Hyped Up
CrazyLabs invests $500,000 in the Indian hypercasual games market
"If you look at the charts now, India is underserved when it comes to local developers"
Important Changes
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot lays out company changes in wake of allegations
French firm has appointed a head of workplace culture Lidwine Sauer to oversee
Pitch Your Game
The Big Indie Pitch returns to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020 - sign up now!
The ever-popular pitching competition goes completely online alongside the week-long digital conference this September
Apple Retail Closures
Update: Apple to close two dozen retail stores in the US due to coronavirus
Shares fall 0.5 per cent as a result
The French Connection
Paradox Interactive acquires Playrion Game Studio
"Adding Playrion to our roster allows us to continue expanding our business in new areas"
Recurring Profits
Can subscriptions give F2P game monetization the shake-up it needs?
Multiscription's Teis Anker Mikkelsen makes the case
Join The Fight
PUBG Mobile shoots through $3 billion in lifetime revenue
It has made $1.3 billion so far this year
Check The Engine
Tamalaki and Sakura Games launch Car Girl Garage to teach real-life DIY skills
"A game that can truly boost the players' confidence around a subject they might be insecure about"
New Acquisition
Update: Zynga closes acquisition of Toon Blast creator Peak Games for $1.85 billion
Updated full-year guidance for Zynga coming in August 2020
A Caring Cause
Tru Luv looks to its next phase of emotionally-aware AI development after new funding round
Also looking to hire new key staff members
Apple Isbn
Apple's China App Store ISBN crackdown begins with update to its developer console
But no games have been removed from the store so far
Back Of The Net
Manchester City Football Club teams up with Capstone Games for its own official mobile game
"Collaborating with an innovative partner like Capstone and engaging with their community of gamers is a great fit for us"
Unfortunate Events
Kongregate makes layoffs as it stops accepting new games on its web platform
Platform currently hosts over 128,000 titles
I'm Ready I'm Ready
Making Of: How Tilting Point made SpongeBob Krusty Cook-Off ready for soft launch in 10 months
"We hit top 10 in terms of downloaded games on iOS in 97 countries and 79 countries on Google Play"
Gambling
The UK's House of Lords calls for loot boxes to face gambling regulations
DCMS first investigated the issue last year
Lgbtq+ Representation
#RaiseTheGame and Gayming Magazine to host LGBTQ+ representation in games panel
Join Steel Media's Sophia Aubrey Drake at 4pm today for a discussion about Pride and representation
Welcome Aboard
Scopely hires Mike DeLaet as its new senior vice president for strategic partnerships
"It's an incredibly exciting time to join Scopely"
Team Work
Anzu teams up with League-M to bring its in-game ads platform to European brands
"Anzu is committed to introducing cutting-edge solutions to European advertisers"
Drop The Remote
Why we need to drop the "remote": Five tips for digitally leading a team
InnoGames studio director Christian Reshöft offers up his suggestions
Mr Popular
My Talking Tom Friends hits 60 million downloads in two weeks
It was released on June 12th
Blocked Retail
Nintendo stops European retailers from selling digital download codes
Effective from July 1st
Event
Blockchain Gamer LIVE! to run alongside Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital in September
Discover more about this disruptive technology and learn why you should join us for Blockchain Gamer LIVE! Digital #1
New Acquisition
Com2uS acquires online Go service Tygem
"Go is a representative brain game that requires a high level of concentration and numeracy"
A New Direction
Discord raises $100 million to expand beyond games
The latest change in direction for the communications platform
#metoo
IGDA speaks out on recent "heartbreaking" sexual misconduct allegations across the games industry
"Each and every one of us can help our industry be a safer and more inclusive environment"
Towerlands
Indie Spotlight: Black Bears CEO Oleg Kapitonov on why the studio is unlikely to return to an office format
"Now that we're completely remote, I'm not sure if we will return to the previous format"
Change It Up
Apple reportedly cancels contracts with Arcade developers as it shakes up its strategy
"Apple Arcade has redefined what a gaming service can be"
10 Years On
Opinion: Seven problems Microsoft will have to overcome to make Windows Phone 7 a success
How to make a winner
Brand It
Over half of gamers prefer spending on brands "with a purpose", finds Gameloft
Gameloft and Vivendi Brand Marketing release report on gamers and brands
Welcome Aboard
MAG Interactive hires Tone Brennan as its new Brighton studio head
"He brings a deep experience of production of mobile games"
#metoo
EA promises to investigate all sexual misconduct allegations made by staff
"We want to be very clear on our position: these behaviours are never ok -- not in our communities or any others"
Drunk On Games
Niantic teams up with theatre company Punchdrunk for games that will "reinvent storytelling"
It has 10 games in development
Welcome Aboard
Retro Studios hires Bharathwaj ‘Bat’ Nandakumar as its lead engineer
He is known for Call of Duty: Black Ops
Create A Change
4Good Games closes its seed funding round to make socially impactful games
"Our mission is to be the change we want to see in the world"
Liftoff
Paradox Interactive's Stellaris: Galaxy Command blasts out of soft launch
The free-to-play sci-fi title takes inspiration from its strategy PC counterpart
Removed
India's government bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok
The apps were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner"
Pgbiz Roundtable
Join us on June 30th for a blockchain-focused PocketGamer.biz RoundTable session
An introduction to blockchain, hosted by our very own Jon Jordan
Financials
MAG Interactive sees a 34 per cent growth in net sales for Q3 2020
"This is the highest turnover in a quarter for MAG since the company went public"
Jobs In Games
Remote Working: How Luna Labs CEO Steven Chard runs the company across London and Minsk from home
"I would say that being required to work remotely forced our hand internally to further improve our remote culture."
Nintendo's Rethink
The big game company that couldn't: Nintendo's mobile rethink
Jon Jordan explores Nintendo's decision to scale back on mobile
Kodisoja Leaves
Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja leaves the company
Pursuing other ways of telling stories outside of games
Not Really Wonderful
The Wonderful 101 Kickstarter backers are being hit with extra charges
PlatinumGames failed to mention custom charges
Allegations
Twitch is investigating sexual abuse allegations against streamers
It will dish out permanent bans
Ninten-no
Nintendo's Osaka-based theme park opening has been delayed
Still aiming to open this year
The Why
Analysis: Player motivations in Roblox, Fortnite and Candy Crush Saga
GameRefinery runs the numbers
Pride
Microsoft donates $250,000 to LGBTQI+ organisations to celebrate Pride
"To help in their fight for LGBTQI+ rights and racial equity"
Welcome To The Club
Interview: HB Studios' senior audio designer John McCarthy on the music and commentary of PGA Tour 2K21
"I think that presenting it in a second-person POV is the part that catches people by surprise"
Hybridcasual Opportunity
PG.Biz Deep Dives: Harnessing the hybridcasual opportunity with Department of Play
Department of Play contributor Will Freeman digs into the next evolution of hypercasual
Not So Keen
It looks like Bethesda has cancelled Commander Keen on mobile
All traces have been removed from its websites
Back In Business
Nintendo Switch production is getting back on track
As long as COVID-19 stays at bay