Analytics
FanAI acquires esports analytics and middleware firm Waypoint Media
FanAI gains access to Waypoint Media’s range of trackers, data and APIs
Destination Iran
Low CPI and high ARPU: Iran, the fastest growing mobile apps market in the Middle East
Delving into market data
Creation
Cocos-BCX on how to create a truly interoperable game
“Developers need a way to simplify the process of coding for very complicated game concepts, while also allowing for ease of trade regardless of the kind of digital asset”
Deal
Unity acquires games chat platform Vivox
Text and audio comms tool has been used in Fortnite, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, and League of Legends
$$$$$
Report: Global games company investment more than doubled to $5.7bn in 2018
More than double the year prior
Deal
Codemasters and NetEase are making a mobile game together
UK firm to make $8m in revenue over the next three years
Unity
Unity Playground aims to open game development up to kids
Scriptless asset suite seeks to provide a stepping stone for young users looking to get into the engine
Shutdown
Updated: Behaviour claims Westworld Mobile shutdown unrelated to Bethesda lawsuit
Game to go offline for good on April 16th
Big Indie Pitch
Run An Empire Sprints it's way to 1st place at Pocket Gamer Connects London 19's Very Big Indie Pitch
The Big Indie Pitch gets 2019 off to a flying start by hosting it's flagship London pitch
Squawk
Angry Birds 2 revenue grew 47 per cent in a record-breaking 2018
Bird-flinging sequel brought in revenue over $116 million last year
Region Focus
Region Focus: Inside Vancouver's top games companies
Interviews with the key players
Subscription Gaming
Report: Apple plots subscription service for games
But how will it work?
Big Move
Ex-PlayRaven CEO Lasse Seppänen joins Supercell
Spymaster studio was acquired by Rovio in November 2018
Switch
Nintendo president: "We certainly want to release mobile games across a wide variety of genres"
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa believes the Switch is strong enough as-is to meet the company's ambitions
Glad
GLAAD Awards to celebrate queer-inclusive video games for the first time in 2019
Five games head up the inclusivity organisation’s first Outstanding Video Game award category
How To
Adapt or disrupt: A practical guide to surviving in a golden age of games
Oscar Clark offers astute business and game design tips
Charts
Weekly Global Mobile Games Charts: PUBG Mobile breaks into US top 10 grossing slots
Charts from January 14th to 20th
For Sale?
Chinese owner of RuneScape developer Jagex considers sale of RuneScape developer
Company bullish that MMO, mobile and publishing initiatives will continue to fuel further growth despite news
Hot Five
Voodoo racks up 1.5bn downloads, mobile user retention and session data, and Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards winners revealed
The hottest articles from the mobile games industry over the last week
Best Ever
PG Connects London 2019 breaks all records, with over 2,350 delegates, 1,200 companies and 8.5k organised meetings
We’re going to need a bigger boat…
Locked
NetEase is enforcing an 11-hour curfew of mobile gaming for kids
New limits will also severely restrict daily playtime for young children
Game On
Gamemaker Studio 2 gets Amazon GameOn support enabling cross-platform competitions
YoYo Games and Amazon have released an asset to get GameMaker devs onto the GameOn service
Hot News
Hothead Games takes a step into the third-party publishing business
"We know what it’s like to be in their shoes, and we are just as committed to their success as they are”
Changing Infrastructure
Facebook set to integrate Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram apps
Users to be able to message each other across services
Substance Deal
Adobe picks up Substance Designer firm Allegorithmic
Tools to be integrated into the creative cloud
Unreal Ads
Appodeal brings free in-game ad monetisation plugin to Unreal Engine 4
Offers access to more than 60 ad demand sources and features analytics, A/B testing and other capabilities
Big Spender
Fortnite developer Epic acquires Agog Labs and 3Lateral
Company continues to splash its cash
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: King's Candy Crush Saga the top grosser in UK and US
Charts from January 7th to 13th
Valued
Which simple tips deliver the biggest value to developers?
Evasyst's Mark Ollila, Madfinger's Marek Rabas, Gamevil's David Mohr, Gram Games' Jeremy Glazman and Pixel Federation's Martin Jurášek weigh in
Diary Dates
3 reasons you need to be at Interactive Futures this month
We speak with the Leamington Spa team preparing for the next big UK games festival
Eastern Trailblazer
Jeff Lyndon awarded first-ever Eastern Trailblazer accolade at Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards
Recognised for a hugely successful career in building companies and bringing the global industry together
Gallery
In Pictures: The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019
The industry's finest looking their finest
Uh Oh
Hyper-casual in 2019 "may be even more complicated to succeed without the product and marketing help from expert publishers”
Voodoo's Celine Droit spoke about the coming year in hyper-casual at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019
Frozen
As many as 6,000 games could be stuck in China's licensing backlog
The waiting list for those titles could be two-years also
Mobile Legend
Tommy Palm named Mobile Legend the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards
A worthy winner for a very special award
Victory Royale
Fortnite wins Game of the Year at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards
Epic also picks up Best Developer
Catch 'em All
Pokemon Go developer Niantic takes two home accolades at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards
Wins Best Live Ops for Pokemon Go and Technological Innovation for Niantic Real World Platform
Job News
Andrew and Philip Oliver leave Rebellion
Duo launching a consultancy firm
Heating Up
China's backlog of new game approvals still holding up Tencent and NetEase
257 titles granted license for release since March 2018
Winner Winner
Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019 winners revealed
Industry's finest celebrated
Magic
Voodoo's portfolio of games builds up over 1.5 billion downloads
That number grew 50 per cent over the past four months
Brexit
"Even if we were to revoke article 50 tomorrow, a lot of damage has been done"
Three industry experts discuss the ramifications of Brexit at Pocket Gamer Connects London
Retained
Three billion mobile gamers worth of data says that trivia and word games hold best week one retention
Game Analytics CEO Ioana Hreninciuc delved into the stats at Pocket Gamer Connects London
Opportunity Knocks
Century Game: A new opportunity for casual gaming in China and in the West
Publisher looking to collaborate with developers
Nonstop Sequel
Flaregames reveals Nonstop Knight 2 for 2019 release
New title adds customisation, fresh progression system and social layer
Pgc London
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 kicks off and promises to be our biggest and best show yet
Around 2,500 attendees expected
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Resolution Games CEO Tommy Palm to bringing augmented reality to the masses in 2019
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: BITKRAFT Esports Ventures' Malte Barth
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: DeltaDNA chief product officer Isaac Roseboom on a more more scientific and methodical approach to development
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Plarium platform technology specialist Guy Ulmer
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd