You Spin Me Round
GDC 2019: Mobile performance platform HeadSpin partners with NetEase
Zynga, Jam City and Bandai Namco all signup to the platform
Hot Stuff
GDC 2019: Firelight Technologies releases FMOD Studio 2.0
“The release of 2.0 is a major milestone in our journey of innovation as we strive to create the definitive solution for adaptive audio“
Special Offer
Save up to $250 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Early Bird offer ends next Thursday. What are you waiting for?
Awards Season
GDC 2019: Florence takes Best Mobile Game at GDC Awards
Storytelling title took home Best Debut too
And The Winner Is
GDC 2019: International Mobile Gaming Awards winners revealed
Florence takes Grand Prix award plus two other
Investment
GDC 2019: Games for Change launches accelerator program aimed at games and XR industry
Partnering with i(x) investments and Quake Capital to establish program
Welcome Explorers
GDC 2019: Tencent’s WeChat opens doors for developers to create games on the platform
Mini Games program boasts 400 million monthly active users
Developer Tools
GDC 2019: ARM launches Android analysis tools via ARM Mobile Studio
Studio’s starter edition is available to download for free now
Report
Mobile gaming brought in 20 per cent more revenue than PC and console in 2018
"That’s what happens when technology improves and mobile becomes ubiquitous"
Fight
Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle passes $1.6 billion during its best month ever
Dokkan Battle beats its previous record by hitting $78.6 million in one month
Unreal Deal
GDC 2019: Epic offers Online Services powering Fortnite to all developers for free
Available for developers working on any platform, store or engine
Another Zelda
GDC 2019: Nindies Showcase reveals Cuphead, Blaster Master sequel and Zelda spinoff
New Double Fine game Rad given spotlight too
Epic Investment
GDC 2019: Epic launches $100 million MegaGrants funding initiative for creators
$5,000 to $500,000 available for successful applicants
Voodoo Development Magic
Voodoo Development Magic: How UK studio Neon Play made a splash with hyper-casual hit Roller Splat
This special series focuses on how developers have built mobile's biggest hits, with help from publisher Voodoo
Speed
GDC 2019: Google advises a 25 megabit internet connection for Stadia
Phil Harrison also revealed that the Stadia system will adjust its output based on your bandwidth.
Three Colours
GDC 2019: Google’s new Stadia controller connects directly over wifi
“The data centre is your platform”
Music Musings
GDC 2019: Music is going to be more important as mobile games get more immersive, Laced and Cord chief says
"Over the next few years, with how mobile gaming is going, music is should and will be a big part of it. That's definitely something we're approaching about"
Flap
GDC 2019: Angry Birds’ first AR outing is hitting Apple devices later this Spring
Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs will also hit two more VR platforms in the immediate future
Influential
GDC 2019: YouTube head of gaming Ryan Wyatt and YouTuber MatPat discusses Google Stadia creator experience
YouTube's Ryan Wyatt and YouTuber MatPat took to the stage during Google's GDC reveal
Big And Small
GDC 2019: Google launches new first-party studio Stadia Games and Entertainment
Headed up by former Ubisoft and EA executive Jade Raymond
Financial
Team17 wraps up 2018 record revenue and profit results
Worms wranglers turned indie publisher posts year-end revenue of $57.38 million
Gather Around
GDC 2019: Google reveals cloud streaming platform Stadia
Ubisoft, ID Software and Unity all partner with the firm.
Board
25 years of the IGDA brings about new board members
"Our new board of directors will carry that mission forward as we expand on 25 years serving game developers around the globe"
Education
GDC 2019: Danny Bilson named new director of USC Games program
Succeeds award-winning game designer Tracy Fullerton who oversaw the program from 2014 to 2018
Grab Your Ray Gun
GDC 2019: Magic Leap teams with Weta on new AR multiplayer experience
Grordbattle was revealed during Unity’s keynote
Cloud Tech
GDC 2019: Unity partners with Tencent to help bring more developers games to China
The service will become accessible later this year.
Layoffs
5th Planet Games shuts down Nottingham studio
14 employees laid off in studio closure
Unity Foundation
GDC 2019: Unity AR Foundation ties together ARKit and ARCore development
Creators can target both SDKs through one framework
Acquisition News
GDC 2019: Unity acquires texture streaming tools firm Graphine
Company develops Granite toolset
New Realities
GDC 2019: Unity "investing heavily" in augmented reality tech
"We’re really keen on AR and we’re seeing a lot of the big partners release a lot of products in this space, and we’re excited to see where it’s going"
Call Of Duty
GDC 2019: Activision partners with Tencent for Call of Duty Mobile set for release in Western markets
Pre-registrations open on Google Play
We Hungry
Limited time Fast and Furious event cruising to CSR Racing 2
Iconic cars from the series debut this month
Communication
GDC 2019: Cross-platform social app Evasyst offering early access
20 people can stream simultaneously
Indies Time To Shine
Nintendo streaming Nindies Showcase this Wednesday
30 minutes of content
Interactive Media
GDC 2019: Genvid partners with developers to introduce new interactive games for streaming
Pipeworks, Katapult and more studios are first to sign-up
Event
Lucky for some: Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle’s 13 conference tracks
May’s two-day, two-show tracklist revealed
Expanding
GDC 2019: InnoGames looking to acquire new mobile IP
First purchase was made in 2017 with Warlords of Aternum
Camera Play
Report: Snapchat launching games platform in April
Unveiling to take place at company’s first summit on April 4th
Automated Future
How automated reports helped Futureplay and Webedia improve ad monetisation
Why developers are turning away from manual admin to focus on deeper insights and strategy
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent's Perfect World debuts top in China while Dragon Ball Z falls
Charts from March 4th to March 10th
Existing Fans
Game IP versus entertainment IP: Which is best for mobile games?
We ask our Monetizer Mavens
Specific Sharing
Mobile gamers prefer to share achievements and fails over chat apps than social media
70 per cent iOS users share through messaging apps
Rich As A King
Honor of Kings has made $4.5 billion since launch
295 million installs to date
Mobile Auto Chess
Hit PC mod DOTA Auto Chess is coming to mobile minus the DOTA
Mobile game will be called 'Auto Chess' and will drop DOTA 2 characters
Real World Gaming
Lessons from a year of location-based games with Google Maps
Real world gaming said to drive engagement; most successful when integrated with AR and social elements
Gdc 2019
How can indie games developers make the most out of GDC?
The world's biggest industry conference is just around the corner - we speak to our Indie Mavens on how to best utilise the event
Gold Rush
PlayStack’s new mobile game Dig That Gold gives away real 24k gold bars to players
Publisher partners with UK start-up Project M on title
Launch
Former Rovio product lead Will Luton opens new management consultancy for games
Department of Play will launch with a blow-out party at GDC next week
Firing Line
PUBG Mobile banned in several Indian cities
Ban will be in place until March 30th, 2019.
Marketing
Google introduces new ad campaign tools aimed at re-engaging lapsed players
App Campaigns for engagement and smart segregation look to hone your advertising efforts