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
Job News
Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce stepping down
"Words cannot express the gratitude I feel to have been involved with Blizzard, our games, our employees, and most importantly our community"
Job News
Ex-Visceral GM Steve Papoutsis headlines new recruits at PUBG Corp's Striking Distance studio
Former Sledgehammer, Visceral and Crystal Dynamics vets join the new developer
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Id Software vet Tim Willits to depart, Google Stadia's Reddit AMA, and Facebook slapped with $5bn fine
The hottest stories of the last week from the PC, mobile and blockchain spaces
East Meets West
East Meets West: WeGame mobile streaming, NetEase acquires minority stake in Behaviour, and why Tencent is helping publish Drodo Auto Chess
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
One dev's journey from police constable to level designer, PlayStation vet heads to Disney, and the Yogscast CEO steps down
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Event
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki heads to a brand new venue for 2019!
Two day B2B games industry conference lands at The Cable Factory on October 1st and 2nd.
Get Networking
Industry leaders and games creators reunite in Cologne with MeetToMatch
MeetToMatch - The Cologne Edition 2019 continues growth after big success in 2018
Education Training And Success
IGDA Helsinki Hub gathers games developers this September
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki follows from October 1st to October 2nd, 2019
All Time High
Increase in subscription revenue offsets Fortnite decline for Microsoft as Xbox Live hits 65 million MAUs
Games cash drops 10 per cent year-on-year
Streaming Service
Ubisoft: Cost of porting games to Stadia not that high
Uplay+ subscription service will launch on Stadia in 2020
Event
Experts from Rovio, Supercell, Housemarque and more to speak at Helsinki’s Game Executive bootcamp in October
Discount available for attendees of PGConnects
Just Like Magic
Niantic and EE partner to bring Wizards Unite bonuses to the UK
Inclusive data, sponsored Inns and licensed merchandise
Stadia Hurdles
Google Stadia mobile support “a hard technical challenge”
"I really want to have Stadia gameplay on every mobile device, across Android and iOS at some point"
Up In The Clouds
Mobile will play “important role” in Ubisoft’s grand plan to reach 5bn players
CEO Yves Guillemot discusses the blurring lines between platforms and regions
Npd Numbers
Nintendo Switch US sales top PlayStation and Xbox in June
“Nintendo Switch is the only platform showing year-on-year growth”
Medically Sound
Dr. Mario World encapsulates five million downloads in first week
Half a million dollars generated from player spending
Elite Game Developers
Elite Game Developers: Building Dazzle Rocks
Joakim Achrén speaks with co-founder and CEO Stella Wang about founding a company and gets her advice for entrepreneurs
Event
Just one week left to save up to $450 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Super Early Bird ticket prices end next week for October’s two-day B2B games industry conference