Come Together
The line between Flappy Bird and flop: How indie devs can come together to make all apps more successful
WildFire CEO Ken Johnson on sharing users and in-game currency
On Tilt
Tilting Point targets more European partners with new Barcelona studio
New office follows on from the publisher’s recent pledge to invest $132 million in mobile games user acquisition
India
Alibaba-owned gaming firm AGTech puts $16m into Gamepind Entertainment
Mobile gaming venture will use the fund to release a separate app within the next six months
Invested
Metropolitan Partners Group invests in Tilting Point Media user acquisition fund
Marketing and publishing platform aims to deploy $132m annually to finance user acquisition
Time Out
Tencent's relationship with Riot strained over differences on mobile gaming
Riots declining playerbase also a point of contention
Nice
PUBG Mobile has made $50 million in revenue
The battle royale received a shot in the arm following the introduction of the Royale Pass
Touchdown
Lifetime mobile sales of Madden NFL exceed 73 million
Combined with PC and mobile, the franchise has sold over 200 million copies
Jaaaam...
Pocket Jam back with a bang at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Two-day game jam returns this September at Europe’s biggest mobile games industry event
Job News Klaxon
RuneScape dev Jagex snags ZeniMax and Trion Worlds vets for senior roles
New starters take on SVP of game development and VP of tech roles
Winner Winner Chicken Salad
Tencent soft-launches PUBG Lite in the Philippines on Android
Just a lite update for you
Fort-not
Google Play now warning Fortnite fans that the game isn’t on its Android store
Despite best efforts, clones are likely to flood the Google Play store
Unity
67% of Unity developers are choosing to publish independently
Unity reports on the development habits of 1,445 small to medium Indies
Roundup
Games industry roundup: The hottest stories across the PC, blockchain and influencer sectors
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Hot Five
The big Miniclip CEO interview, China stops approving games, and should app stores ditch the 70/30 revenue split?
The hottest articles in the mobile games industry from the last week
Pgc Speaker
Frogmind’s Teemu Mäki-Patola to discuss recent challenges and achievements at PGC Helsinki 2018
Will discuss the company's recent challenges and achievements
Mobile Mixer
Join the mobile games industry at our Mixer and Asia trends panel during Gamescom on August 22nd
Mix with industry bigwigs in Cologne
Get Online
Nintendo Switch Online will arrive in the second half of September
Long-delayed online subscription services pegged for the end of next month
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Dream Reality Interactive's Anna Hollinrake on how to get a job as a senior artist
"There's something delicious and intangible about focusing in on exactly what makes the game feel the way it does and how to communicate that as a whole"
Field Trip
Indian learning platform Quizizz raises over $3 million in funding
Homework gamification app has amassed over 10 million active users
Fine Catch
Pokemon Quest captures $8 million in revenue from mobile after one month
The RPG has proved most popular in Japan followed closely by the US
Oh No
Netmarble shares plummet to all-time low as Lineage 2 popularity fades
Shares dropped 11.27 per cent on August 9th to close at 126,000 won
Banned
No end in sight as South Korean games companies locked out of China for over a year
No signs of issues being resolved
Chinese Exports
Chinese games raked in more than $600 million in the US for the first half of 2018 alone
The haul was a 52 per cent increase year-on-year
Is It Worth It?
Is it time for the App Store and Google Play to ditch the 70/30 revenue split?
The mobile mavens offer their opinions
Games Suspended
China hasn't approved any new mobile games since March 28th
Market sees single-digit growth in first half of the year, the slowest since at least 2009
Financials
Square Enix profits drop after three months with no new games and new mobile titles fail to perform
Three-month financial results show a slow quarter for the Japanese publisher
Mogi At Gamescom
Global gaming service provider MoGi Group to attend Gamescom 2018
MoGi Group explains its offerings and why you should meet the team in Cologne
Write In
Interactive fiction specialist Dr Emily Short joins the Spirit AI board
Two-year Character Engine product manager takes on the role of executive director at Spirit
Fortnite Android
Fortnite Android rolls out exclusively on Samsung Galaxy devices first today
Heading to other Android devices over the next few days
Child-friendly
Industry veterans seek to structure children's screen time with Ava
The new take on parental controls ditches restrictions and blocklists to take a more positive spin
Diverse
Mobile diversification strategy helps drive NetEase to $2.5 billion revenue for 2Q18
Horror game Identity V and battle royale title Knives Out were namechecked specifically
Not Too Shabby
Nexon’s MapleStory M hits five million downloads globally in two weeks
The side-scrolling adventure game originally hit three million within its first week
Billion Dollar Baby
Magic Leap One Creator Edition launches with $2,295 price tag
Only available in select US cities however
Yo Yo Yo
GameMaker Studio 2 launches open beta for Nintendo Switch support
The new edition will let developers port any previous games made with GameMaker Studio 2 to Switch
20x20 Awesomeness
King, Nitro Games, Rovio, ZeptoLab and friends in epic PG Connects Helsinki PechaKucha Sessions
Wilhelm Taht returns with supercharged, hugely popular Connects element
Mobile Awards
One week left for International Mobile Gaming Awards Southeast Asia submissions
Deadline is August 15th
Ar Games
Facebook Messenger gets augmented reality games
Extends possibilities as a games platform
Casting Sales
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery hits $55 million revenue in just over three months
Nearly half of player spending occurs in US
On Job
Ad platform Bidalgo taps up former Clicktale CFO to bolster executive team
Nir Ackerman will join as CFO and will be tasked with overseeing all of the company’s financial operations
Don’t You Mean Football?
Sociable Soccer dev Tower Studios snags China publishing deal with China Mobile
Arcade football game is will land in China first and is pencilled in for launch in Autumn 2018
Jammin’
WildWorks’ kid-focused MMO Animal Jam strikes up revenues to the tune of $150m
$20 million of which comes from the mobile version Animal Jam: Play Wild
Decline Continues
GungHo revenue and profits fall again as publisher struggles to replace Puzzle & Dragons
New release Yo-Kai Watch World surpasses one million downloads
Crushing It
Candy Crush developer King has made more than $1 billion so far this year
Monthly active users for King's portfolio hit 270 million
A New Focus
MZ’s Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire rakes in $380m in one year
US players alone bring in $138 million
War Never Changes
Fallout Shelter mobile surpasses $93 million in revenue
Could hit $100m by the end of the year
Chill Time
PocketGamer.biz's Devcom and Gamescom 2018 party and networking guide
Let's do this...
Hall Of Fame
Hall of Fame: Miniclip CEO Robert Small on building one of the most recognisable names in gaming
"My first role was with Miniclip and I guess it turned out pretty well given that we are still thriving almost 20 years later"
Take To The Seas
Pirate Code walks away as the second Big Indie Pitch in China winner
Big Ear takes second while Hexland Heroes walks away in third
Indie Spotlight
Postcard Switzerland and 1930s politics: Stave Studios on striking the balance with Over the Alps
"History is a wellspring from which comes a multitude of inspiring stories about ordinary people who stand up to a vast, seemingly undefeatable evil threat and win"
Who Are Ya
Bandai Namco soft-launches Doctor Who collectible card game on Android
The collectible card game is currently available in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Thailand