New Plan
Square Enix mobile games underperform as publisher signals it’ll rebuild business
Lowest sales quarter in 2018 and 2019 financial years for smartphone and browser sectors
Swipe Right
HQ Trivia dev Intermedia Labs adds Tinder CEO to board
Joins co-founder Rus Yusupov and investor Jeremy Liew on the board
New Studio
Sumo Digital opens mobile studio in Leamington Spa
Sega Hardlight founder Chris Southall heads up new branch
Hot Five
Diving into TabTale's hyper-casual business, Miniclip acquires Masomo, and Apex Legends could get mobile cross-play
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Why Introversion sold Prison Architect, blockchain's EverDreamSoft rethinks business, and Machinima shuts down
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Job Losses
Report: Activision Blizzard set for hundreds of layoffs
Unclear what teams will be affected by decision
Welcome To The Party Pal
Say hello to our new PocketGamer.biz staff writer Matthew Forde
Rising star to report on the hottest news and conduct key interviews
Telling New Tales
Former Telltale devs open new interactive narrative games studio AdHoc
First project likely to blend gaming with live action content; partner on project to be announced in near future
Oh No
Swedish tax agency demands $370 million from Candy Crush Saga maker King
Skatteverket claims King owes substantial taxes after its acquisition by Activision in 2016
Bird’s Eye View
Rovio and Resolution Games partner for Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs
Available on Vive and Oculus Rift now
Cut
Google won’t be dropping its 30 per cent revenue split in the wake of Epic’s Fortnite antics
"I think there's a value exchange there and it's been the industry standard"
All Aboard
Sega, Riot and THQ Nordic among the ESA’s six new members
US-based trade body bolsters its ranks with three new and three returning members
Big Initiative
King becomes first UK games company to sign Tech Talent Charter to push diversity in the UK
Publisher claims women only count for 19 per cent of people working in UK games industry
Indie Fund
FoxNext rolls out indie development fund
No figure placed on how big this pot is though
Epic Win
Fortnite surpasses $500 million for iOS in less than a year
Game took 326 days to hit the milestone
Back Of The Net
Miniclip acquires Head Ball 2 dev Masomo
Studio's flagship IP has racked up over 60 million downloads to date
Big Investment
Mobile marketing tech firm Ogury picks up $21m investment
Company generated $100m in 2018
Rune-ing To The Bank
Summoners War exceeds 100 million global downloads
Five-years after launching
5g By 2020
Hatch partners with DOCOMO to bring cloud gaming to mobiles and TVs in Japan
UNESCO agrees deal to publish games for Hatch Kids
Like A Boss
Redbox Mobile appoints new CEO and opens London office
James Salins will oversee the EMEA
Financials
Dragon Ball Legends drives a strong Q3 2019 performance for publisher Bandai Namco
Mobile brawler success sees expectations raised for the publisher’s end-of-year results
Crime
NBCUniversal gangs up with Starbreeze on a Payday mobile game
Payday: Crime War will be a mobile spin-off of the PC and console FPS
Stream Or Summon
Iron Man and Spider-Man writers join Summoners War TV series
Robert Kirkman helming the project
All Systems Go
More games, more M&A, more growth: Why Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau is bullish for 2019
Opportunities, not costs
Comeback Kings
“Zynga’s turnaround is now complete” as publisher posts record mobile earnings
Mobile revenue hits $816m in 2018
Go Go Go
Registrations for developer conference Develop: Brighton 2019 are now live
Featuring new awards event Develop: Star
Tuned In
Music apps-focused Gismart wants to double its headcount and enter the publishing business after successful 2018
VP of marketing and business development Lana Meisak discusses its hit music games and what's next for the London-based studio
Jobs
WIGJ announces a new executive board for day-to-day operation
Four-person board is seeking two more members to complete its ranks in marketing and events
Launch
Real-money competition platform Flashbreak launches with $2 million in seed funding
The app will act as both a publishing platform and a real-money competition hub
Change Of Name
Microsoft Studios renames to Xbox Game Studios
"2019 is going to be a great year for Xbox gamers everywhere"
Clash Of The Titans
Apex Legends battle royale could get mobile cross-play
One million players in eight hours
Forging Ahead
InnoGames revenue at all-time high as mobile sales grow 37% in 2018
Mobile takes 50 per cent revenue share in key US market
On The Up
Design Home generates $158 million in 2018 as Glu Mobile closes in on profitability
Big year ahead for the publisher's steady comeback
Ea Financials
EA Mobile downbeat on year-end earnings in face of “increasingly challenging” market
But China success for Command & Conquer offers hope
Facebook Roundtable
Roundtable: Discussing the mobile games market's big 2019 trends in hyper-casual, hybrid monetisation models and midcore's future
PocketGamer.Biz was joined by Facebook, Wooga, Madbox, Supersolid, Firi Games and Two Way Media at a round table during Pocket Gamer Connects London
Twitch Stats
Viewers watched more than 9.36 billion hours of Twitch in 2018
Twitch's viewership has grown year on year
Licence Focus
Disney CEO Bob Iger: Licensing is the best model for Disney in games
Boss calls out its partners in the space, including EA, but fails to mention Star Wars Battlefront II launch PR disaster
Subscribe For More
Pocket.watch launches new games division and aims to partner with famous YouTubers
Tag With Ryan available now
Financial Report
Animoca Brands ends a record year with Q4 revenue of $4.6 million
Continued blockchain partnerships and investments secure a strong year for the Chinese publisher
Doctor Doctor
Disney Tsum-Tsum’s $1.5 billion success story bodes well for Dr. Mario World
Plush puzzler has grossed at least $10 million monthly since March 2014
Learn
Indian learning platform Byju’s buys out US games firm Osmo for $120 million
Osmo will help the online education firm craft learning content for younger students
Puppy Love
Charity fundraiser Dog Jam aims to raise money for homeless dogs by making games
Funds will go to Animal Front, which is struggling to look after over 800 dogs
China Vs South Korea
South Korea’s Kakao considers $9bn Nexon bid
Potentially one of the companies biggest acquisitions
Aso Deal
Improve your ASO and generate more organic downloads with 95% discount on app store optimisation service TheTool
Lifetime plan available for indie and small developers
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Small Island Games on creating puzzle odyssey Haiku Adventure
"We’re hoping to celebrate the original craft of woodblock printing and allow people to explore it in a new way"
Cross-platform Xbox
Microsoft readying SDK for Xbox Live cross-play on mobile and Nintendo Switch
In part thanks to the Big M's acquisition of PlayFab in January 2018
Rip Machinima
Machinima closes and axes over 80 jobs in the process
The company has been merged with Fullscreen
Fortnite Party
DJ Marshmello's Fortnite concert makes history with 10 million concurrent players
Bigger than Guinness World Record holder Rod Stewart for biggest concert ever
Hyper-casual
TabTale on the state of hyper-casual and how it’s found success
The inside track on the industry's trendiest genre, and how Tabtale racked up the downloads for Light I
Toasty
Dragon Ball Legends surpasses $140m in revenue
Over $100m made in the US and Japan alone