Report
Mobile accounted for 29 per cent of all software sales in a record-breaking year for UK games
2018 saw a 10 per cent year-over-year gain in consumer spending in the country
Growth
Live game management platform ChillConnect raises $450,000 in funding
“We can now market the platform to an even larger range of potential customers”
Focus On Ip
Konami rebrands New York office to Konami Cross Media
Yuta Kose has been named president for the renamed studio
Virtual Apple
Apple patent filing suggests work on VR/MR headset
The document focuses on range finding and accessory tracking for VR/MR head-mounted display system
Eastern Stars
Is Brawl Stars set to knock it out the park in China as Supercell’s latest billion-dollar success?
An analysis of the online multiplayer shooter's Western and Eastern performance
Mediate
Lab Cave’s birthday present to its customers is a new Advertising Mediation for Apps tool
Firm claims to offer unbiased, impartial way to mediate ads for mobile apps
Ban Lifted
India police lift PUBG Mobile ban in Ahmedabad
With exam season over, officials see no reason to renew the Battlegrounds ban
Charity
Gameloft partners with humanitarian charity CARE for “Stronger Together” Dragon Mania Legends event
Dragon Mania Legends developer vows a minimum donation of $50,000
April Fool's Day
April Fool's Day 2019 roundup: The funniest gags from games and tech
Rounding up the best pranks of the day
Studio Profile
FlowPlay on building community-based virtual worlds for social casino and blockchain's integral role in gaming's future
A peek inside the Seattle studio
Jobs Losses
More than 1,500 people have lost their jobs in the games industry in three months
Estimates suggest total already exceeds 2018
Roundup
Games industry roundup: EU votes to pass Article 13, what art assets to use in marketing, and Blockchain Gamer Connects heads to Hong Kong
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Pgc Videos
7 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Game Changers: Hyper-casual and Instant Messenger track
Track sponsored by Facebook Gaming
Better Together
Why NetEase is shooting up battle royale with stylish, team-based title Disorder
Another twist
Switch Prime
Twitch Prime members can grab up to a year's worth of Nintendo Switch Online
A free year of Nintendo Switch online will now be added to Twitch Prime
East Meets West
East Meets West: Perfect World off to a scorching start with $100m in 22 days, and pre-registrations kick off for Brawl Stars in China
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
The good and the bad of Apple Arcade, how Raid: Shadow Legends monetises, and the top 10 selling Nintendo Switch indies
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Indie Track
16 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Indie Track
Track sponsored by Fingersoft
Power Of The Cloud
Tencent is readying to test another streaming platform Start in China
Appears to be separate to Intel Instant Play partnership
East To West
Webzen eyes America launch for MMORPG MU Origin 2 after success in Asia
From China to America
Mansion Money
Matchington Mansion surpasses $100 million in global IAP revenue
50 million downloads
Finding Funding
The games investor checklist: Hunting the next Supercell
Atomico details its framework for investment
Studio Finance
Financing your indie games development studio - Part one
Game Dragons director and industry veteran Philip Oliver gives you the lowdown on dealing with investors and publishers
Living Games
4 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Living Games track
Key sessions from Paladin Studios, Dodreams, KingsIsle Entertainment and Jagex.
Unsubscribe
Why Apple Arcade is doomed to disappoint both players and developers
AppAgent CEO Peter Fodor believes Apple's new subscription service may have come too late - five years too late in fact
Done Deal
Animoca Brands invests $2 million in creative networking platform Talenthouse
Deal equal to 448,413 shares in art networking platform
The Future Is Now
What does Apple Arcade mean for indie games developers?
The Indie Mavens have their say on the new subscription service
Retire
Kaz Hirai is stepping down from Sony after 35 years
I am confident that everyone is fully aligned under Yoshida-san's strong leadership, and are ready to build an even brighter future"
Legendary
Monolith Soft is ramping up its roster in preparation for a new Zelda
After pitching in on Breath of the Wild, Monolith is back for more adventuring
Perfect
Perfect World’s $100 million launch month dethrones Honor of Kings
Tencent's newest MMO has been raking in $4.5 million in player spending every day since launch
Ux Reviewer
Former Digit Game Studios UX director opens new consultancy business
Om Tandon departs Star Trek: Fleet Dommand developer; will write articles analysis the UX in free-to-play games
Mr. Worldwide
Pre-registrations open for Supercell’s Brawl Stars in China
No official release date given
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Double Coconut’s David Fox to share the secrets to success in hyper-casual at PGC Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th.
Venture Gained
Rovio invests $3 million in games start-up fund Play Ventures
Play Ventures was founded in 2018 by video game entrepreneurs Harri Manninen and Henric Suuronen
Beta Time
The Elder Scrolls: Blades swings into Early Access
Players can still sign-up for iOS and Android
Clash With Ash
Clash Royale YouTuber Ash CWA on the ever-changing mobile esports scene and dealing with influencers
"The biggest misconception I've seen from companies when it comes to making competitive games is that they need to act immediately"
Layoffs
Update: EA's latest layoffs include the closure of its offices in Japan and Russia
Publisher vows to help newly-redundant staff find new roles in the local games industry
Big Indie Pitch
Highkey Games returns to The Big Indie Pitch during GDC week and walks away as champion
The Big Indie Pitch heads to GDC for the 7th year in a row
Angry Birds Movie 2
First trailer lands for The Angry Birds Movie 2
The titular birds team up with the pigs as they face a new threat
Reality
Newzoo: Games are leading the augmented reality charge
But support for AR is still restricted to a handful of handsets
Special Offer
Last chance to save up to $250 on Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Early Bird offer ends tomorrow!
Mobile Hunt
CD Projekt Red reveals Witcher card game Gwent will come to mobile
Due to arrive on iOS later this year with Android planned at a later date
Gotta Clean’em All
Niantic launches second annual Earth Day utilsing Pokemon Go and Ingress
Incentives given in-game to promote global cleanup
Start Your Engines
Animoca Brands partners with Formula 1 on blockchain game F1 Delta Time
First phase will launch from May 10th, 2019
No Monitisation
Indie Spotlight: Big Indie Pitch winner E McNeill on cutesy puzzler Squeelings and making it as a solo developer
"I'd love to keep making games as an indie for the rest of my life, but since I have no idea how the industry will change, I feel like I need to launch a hit game"
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent’s Perfect World dethrones Honor of Kings as China’s top grosser
Charts from March 11th to March 17th
Past Or Future?
Apple Arcade versus Google Stadia: Two very different visions of gaming
Considering two subscription services
Royale
PUBG Mobile celebrates its first anniversary with a $2.5 million live event
Live music premier provides a soundtrack to PUBG Mobile's big esports plans
Switch
Nintendo to launch budget and high-end Switch models this summer
Two new console variations will reportedly be announced at E3 this year
More Job Losses
EA lets go 350 employees across marketing, publishing and analytics
“This is a difficult day”