Welcome To The Family
Sumo Group acquires co-development specialist Pipeworks in a $100 million deal
"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Pipeworks, the largest acquisition Sumo Group has made since IPO"
Catch Em All
Pokemon Go and Pokemon Home will have a link by the end of the year
"There are certain special Pokemon that can't be transferred from Pokemon Go to Pokemon Home"
Talking Heads
Tencent, Activision, SEGA, King, and Riot Games all confirmed to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #4
Revealed: the first set of speakers for the fourth online-only conference in the series, this November 9-13
Collect Them All
Nintendo brings back Animal Crossing Amiibo cards
Avaiable through select retailers for $5.99
Imposter Syndrome
Among Us surge in popularity sees 655% rise in downloads, tops 120 million installs globally
Social deduction title generated 78.2% of all downloads during August and September.
Infinite Darkness
Netflix is releasing a Resident Evil TV show in 2021
Stars Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, seperate to the live-action series that is also in the works
Coming Through
Onion Soup Interactive launches Nippon Marathon 2 Kickstarter campaign
With a target of £32,000
Sponsored
What do living room board games and mobile games have in common? Real-time interactions
"Being able to communicate in real-time with your teammates can make or break your gameplay."
You're A Winner
Animal Crossing: New Horizons wins big at the Japan Game Awards 2020
Took home the Grand Award and Award for Excellence
It's War
Call of Duty: Mobile has more than 46 million pre-registrations in China
A final test will be held for Android next month
Red Carded
Update: EA removes monetisation ad from kids magazine
Encouraged the purchase of FIFA Points
Jury Duty
US judge advises Apple and Epic to go before a jury
"I think personally this case should be tried to a jury. I want everyone to think about that. I don't think individual judges have the be-all and end-all here"
Resonate
Audiomob to host 'Resonate' Game Jam with $1000 grand prize
The jam will be a chance for devs to strut their stuff while utilising Audiomob's ad solutions
Remote Working
How a last-minute university course switch lead Tom Van Dam to ByteDance and China
"I felt that I shouldn't do something too similar to what I enjoyed as a hobby, so overnight I applied for Economics and Finance instead."
Making Changes
Google to make third-party stores more accessible with Android 12
"We will be making changes in Android 12 to make it even easier for people to use other app stores on their devices"
New Plays
LaLiga Top Cards 2020 to use blockchain to support new in-game assets
Developer The Breach partners with Freeverse.io
Time’s Up
Quantum Siege dev Armada Interactive files for bankruptcy
Finish startup closes its doors
Master The Meta
Master the Meta: Three reasons why Playco is worth $1 billion
The Master the Meta team takes a deep dive into the instant play giant
All About Design
Glu Mobile launches real-life e-commerce store Design Home Inspired
"With Design Home Inspired, we are introducing a new way to express your style, shop and live the life of an interior designer, all while playing a game"
Still Banned
India's government not likely to bring back PUBG Mobile
"The violent nature of the game has been the cause of many complaints from all quarters"
True Or False?
Michel Ancel reportedly left Ubisoft due to misconduct investigations
The former game dev denies the allegations
Temporary Protection
Judge grants TikTok temporay protection against Trump's ban
"We're pleased that the court agreed with our legal arguments and issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the TikTok app ban"
Sponsored
Jam City's John Peterson on the continued growth of the studio through M&A
"We are extremely committed to Finland and are looking forward to having a presence there soon."
Mobile Play
Microsoft is launching a new Xbox app with remote play on iOS
Already available on Android
Farewell
The sun sets on FarmVille at the end of 2020
"Following an incredible 11 years since its initial launch back in 2009, we are officially announcing the closure of the original FarmVille game on Facebook"
Efficient Networking
Connect with top publishers and talented indie developers at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #4. Sign up now!
The Publisher SpeedMatch returns for the fourth online-only games industry conference this November
Two Become One
Krafton to merge with PUBG Corp later this year
"The announced consolidation will allow Krafton to create sustainable environments where each of our studios can focus on what they do best: development"
Hot Five
Hot Five: Zynga launches Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells, Nick Le discusses hypercasual success, and Chinese strategy games growth in the US
The top stories of the week
Takin' Care Of Business
Mobile games jobs weekly: Former Sumo director joins Supercell, Microsoft acquires Zenimax, and Snap Games snaps up more
The movers, shakers and job opportunities in mobile gaming
Week Of Gaming
Get ready for a week of gaming this November with three brilliant online events
Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #4, LaunchPad #2 and EGLX Digital 2020 all take place in the same action packed week, with a bonus event the following week...
Sponsored
External vs in-game communities: Which is right for your studio?
Yodo1 discusses whether it's worth investing resources to build a community.
Reincarnated
Nier Reincarnation is coming to North America and Europe
No release date yet
A Good Deed
One Special Day looking to break $500,000 target on 2 October
"One Special Day is our opportunity as an industry to come together and support gamers with disabilities who need our help"
Sponsored
Starloop Studios CEO Jesus Bosch discusses why developers are looking to partner more closely with outsourcing firms
"What they are looking for are real partners, deeply engaged with the customer objectives, and providing quick solutions to their demands"
Epicly Super Duper
Epic acquires kid-safe platform SuperAwesome
Expected to be integrated within Unreal Engine
Heading To Japan
Microsoft is launching xCloud in Japan in 2021
"In Japan, we're seeing the community embrace this freedom to play"
Fight For Fairness
Coalition for App Fairness formed to combat Apple and its App Store policies
Includes Epic Games and Spotify
In The Clouds
Amazon enters the cloud gaming market with Luna
Will cost $5.99 per month in Early Access
Megamigs Event
MEGAMIGS 2020: a virtual edition for video games experts and fans starts today
The two part event for the games industry kicks off today for part one with a careers and training edition.
Diversity Matters
POC in Mobile: Fellow Traveller's Des Gayle on what's changed in the games industry and what hasn't
"I was racially abused by someone in a management position"
Nation Of Billions
There will be 2.5 billion mobile gamers by the end of 2020
So predicts Newzoo
Welcome Aboard
Snap Games sharpens up with hires from Kongregate and Facebook
Panayoti Haritatos and Jessica Shetty hired
Better Ads
Bidstack teams up with Nautilus Mobile for Real Cricket 20 ads
"We are thrilled to add Nautilus as an exclusive partner to our growing gaming client base"
Stiff Competition
Ryu Games is launching its own games tournament platform to compete with Skillz
"The growth of this space has been incredibly exciting to watch"
Sponsored
Webinar: eCommerce App and Vertical Trends in 2020
Join Nativex alongside expert speakers from industry leaders
Ex-cell-sior
Former Sega and Sumo Digital director James Back joins Supercell
Back previously acted as product director for over a year
Feel The Music
Roblox's Warner Music deal debuts with Ava Max record launch
Taking place September 25th
#justvote
Enthusiast Gaming teams with Global Citizen and HeadCount to encourage young Americans to vote
"We have a unique opportunity to work with one of the most influential, grassroots movements in the world"
Change In Focus
InnerSloth cancels Among Us sequel to focus on original
"We have decided to cancel Among Us 2 and instead put all our focus into improving Among Us 1"
Money Maker
Scopely's Marvel Strike Force leads the way in US RPG boom
Generated $144 million from January to August 2020