Spend
Report: Industry less reliant on "whales" than it used to be
Less stigma on in-game spending is creating a market less reliant on big-spenders.
Social
Former Zynga director Kate Gorman's Fort Mason Games reveals first project
The women-led startup hopes to make a name in casino gaming through better representation of women
Rawr
Ludia’s Jurassic World Alive takes home over $25m in four months
The location-based title averaged $1.2 million per week in revenue for August
Ballin'
Outerminds taps up YouTubers Ethan and Hila Klein for mobile game
Ball Riders is available to grab on the Google Play store and Apple App Store
Open For Business
Unity and Google Cloud launch open-source matchmaking project
Open Source is games engine agnostic to allow game creators to reuse a common matchmaker framework
Game Changers
Facebook talks Instant Games on Messenger: “We’re investing a lot in making this a better experience”
Social network working to improve game discoverability
Pgc Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki kicks off with talks on hyper-casual and monetisation
Two days packed with talks covering all aspects of the games industry
X Marks The Spot
From Nintendo Switch to PC: Inside Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki’s Connect X track
Pocket Gamer Connect Helsinki lands in Finland September 11th to September to 12th
Fold
Tencent axes poker game as China tightens the leash on gaming
Servers for “Everyday Texas Hold’Em” will go offline on September 25th
Industry Lessons
Gamescom 2018: 3 things we learned about the mobile games industry
While much of the focus understandably fell on PC and console titles, there was also plenty to be learned about mobile gaming
Pubg
Tencent is holding its first PUBG Mobile tournament in India
PUBG Mobile Campus Championship 2018 will pit teams from 1000 colleges against each other
China
A third of the Chinese population is playing mobile games
China’s 459 million large mobile audience rivals the total population of Japan and the US combined
Jumping The Shark
How does Hungry Dragon engage, retain and monetise?
Analysing Ubisoft’s franchise spin-off
Critical
Speaker Spotlight: Critical Force CEO Veli-Pekka Piiranen delves into company growth and culture
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland September 11th to 12th
New Digs
Nexon swaps up US offices in California to reflect company culture
New Hawaii Street HQ is two floors and 49,307 square feet
Giant
Speaker Spotlight: Netmarble EMEA president Barış Özistek on the rise of artificial intelligence and accessibility
Barış Özistek will be giving a talk called Going Global - Bringing giant games from Korea to the west at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Not Too Shabby
Mobile Strike racks up over $1 billion in revenue for Machine Zone
Lion’s share of income hails from the US with 55 per cent
Badges And Beer
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Badge Pick Up Party kicks off tonight!
Skip the registration queues at the venue and head straight to the bar the night before
Traded
All things Trade Trends at Pocket Gamer Connect Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki will last from September 11th to 12th.
Eastern Delights
A peek into Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki's East meets West track before it happens
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki will last from September 11th to 12th
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Zorka.Mobi's Dmitry Chudovsky on influencer marketing trends and tools
Will speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2018, which takes place on September 11th to 12th
Evasyst
Speaker Spotlight: Evasyst CEO Evasyst Dr. Mark Ollila
Dr. Mark Ollila will be talking about Why gaming today is less about the game and more about social experiences at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Blast
Toon Blast revenue rockets to $200 million in its first year
Toy Blast follow-up reaches milestone thanks to a successful celebrity marketing campaign
Monetised
Looking inside the Monetiser track at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland from September 11th to 12th
Paladin
Speaker Spotlight: Paladin Studios CEO Derk de Geus
Derk de Geus will be talking about agile live ops at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
China
China’s gaming crackdown pushes Tencent towards further age restrictions in Honor of Kings
As part of a government campaign to prevent myopia amongst children and reduce gameplay time
R&d
Scotland set for $11.6m games research and development centre
Students also stand to benefit with work experience through InGame partnership
Camp
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp reaches $50 million in worldwide revenue
But the mobile life-sim is still the slowest-growing of Nintendo’s three mobile titles
Agile
Speaker Spotlight: King's Sabrina Carmona on Fortnite's impact on the mobile games industry
Sabrina Carmona will be discussing how companies can create agile teams and foster a culture of excellence while developing games at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Good Cause
Gameloft, Wargaming, Bandai Namco and more support War Child's Armistice 2018 charity fundraising campaign
Money to go toward supporting children affected by war
Acquisition News
UK publisher PlayStack acquires Finnish developer Hisome
Studio renamed PlayStack Oy and will be responsible for development and finding new partners
Come Together
NantWorks invests in H1Z1 developer Daybreak and forms new publishing division
Mobile versions of H1Z1 coming
To Absent Friends
Square Enix COO Mike Sherlock passes away
"Mike was a principled and charismatic leader who led by example. He was extremely proud of the progress and success we have shared over the years"
Thank You!
Celebrating the sponsors for next week’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
All the companies who help make Europe’s biggest mobile B2B games industry event possible
Ban
France bans mobile phones during school
Phones, tablets and smart-watches banned during school hours for under-15 students
Publishing Deal
Mobile internet giant Cheetah Mobile secures publishing rights for Ministry of Games' Trade Town
Cheetah Mobile beat multiple publishers to win the deal
Top Celler
Dead Cells is selling four Nintendo Switch copies for every one sold on PS4
Roguelike slasher manages to outsell on Switch despite console’s smaller install base
Knight
Hollow Knight topped Nintendo Switch eShop charts in Europe last month
25 per cent cut and fourth free content release help propel Hollow Knight to No.1
Bought
AppLovin acquires in-app header bidding company MAX Inc
Discoverability platform expands services to include the new header bidding solution
Indie Mavens
Why is the Nintendo Switch so popular among indie mobile devs?
Our Indie Mavens weigh in
Kitted Out
Looking into the Developer Toolkit track at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland on September 11th to 12th
Super
$1.5m daily August revenue pushes Supercell’s Clash Royale to $2.2 billion in lifetime earnings
The daily intake was up from the $1.2 million per day average in July
Earthquake
Nintendo Direct delayed following earthquake in Japan
The games showcase will be rescheduled soon
Contact!
The A-Z (and a bit!) of who’ll be at next month’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki (UPDATE)
Who would you like to meet at Europe’s biggest B2B mobile games industry conference and expo?
East Meets West
South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss acquires Eve Online studio CCP for $425 million
Icelandic studio claims it will maintain independence while supporting Pearl Abyss' current and future projects
Super Purchase
Nielsen snaps up market research outfit SuperData
No figure put on the deal
Investment Round
Roblox picks up $150 million investment to fuel global expansion
New translations and support for currencies expected as company continues to grow
Amazon
Amazon quickly follows in Apple's footsteps and hits $1 trillion valuation
The online store joins Apple as the second public US firm to pass the threshold
Lay Of The Land
Looking across the Live Ops Landscape at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland on September 11th to 12th
Switch
Nintendo Switch closes on five million sales in Japan
Handheld hybrid has sold almost five million units in its home market