bn in player spending in under 2.5 years
Century Games’ strategy title has been among the five highest-earning mobile games every month this year
Company Spotlight
Company spotlight: Digital Turbine
Find out more about Digital Turbine, The Austin, Texas headquartered ad tech company that bills itself as 'your direct line to the moments that matter'
Hot Five
Hot Five: Pokémon Go’s ninth anniversary, Clash Royale’s Merge Tactics mode, and China's domestic licence changes
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Age Of Casual
Tencent gives Age of Empires the Last War treatment on mobile
Age of Empires: Survival brings hypercasual gameplay to the longstanding strategy franchise
Podcast | Episode 60
Games investment tips, Clash Royale's evolution, and China's rising global influence | 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 60...
Week In Views
Raising investment in 2025 and Pokémon Go's $8.8 billion milestone | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Shortlist Showcase
Meet the Finalists: Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025
Every category, every shortlisted nomination showcased for the most important vote you'll cast this week
New Games
New release roundup: DC Worlds Collide, Subnautica, Raising Reincarnated SwordMage, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Esports World Cup
Esports World Cup 2025 begins in Riyadh with record $70m prize pool
Of the prize pool, $27m will be spread across the top 16 clubs while this year’s winner will earn $7m
Acqusitions
Azerion sells Whow Games to DoubleDown Interactive in deal worth up to $76m
The advertising firm said the sale is part of its broader portfolio optimisation strategy
New Partnerships
Genies partners with Unity to bring AI avatar tools and IP assets to developers
Genies will debut a custom landing page in the Unity Asset Store later in 2025, with full integration into the Unity Editor set for 2026
Funding News
Turkish studio Circle Games raises $7.25m to expand puzzle portfolio
Funds will go towards upcoming projects as well as growing its development team
Region Focus
State of play: Inside China's increasingly influential games industry
Ahead of the debut Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai on July 30th, we speak to industry executives and take a look at the rise of China's games sector
Marvellous Mena
How African game studios can compete globally
“We need to attract our diaspora back or collaborate with international partners to upskill and polish local talents"
Roguelike Revenue
Habby's Wittle Defender hits $10m in gross player spending
Habby’s tower defence title launched worldwide on Android and iOS on June 9th
The Power Of Playables
Interactive ads surge 20% among top apps as advertisers bet big on playables
Liftoff’s latest report shows the playable ads formats grew eight times higher than non-playables for top spenders last year
Bitcoin Comeback
SaruTobi is first game on iOS with ZBD-powered Bitcoin microtransactions
The game is the first on the App Store to use ZBD's Lightning Network for Bitcoin integration
Strike Over
Video games strike ends after 11 months as SAG-AFTRA ratifies new contract
The new agreement includes an immediate pay increase of over 15% for performers, with raises scheduled for November 2025, 2026 and 2027
Building And Bolstering
French dev Million Victories secures almost $40m in funding from Haveli Investments
The studio’s flagship mobile game Million Lords: World Conquest has 100,000 monthly players
Deal Deluge
Games M&A hits $3bn disclosed deal value in Q2 2025
A new wave of M&A through late 2025 and into 2026 is expected as companies leverage improved valuations for growth
Chinese Games Market
Why understanding Chinese games and gamers is crucial to global success
Expert insight on the Chinese games market ahead of PG Connects Summit Shanghai, July 30th
Creating A Council
UK Video Games Council establishes to inform and support government policy
The council will be supported by UK trade bodies Ukie and TIGA, with ongoing input from the wider industry
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: The verdict on Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft's games strategy
We asked our Mobile Mavens how they feel about Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s "play anywhere" shift and whether the subscription service model really works for games
State Of Investment
Aonic on the state of games investment in 2025 and tips for raising funds
Aonic co-founder and chief product officer Olliver Heins offers investment advice and thoughts on the state of the market at Develop: Brighton
Resilient Growth
Green Game Jam reached 108m daily active players to spur real-world climate action in 2024
The new Playing for the Planet Annual Impact report shows that the alliance fell short of its goal to grow membership by 25%, achieving a 14% increase
Data Diligence
The IAB updates its Diligence Platform to educate data suppliers in "increasingly regulated environment"
The update follows after the IAB’s new Gaming Measurement Framework, outlining ad formats for games
Playable Ads For Mid & Hardcore
How to build great playable ads for midcore/hardcore games
"The ad we produced together allowed users to experiment with how different character combinations impact the battle experience"
Revenue Royale
Clash Royale hits post-pandemic record of $3.8m daily revenue with new mode Merge Tactics
Daily player spending has reached its highest since 2021
Anime Ahead
Garena Free Fire anime details emerge in new teaser trailer
The series is being directed by Ken Takahashi, who previously worked on Fate/Grand Order’s anime adaptation
Pgc Aqaba
What to expect at Pocket Gamer Connects Aqaba 2025
Ready to network, learn and pitch in Aqaba, November 8th-9th
Marvellous Mena
Gimzat Studios co-founders Khaled Mansour and Ahmed Khalaf talk hybridcasual strategy, platform priorities and MENA opportunities
"To reach Africa’s growing mobile audience, localisation and device optimisation are critical."
Clash Newcomer
Supercell releases major Clash Royale update with new game mode Merge Tactics
The new mode is fully turn-based with ‘Rulers’, turn-based battles and more
China Changes
Overseas studios to be eligible for domestic licences in China for games developed in Shanghai
The Shanghai Municipal Government will test this in a pilot programme
New Offerings
Savvy Games Group and PNU’s Applied College sign MoU to equip women for careers in games development
Training will cover areas like concept design, 3D modelling, animation and interactive storytelling
Sporty Celebration
MLB Rivals hits 5m downloads and 1bn pitches as it marks second anniversary
Developer Com2uS is offering players a series of special events and rewards both in-game and on social media
Moving To Mobile
Global Worldwide closes funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures in mobile manoeuvre
The oversubscribed round was "tough" in the current AI landscape, according to chairman and CEO Will Harbin