Three Colours
GDC 2019: Google’s new Stadia controller connects directly over wifi
“The data centre is your platform”
Music Musings
GDC 2019: Music is going to be more important as mobile games get more immersive, Laced and Cord chief says
"Over the next few years, with how mobile gaming is going, music is should and will be a big part of it. That's definitely something we're approaching about"
Flap
GDC 2019: Angry Birds’ first AR outing is hitting Apple devices later this Spring
Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs will also hit two more VR platforms in the immediate future
Influential
GDC 2019: YouTube head of gaming Ryan Wyatt and YouTuber MatPat discusses Google Stadia creator experience
YouTube's Ryan Wyatt and YouTuber MatPat took to the stage during Google's GDC reveal
Big And Small
GDC 2019: Google launches new first-party studio Stadia Games and Entertainment
Headed up by former Ubisoft and EA executive Jade Raymond
Financial
Team17 wraps up 2018 record revenue and profit results
Worms wranglers turned indie publisher posts year-end revenue of $57.38 million
Gather Around
GDC 2019: Google reveals cloud streaming platform Stadia
Ubisoft, ID Software and Unity all partner with the firm.
Board
25 years of the IGDA brings about new board members
"Our new board of directors will carry that mission forward as we expand on 25 years serving game developers around the globe"
Education
GDC 2019: Danny Bilson named new director of USC Games program
Succeeds award-winning game designer Tracy Fullerton who oversaw the program from 2014 to 2018
Grab Your Ray Gun
GDC 2019: Magic Leap teams with Weta on new AR multiplayer experience
Grordbattle was revealed during Unity’s keynote
Cloud Tech
GDC 2019: Unity partners with Tencent to help bring more developers games to China
The service will become accessible later this year.
Layoffs
5th Planet Games shuts down Nottingham studio
14 employees laid off in studio closure
Unity Foundation
GDC 2019: Unity AR Foundation ties together ARKit and ARCore development
Creators can target both SDKs through one framework
Acquisition News
GDC 2019: Unity acquires texture streaming tools firm Graphine
Company develops Granite toolset
New Realities
GDC 2019: Unity "investing heavily" in augmented reality tech
"We’re really keen on AR and we’re seeing a lot of the big partners release a lot of products in this space, and we’re excited to see where it’s going"
Call Of Duty
GDC 2019: Activision partners with Tencent for Call of Duty Mobile set for release in Western markets
Pre-registrations open on Google Play
We Hungry
Limited time Fast and Furious event cruising to CSR Racing 2
Iconic cars from the series debut this month
Communication
GDC 2019: Cross-platform social app Evasyst offering early access
20 people can stream simultaneously
Indies Time To Shine
Nintendo streaming Nindies Showcase this Wednesday
30 minutes of content
Interactive Media
GDC 2019: Genvid partners with developers to introduce new interactive games for streaming
Pipeworks, Katapult and more studios are first to sign-up
Event
Lucky for some: Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle’s 13 conference tracks
May’s two-day, two-show tracklist revealed
Expanding
GDC 2019: InnoGames looking to acquire new mobile IP
First purchase was made in 2017 with Warlords of Aternum
Camera Play
Report: Snapchat launching games platform in April
Unveiling to take place at company’s first summit on April 4th
Automated Future
How automated reports helped Futureplay and Webedia improve ad monetisation
Why developers are turning away from manual admin to focus on deeper insights and strategy
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent's Perfect World debuts top in China while Dragon Ball Z falls
Charts from March 4th to March 10th
Existing Fans
Game IP versus entertainment IP: Which is best for mobile games?
We ask our Monetizer Mavens
Specific Sharing
Mobile gamers prefer to share achievements and fails over chat apps than social media
70 per cent iOS users share through messaging apps
Rich As A King
Honor of Kings has made $4.5 billion since launch
295 million installs to date
Mobile Auto Chess
Hit PC mod DOTA Auto Chess is coming to mobile minus the DOTA
Mobile game will be called 'Auto Chess' and will drop DOTA 2 characters
Real World Gaming
Lessons from a year of location-based games with Google Maps
Real world gaming said to drive engagement; most successful when integrated with AR and social elements
Gdc 2019
How can indie games developers make the most out of GDC?
The world's biggest industry conference is just around the corner - we speak to our Indie Mavens on how to best utilise the event
Gold Rush
PlayStack’s new mobile game Dig That Gold gives away real 24k gold bars to players
Publisher partners with UK start-up Project M on title
Launch
Former Rovio product lead Will Luton opens new management consultancy for games
Department of Play will launch with a blow-out party at GDC next week
Firing Line
PUBG Mobile banned in several Indian cities
Ban will be in place until March 30th, 2019.
Marketing
Google introduces new ad campaign tools aimed at re-engaging lapsed players
App Campaigns for engagement and smart segregation look to hone your advertising efforts
Event
EA, East Side Games, Spry Fox and Nexon M to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Katherine de León, Kate Edwards, Ed Fries and Chris Taylor join the speaker roster for two-day event in May
Instant Demo
AppOnboard Studio is a new codeless toolkit for creating app demos
“Our easy to use tool-set completely eliminates all barriers of entry to app development"
Spend
Sony's Fate/Grand Order hits $3 billion in player spending
Sensor Tower suggests Fate/Grand Order could be one of Sony's all-time gaming highs
Stacked Up
Xbox Live comes to iOS and Android as Microsoft brings tools and services under Game Stack banner
PlayFab, DirectX, Azure, Simplygon, Mixer, Havok and more get brought closer together
Arsenal.gg Acquisition
Lightstream acquires livestreaming analytics platform Arsenal.gg
A number of game publishers and other companies are already part of Arsenal’s list of clients, including 505 Games, PUBG Corp, and Discord
Developer Toolkit
11 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Developer Toolkit track
Track sponsored by Gram Games
Cause And Action
Jump Holdings raises $1 million to launch interactive choice-driven game Inventure
Backing was led by A3 Education as firm looks to empower students
For The Tech
Fyber partners with Game of Whales to predict user lifetime value based on IAPs and ads
Solution designed to help optimise user acquisition campaigns
Esports Academy
6 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Esports Academy track
Track sponsored by Game Insight
Events
Going to GDC? Check out the Pocket Gamer Party, Indie Pitches and blockchain games mini-summit
Make space in your schedule for three incredible FREE side events in San Francisco
Cloud Gaming
7 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Game Changers: Cloud and Connected Experiences track
Track sponsored by Hatch
Connects X
11 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects London's Connects X track
Learn about the issues surrounding platforms and emerging technologies such as Nintendo Switch, virtual reality and augmented reality.
Quarter Mile At A Time
Indie Spotlight: SMG Studio on going from Flash to Fast and Furious
"Know if you want to make games or run a business because sometimes the business side can get in the way of making games."
Voodoo Development Magic
Voodoo Development Magic: In-house Paris studio highlights the power of the number one publisher’s internal production with Ball Mayhem!
How Ball Mayhem! went from concept to over eight million downloads
Jobs
Pole To Win promotes Deborah Kirkham as its new CEO
Eight-year executive takes over the CEO seat as Teppei Tachibana steps down