New Friends
Skillz partners with IGDA to aid game developers
“Game makers are the unsung heroes of esports designing the engaging content that drives a growing multi-billion dollar industry forward”
Zynga Zooming
M&A, hyper-casual and chat app gaming: Zynga COO talks future strategy
Zynga has had a busy few years
Fitness Games
Nintendo positions Switch as home exercise product with accessory-led Ring Fit Adventure
Strap on your joy-con and squeeze
Live And Kicking
How Gummy Drop amassed 1.8 billion hours of gameplay in five years
"To date, the game offers players over 10,000 levels, 90 plus cities to travel to and over 1,000 monuments to rebuild"
Speaker Spotlight
PGC Helsinki: Sulake's Simo Piispanen will be part of a panel discussing hybrid monetisation
"I found my professional calling in game balancing and economy creation"
Court Case
Nintendo files lawsuit against ROM website RomUniverse
Switch creator is seeking up to $2 million for each trademark infringement
Event
One week left to save up to $500 on Pocket Gamer Connects London 2020
Super Early Bird prices for January’s two-day B2B conference end next week
What's In The Box?
Loot boxes should be classed as gambling says UK committee of MPs
MPs demand a change to the law
High Kpis
Warhammer Combat Cards boasts Day 7 retention of 34% and 15% payer conversion
TCG off to a great start
Jam Tomorrow
Rovio to increase UA spending in H2 2019 to maximise 'window of opportunity'
2019 sales and profit will be lowered than predicted
Event
18 reasons why you need to attend Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan this November
10 tracks, 80 world class speakers, 70 sessions, more than 35 hours of content, new region, networking, pitching and the Global Connects Party.
Speaker Spotlight
PGC Helsinki: Sonja Angesleva will be talking about how Zynga handles product management
"Product planning, player validation, and analytics"
Another Model
Worms firm Team17 passes on joining Apple Arcade
“We have plenty of cash, so we’re not looking to people like Apple for development financing”
Pgc Helsinki
Explore the Asian markets in East Meets West at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
It is one of 16 tracks to feature at the event
Jobs In Games
Zynga senior director of product Heather Houston on 'treating your career as a product'
Making sense of an incredibly dynamic industry
Licensing Not Publishing
Disney reportedly looking to offload Marvel Strike Force developer FoxNext Games
House of the mouse no longer interested in game development
Indie Spotlight
How KIDS dev Playables thrives in the intersection between animation and games
"We are still naive enough to believe that if you create something good, it will find an audience"
Executive Orders
Interview: How the Game Executive Bootcamp at Finland's AaltoEE will help you grow your business
Andreea Cozma tells us about Supercell, Visual Novel Entertainment, EA and Fingersoft sharing their secrets this autumn
Looking Up
Playtika's scale is inspiring to us says Wooga's Jens Begemann
Berlin-based studio CEO shares his thoughts on acquisition, streaming and privacy
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Pokemon Masters tops US free App Store rank
Rankings from August 26th to October 1st
Faster, Faster
Build fast and start playing: How Ministry of Games created its Rapid Development Funnel
Next-gen mobile game development in 4 months
Exclusive Games
Apple Arcade, iPhone 11 and Pascal’s Wager headline Apple Special Event
Numerous new exclusive games announced
Paid The Game
Apple Arcade launches September 19th at $4.99/month
One-month free trial available
Good Gamble
Giant Network shows dark fantasy title Pascal’s Wager at Apple Conference
Game looks to take inspiration from Dark Souls series
Pgc Helsinki
Learn about the impact blockchain has on the industry at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Blockchain Gaming is one of 16 tracks at the event
Shovel Talk
Yacht Club Games' COO James Chan on potential 'sophomore slump' for Shovel Knight sequel
Still hopes to bring brand to mobile
Making The List
Home Office confirms roles in the games industry will be added to shortage occupation list
Roles that are of more importance were highlighted
Winning In Court
Nintendo wins court case to block piracy sites
“The UK High Court found the sale and distribution of circumvention devices for the Nintendo Switch unlawful"
Region Focus
MENA Region Focus: Behind the scenes on the Saudi Arabian games industry
Continuing our series of articles exploring the mobile game sector across MENA, we turn the spotlight to the world's second-largest oil producer
Must Be Fate
Sony’s Fate/Grand Order tops mobile revenue for August at $163 million
PUBG Mobile followed with more than $160 million
Jeopardy
Drivetime secures $11 million in funding to expand game audio library for users while driving
Newest game sees Jeopardy with host Alex Trebek join the line up
All New
BAFTA retires Mobile Game award
Categories streamlined
Most Read
Hot Five: Pokemon Go sustains, Lineage 2 M teases, and Small Giant's transition to success
The stories making the news
Pgc Helsinki
Explore opportunities in PC and console development at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Big Screen Gaming is one of 16 tracks featuring at the event
New Name
Celeste developer opening new studio called Extremely OK Games
Matt Thorson still making games, just not as Matt Makes Games
Masterful
Pokemon Masters raked in $26 million from first week
Title surpassed 10 million downloads in less than four days
Job News
Bossa Studios hires Jagex and Mind Candy vet Daniel Clough
Hired as studio GM
Big Indie Pitch
The Big Indie Pitch returns to Helsinki next month and debuts in Jordan this November
One familiar favourite and a new destination as Pocket Gamer Connects continues to expand
Fit Ring
Nintendo teases new fitness accessory for Switch
Unnamed equipment comprises of a large ring and leg strap
Empty Nest
Rovio launches new Angry Birds-less match-puzzler Sugar Blast
Like a free-flowing Candy Crush
Event
Full conference schedule revealed for next month’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
More than 200 world-class expert speakers covering the hottest topics across mobile, PC and blockchain gaming
Here And There
East Meets West: Apple's App Store payment snafu, Pokemon Master's good start, and Huya's ESL deal
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Extras
Fringe benefits at October’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Network with 1,500 attendees; meet publishers, investors and indie devs; take part in an Indie Pitch and one riotous party
Court Case
Niantic settles trespassing lawsuit three years after Pokemon Go launched
Spouting up like Weedles
Series C Investment
VRChat secures $10 million in funding to expand team
Investment comes from Makers Fund, HTC, Brighstone VC and GFR Fund
Products
Webzen explores new ventures with the release of its MU: Fairy Elf Figurine
Korean developer and publisher branches out to diversify its portfolio
Lovin It
AppLovin invests in Belka Games, Firecraft Studios and PeopleFun
“Strategic investments in dynamic studios with high-quality games and outstanding leadership is an important part of our goal"
App Store Kerfuffle
Apple accidentally pays Chinese App Store developers more than expected after bank error
Sources claim the error most likely affected indie developers; Apple to reclaim payouts
Eastern Promise
Southeast Asia powered Gravity’s Ragnarok M: Eternal Love to $50 million a month
We speak to Gravity COO Yoshinori Kitamura and delve into the data
Charity Event
The mobile games industry is coming together for One Special Day charity event
The fundraising event is designed to include severely disabled people worldwide in the fun of games