Connected
Apple launches App Store Connect for developers as it transitions from iTunes Connect
The apps portal has a website and an app and comes with an analytics suite
Nice
Mail.Ru teams up with Unity to invest in games developers
Devs will also receive technological, marketing and analytical support
Investment
Ludia co-founder Marcoux’s VC White Star Capital raises $180m in second fund
The company will use the fund to help start-ups for international
Chat App Gaming
Games in the age of messaging apps
Gamee's head of games Martin Zakovec takes a look at the exciting new sector that can offer new gaming experiences
Dominating The Charts
Word Domination hits top 10 in word game category across 116 countries on iOS
MAG Interactive’s word-based game launched May 31st on iOS and Android
Allied Forces
Spirit AI reveals slew of updates to social behaviour tool Ally
Software uses AI and natural language science to keep the trolls at bay
Tournament
Tencent makes E3 debut, partners with ESL and Razer to host Arena of Valor tournament
The Valor Series playoffs will take place at the E3 ESL Arena from June 12th to 13th in Los Angeles
Ported
Apple to make iOS apps portable to MacOS in 2019
The tech giant showed off MacOS 10.14 at WWDC 2018
Job Klaxon
Glu brings back former VP of analytics as senior vice president of company’s revenue platform
Chuck Elberti will help the company drive growth through an increased focus on technology and data science
Hit That Subscribe Button
Developers can now set up trials for non-subscription apps on the iOS App Store
The latest update also tackles rules around multi-platform apps such as Steam Link
New Clan
Chinese dev Seasun cracks South Korean market with Clans: Shadow of the Moon
Seasun managed to score a 170 per cent ROI through the Taptica’s targeted app install campaign
Pog Champ
90s fad POGs set for comeback with new AR Mobile game in the works
POGs AR pencilled in for a September launch for both iOS and Android
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Zach Gage on reinventing old classics and beating the clones
“I think it’s nice for the kind of people I'm going after, people who are not hardcore gamers but actually play a lot of games in their lives, but don’t think of themselves like that”
Ads Business
Apple has eyes on new mobile ad network
Looks to partner with Snapchat, Pinterest and others
Congrats
Florence, Alto's Odyssey and Inside named Apple Design Awards winners
Other recognised games include puzzle title Frost and action-adventure platformer Oddmar
M&a Warchest
Keywords gets access to more than $120 million to fund further acquisitions
Services provider has bought four companies in 2018 so far
Indie View
The Big Indie Pitch interviews: Airapport spins the idle clicker genre on its head with Steampunk Idle Spinner
We speak to Airapport, who took away the third place prize at the first ever Big Indie Pitch in Prague
Augmented Reality
Apple unveils ARKit 2 with shared experiences and persistent AR
Persistent AR lets users continue where they left off with a virtual world
Taking Back Control
iOS 12 Screen Time lets parents set daily gameplay limits on their children's devices
Apple surprisingly brings in features to restrict phone usage
Big Numbers
App Store receives 500 million visitors per week
500 million visitors per week
Indie View
The Big Indie Pitch interviews: Headshot Labs talks thumb wars and game jams
We chat to the runner-up from the first ever Big Indie Pitch in Estonia
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Ludia's Jurassic World Alive opens at fifth in the download rankings
Rankings from May 21st to 27th
Staying Alive
The end of the SDK? Not so fast
Why SDKs are here to stay (but there will be fewer of them)
Got Insight?
Call for speakers for biggest PG Connects Helsinki on September 11th to 12th
Fifth outing to feature new tracks, new partner conference, new fringe events in new venue
New Subsidiary
India’s Nazara taps real-money games market in Kenya
New company NZWorld formed
Jobs News
Lightneer names new CEO, cancels Big Bang Legends
Co-founder Lauri Jarvilehto steps into chairman role
Competitive Investment
Tencent invests in Chinese esports tournament operator VSPN
Company already runs Honour of Kings and Clash Royale competitions
Microhub
Microsoft acquires GitHub for $7.5 billion
Announcement could be made as early as Monday, June 4th
Zoned Out
MZ CEO Gabe Leydon leaves Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire developer
COO Kristen Dumont takes the reins
Destined To Be Partners
Destiny developer Bungie could be set for mobile push following $100m investment from NetEase
US studio could be set to explore the mobile games market
Hot Five
Zynga acquires Gram Games, Jam City job losses, and Voodoo raises $200m
Last week's hottest articles
Say What?!
Talking Tom dev Outfit7 surpasses eight billion mobile game downloads
That’s more than the entire world’s population
Live Ops
Codename recruits Wizards of the Coast producer to oversee Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
Chris Dupuis appointed live services manager
Gearing Up
Codemasters teams up with Eden Games to develop F1 Mobile Racing
The new racing game will come to iOS and Android with the date to be announced
Switching It Up
Reports: Battle royale sensation Fortnite set to parachute onto Nintendo Switch
A classification for the game appeared on the Korean Games Ratings Board
Indie View
The Big Indie Pitch interviews: Orbital Knight talk Bloodborne, Clash Royale and candy
We speak to Orbital Knight, runner-up of the first ever Big Indie Pitch in Prague
Big Marketing
Goodgame plots major TV and influencer marketing campaign for Big Farm: Mobile Harvest
Partners with YouTube channel Bibi's Beauty Palace to detail latest game update
That Was Onix-pected
Pokemon Quest catches one million downloads on Nintendo Switch within two days of launch
The title is currently out on Switch but will find its way to mobile in June
Nation Of Domination
DomiNations hits $150 million mark in time for third anniversary
The strategy game has also racked up more than 37 million downloads
Opinion
PUBG Corp's lawsuit against Epic's Fortnite could set an uncomfortable precedent
This market has been built on a cycle of iteration and improvement which could end if the Playerunknown's Battlegrounds firm wins this case
Data Klaxon
75% of spending in the iOS App Store came from games over the past 10 years
In terms of downloads games took 31 per cent
Premium No Go
Square Enix Montreal no longer working on the Go series
Studio head says it's becoming increasingly difficult to make a game with a premium business model on mobile
Switch Up
Bethesda swaps The Elder Scrolls: Legends developer Dire Wolf with Sparkypants
Dire Wolf is out; Sparkypants is in
One In One Out
Nitro Games appoints former head of Rovio Stars as COO while CMO departs
Jussi Immonen joins as COO as CMO Mikko Kähärä parts ways with the company
Crackdown
Russia gives Apple one month to remove Telegram messenger from App Store
Could the App Store be blocked if Apple refuses to comply?
Going Public
Chinese games publisher iDreamSky plots Hong Kong IPO
Gardenscapes and Subway Surfers publisher could raise as much as $300 million
Hatching A Plan
Hatch expands games catalogue with Noodlecake Studios partnership
The deal will see premium titles Death Road to Canada, Lumino City and Chameleon Run come to the streaming platform
Know Your Audience
G5 Entertainment CEO on the focus driving its success in hidden object games and beyond
Finding hidden value
Job Losses
Report: Redundancies hit Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery dev Jam City
Some claims suggest layoffs were ‘sizable’
International Events
Pocket Gamer and G-STAR launch international promotional partnership as Big Indie Awards heads to South Korea
UK publisher Steel Media Ltd extends partnership with South Korea’s leading game expo G-STAR, including the Big Indie Game Awards in Busan in 2018