Bytephone
TikTok owner Bytedance confirms plans to develop a smartphone
Rumours about a Bytedance phone circulated back in May
$$$
Sega Sammy Holdings sees a 246.6 per cent increase in operating income this quarter
Games, animation and arcade continue to be the company’s biggest earner
New Tech
Appier launches new marketing solution to re-engage mobile gamers
“Aictivate is powered by Appier’s tried and tested AI, helping gaming companies recoup lost revenue”
Augmented Reality
PuzzlAR: World Tour is the first game released from Magic Leap’s independent creator programme
More apps and games are set for release in the coming weeks
Event
Top 10 things to do in Jordan while at Pocket Gamer Connects
Why not make November’s two-day mobile games industry conference a working holiday?
Mobile Up
Nintendo Switch sales continue to be strong as hardware reaches 36.87 million
Software builds to 210.13 million with Mario Maker 2 selling 2.42 in three days
Didn’t You Get The Memo?
Nintendo offers free Joy Con repairs as firm is struck with class action lawsuit
“We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly”
Be Connected Be Discovered
Facebook tops mobile app publishers worldwide for Q2 2019
Google dominates the App Store however
Event
We're heading to Cologne during Gamescom week with four events
Mini-Summit, Games Mixer and Big Indie Pitches all in the same action packed week next month
New Deal
Intel sells its smartphone modem business to Apple
Around 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple
Dragalia Found
Dragalia Lost becomes Nintendo’s second most successful mobile title grossing $100 million worldwide
Fire Emblem has grossed $591 million worldwide
Tax Credits
Rockstar North hasn’t paid corporation tax in the UK for 10 years
Grand Theft Auto V earned $800 million in its first 24 hours of release
Event
Cheer on your champions in next month’s Big Indie Pitch
Watch the indie showcase competition in person at a venue near Gamescom
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent’s Game for Peace reclaims top spot from Honor of Kings in China
Rankings from July 15th to 21st
Winner Winner
Fortnite World Cup drops $30 million in prize money
A teenager won the solo competition taking home $3 million
East Meets West
East Meets West: Supercell pulls out of Vietnam, Pokemon partners with Tencent and Animoca Brands is making an Addams Family game
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
Facebook pulls Instant Games from Messenger, Zynga taps classic major IP and whatever happened to Wizards Unite?
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Seed Funding
Strafe gets $3 million in seed funding for esports companion app
The app currently covers eight games
Magic Number
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite generates $12 million in revenue in its first month
Pokemon Go was downloaded 182m times in its launch month
Live And Kicking
One year on: Next Games on the evolution of location-based title The Walking Dead: Our World
We catch up with executive producer Joonas Viitala to discuss the game's performance to date
New Investments
Unity Technologies makes a tender offer of up to $525m to shareholders
The company recently signed agreement investments
I'll Be Back
Three month Facebook Instant Games review pause coming to an end
Social network giant implements new application process
Chat App Gaming Blow
Facebook pulls Instant Games from Messenger
Move comes as the company claims it wants to make the chat app "faster, lighter and simpler"
To Boldly Go
Scopely’s Star Trek Fleet Command beams up $100m in eight months
Publisher's fastest-growing game to date
Event
G-STAR Games Mixer presented by Pocket Gamer returns to Gamescom in 2019
Join us in Cologne next month for another brilliant mobile, PC and blockchain mixer
Meow
Tilting Point invests $30m in UA for Cat Game
The title has launched globally following successful Canada and New Zealand soft launch
The Other One
Whatever happened to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?
Monetizer Mavens opine
Toys Means Toys
Bandai Namco’s new Tori platform merges physical toys with mobile gaming
Use of physical objects will control the virtual world
Event
Last chance to save up to $450 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Super Early Bird ticket prices end midnight tonight for October’s two-day B2B games industry conference
Licensing Deal
Animoca Brands’ Pixowl is making an Addams Family mobile game
Mystery Mansion will be based on the upcoming animated film
Financials
Mobile powers My.Games sales to $117m in Q2 2019
Smart devices accounted for 60 per cent of total revenue during the quarter
Girl Power
Girls’ Game Lab wants to encourage more women to get into games
The first workshop takes place at Forza Horizon maker Playground Studios on August 3rd in Leamington Spa
Blending In
Ubisoft joins Blender Development Fund as corporate gold member
French publishing giant will assign developers to contribute to the foundations open source projects
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Alike Studio on developing successful premium games and creating Very Little Nightmares
This week we put the spotlight on twin brothers Xavi and Marc Terris and the team at Alike
Flying High
Thatgamecompany’s Sky soars past one million downloads
Title estimated to have generated $175,000
Event
Pocket Gamer Connects London returns in January 2020!
Dates and venue revealed for Europe’s biggest mobile B2B games industry conference.
Switch China
Tencent and Nintendo to host joint Switch press conference in China
Press event will take place in Shanghai on August 2nd
Alexa, Raise Money
Doppio Games raises $1.1 million for voice-controlled games
"It's certainly the most creative work I've done in the last 10 years," says CEO
Hyper-casual In China
Google, Voodoo, JoyPac and more to speak at hyper-casual games summit in Shanghai on August 1st
Google, Voodoo, JoyPac, App Annie and Tenjin to speak at seminar
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Big Pixel Studios' Lorchan Trapp on how to be an environment artist
"People seem to assume there's a hidden 'make art button' in the software we use and don't understand that it actually takes a lot of time and skill to develop good art"
Financials
Mobile fuels games growth at MTG in Q2 2019
Mobile games now represent more than half of all gaming revenue
New Studio
NetEase opens Montreal studio
CEO says city offers “clear advantages and favourable conditions” for international games companies
Back Of The Net
Football Manager 19 shifts record two million copies
First release to do so, sales across all platforms
Pocket Gamer Connects
First Pocket Gamer and Blockchain Gamer Connects Hong Kong wows the crowds of more than 750 delegates from 45 countries
390 companies joined the event in total
Subscription Service
Tencent invests in retro games streaming platform Antstream Arcade
Terms of Series A funding round were undisclosed
I Choose You
The Pokemon Company partners with Tencent on new games
PUBG: Full Ahead studio Timi will develop a new title
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle strikes up US top grossing spot
Rankings from July 8th to 14th
Jobs News
Rogue Games swoops for trio of marketing, UA and design hires
Publisher appoints new UA marketing manager, game designer and marketing art manager
Deja Moo
Zynga taps classic major IP for newly soft-launched FarmVille 3 - Animals
Farming simulator has made its way to Android in the Philippines and Thailand
Regulatory Brawl
Supercell pulls games out of Vietnam in face of regulations
Likes of Clash of Clans, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars no longer playable in the country