Looking Fresh
New look for leading mobile games website PocketGamer.com
In the bold new interface, reviews, guides, recommended lists and opinion pieces lie at the core of the editorial mix
Expansion
How the esports landscape will change in Australia and New Zealand over the coming 12 months
ESL managing director and EGAA chairman Nick Zanzetti gave a talk on the topic at the Melbourne International Games Week
Data
GameAnalytics: Fewer than 15% of games retain a third of their players after day one
Analysis firm's latest benchmarking report shows a "winner-takes-all" space
European Expansion
Hugo Games opens new match-three studio in Berlin
Headed up by ex-King technical lead Moritz Voss
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile game charts: Candy Crush Friends Saga inevitably dominates the download rankings
Google Play and App Store rankings in the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and China for the week of October 8th to 14th
Huge
Monster Strike and Puzzle & Dragons have grossed more than $7 billion each
More than five years later, Mixi’s game is still experiencing revenue growth
Hired
Hasbro and Angry Birds veterans join AR toy developer Draw & Code
Brett Page and Becky Jones take on new leadership roles at the SwapBots studio
Cherry On Top
Hollow Knight dev Team Cherry snags Studio of the Year accolade at Australian Game Developer Awards 2018
Mountains also got a nod for mobile narrative game Florence
Big Indie Pitch
Legacy 3 reveals all its secrets to take the crown at The Big Indie Pitch at Sweden Game Arena 18
We check out the top 3 prize winners at this years Big Indie Pitch at Sweden Game Arena 18
G-star 2018
Meet Pocket Gamer and Jagex Partners at G-STAR
We’ll be at the Korea show with the Big Indie Awards, a Big Indie Pitch and a sweet PG Party
Woah
Fortnite developer Epic Games to open new Australia and New Zealand branch
GDA Australia CEO Anthony Reed will be stepping down from his role to help start it up
Stamped Out
IronSource launches new bug testing tool for playable ads
Recommends solutions to fix potential issues
Event
How to get into Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 - free!
Four ways you can attend Europe’s biggest B2B event for the mobile games industry without paying a bean
Growth Masters
Hyper-casual games publisher Playgendary's IAP revenue shot up 57 per cent during Q3 2018
Bowmasters and Tank Stars bring Playgendary its best quarter yet for revenue and downloads
Top Stuff
Here are the longest-serving number one games and apps on Google Play since 2012
Sensor Tower reports on the high flyers over the last six years of the Android storefront
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Neutronized's Gionathan Pesaresi on making Super Cat Tales 2 in a tough mobile market
"If you consider that Super Cat Tales 2 took almost a year from its start to release, you can imagine how hard it is to compete with publishers dropping a new hyper-casual game every two weeks"
Funding Reality
Ex-King games guru Tommy Palm's VR studio Resolution Games raises $7.5m
Valued at $87.5 million
Big Indie Pitch
Golf Peaks hits a hole in one at The Big Indie Pitch at GIC in Poznan 2018
We check out the top 3 prize winners at this years Big Indie Pitch at GIC in Poznan
Final Countdown
Final deadline for Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards nominations is October 29th
Extension to help you with those last-minute submissions
Blast-off
NetEase’s Eve: Echoes is a mobile take on CCP’s space-faring MMO slated for a 2019 release
Mobile space sim will try to capture the full PC experience on Android and iOS
Globe Trotting
Yoozoo VP on finding the next great games market and the importance of localisation
“It’s down to them because games publishing and making there will be very different to how they are in China”
Jobs News
Former Oculus CEO and co-founder Brendan Iribe follows Palmer Luckey out the door
Spent six years with the virtual reality pioneers
Rebranding
Idle Miner Tycoon dev Fluffy Fairy renames to Kolibri Games
New name is the German word for hummingbird
Voodoo Magic
Voodoo Development Magic: How H8 Games launched Helix Jump, one of the hottest games of 2018
This special series focuses on how developers have built mobile's biggest hits, with help from publisher Voodoo
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: London Venture Partners' Jon Bellamy on industry trends and the differentiation factor
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd
Dunk
Rovio partners with the Chicago Bulls NBA team to create the Angry Birds Eye View Cam
Mobile developer becomes the first Finnish company to sponsor an NBA team
Crushed It
Candy Crush Friends Saga swipes 10 million downloads in its first week
But King’s sweet puzzling franchise is continuing to trend downwards
Banner Up
Unity Ads SDK 3.0 features personalised placements, AR and banner ads
Personalised placements uses machine learning to decide between an ad or IAP promotion
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: How Simon Fenton became head of games at Escape Studios and his advice for devs breaking through
"Stay hungry and passionate, work hard and build your experience. You’ll get your chance."
Oh Snap
Tenjin named Snapchat mobile measurement partner
Marketers can use tool to optimise install campaigns through Snap Ads, Lenses and Story Ads
Mobile Games Awards
Game Insight returns as headline sponsor of the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards
Event takes place on the evening of January 22nd after Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019
Just Do It
Nominations for Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019 close today
Ceremony takes place on the evening of January 22nd
Hot Five
AppsFlyer's $100m annual recurring revenue, PGC London reveals first speakers, and Com2uS on following up a $1bn hit
The hottest stories from the last week
G-star 2018
Indies: Sign up now to be part of G-STAR's Indie Game Zone in November
Limited space available, register now to not miss out
Play
Google Play improves support for app bundles and subscriptions
It has also launched Academy for App Success interactive courses for developers
Going Up
Marketing analytics firm AppsFlyer soars past $100 million in annual recurring revenue
Mobile attribution and analytics company is reporting 100 per cent growth every 12 months
Esports
Arena of Valor 2018 International Championship sports a $600,000 prize pool
Grand finals will take place in Thailand on December 15th to 16th
Putting The U In Union
Ex-Telltale dev: "Developers deserve a lot better than what this industry is giving us right now"
Former Telltale Games narrative designer Grace Buck gave the illuminating talk at the Sweden Games Conference
Oh
Tencent’s Westernised Arena of Valor takes $15m a year after launch
The US proved to be its most popular region
Region Focus
Region Focus: The opportunities and challenges facing South Korea’s lucrative games industry
In-depth analysis of the sector with comment from executives at Netmarble, Com2uS and Pearl Abyss
Fab
Unity on the long and challenging road to developing workable nested prefabs
"We were building something, not for ourselves, but everybody else"
Just Do It
Only a few days left to nominate for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019 - Do it now!
Nominations close on October 22nd
Indie Focus
How the Busan Indie Connect Festival is connecting developers with consumers
Event director Dustin Lee gives us the lowdown on the show
Fight
Huawei wants to take on the Switch with a $1,000 phone
Chinese manufacturer wants its new gaming phone to compete with the hybrid console
Nope-mon
Former US president Barack Obama doesn't care for Pokemon
I’d honestly always figured him more of a Digimon fan anyway
Trendy Sector
What's up with the South Korean games market?
Mobile and PC MMOs rule the roost in a sector-defining part of the world
Crunch
Minit developer encourages developers to share games made without crunch
Indies take to Twitter to share games developed without excessive overtime
Narrative Games
Universal is the latest contender in the mobile interactive fiction space with Series Your Story Universe
Game set to tap film and TV IP such as Vanderpump Rules, Saved By The Bell, The Breakfast Club and Law & Order
Mobile's Millions
Popular kids MMO Roblox generates nearly $500m on mobile
UGC-based MMO picked up $92 million in Q3 2018 alone
Ask Me Anything
Skybound Games CEO talks finishing The Walking Dead: The Final Season, bringing back Telltale staff and crunch
"I can say that I would never expect or ask anyone to work what would be considered inhumane hours"