Industry Trends
Mobile Mavens on the biggest games industry trends of 2024 part two: Rewarded UA in vogue, generative AI, and hybridcasual success
The big names in the industry tell us what they thought the biggest stories of the year were
Industry Trends
Mobile Mavens on the biggest games industry trends of 2024: The cross-platform shift, merge's rise, and direct-to-consumer strategies
The big names in the industry tell us what they thought the biggest stories of the year were
Roblox And Ai
Roblox Studio chief on how AI will revolutionise UGC
Stefano Corazza reveals how AI-powered tools are transforming UGC development economics and scaling creator content
Company Rebrand
Aptoide rebrands Catappult to Aptoide Connect
The service is designed to help developers reach multiple global stores
New Game Launch
Once Human Mobile set to launch in April 2025
Title is set to go cross-platform with a console release also in the works
Hot Five
Hot Five: 2024's top mobile games, Hothead Games closes, and Aonic's €152m war chest
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Dtc Trends
Aghanim launches Instant Payouts for mobile game developers
The fintech company has rolled out fast payments for its DTC services in select territories
State Of Australia
Australian games industry generates $212 million in 2024 amid challenges
More than 90% of the revenue generated comes from overseas sources
Travel To London
Five reasons to travel to Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025
The global games industry gathers once again in London and here’s why you shouldn’t miss out.
Year In Review
The biggest mobile games industry trends of 2024
A look back at the stories and trends that shaped the year
Government Pressure
Tencent directors resign from Epic Games board over US Justice Department concerns
No company or individual has admitted liability in the investigation
M&a
Nazara subsidiary Nodwin acquires 93% stake in AFK gaming for $900,000
The acquisition makes AFK Gaming a fully-owned subsidiary of Nodwin Gaming
Business News
Stillfront Group secures $227m credit facility to extend financial flexibility
This will replace the group's $340m facility that was established in 2020
Funding Round
Ray Browser raises $6.5m to boost web-based gaming
The funds will be used to develop the platform, expand its team and cultivate industry partnerships
Big Screen Gaming Summit
Big Screen Gaming Summit coming to Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025
An essential event for developers, publishers, and industry professionals to kick off 2025 by exploring the future of games
2024 Yearly Review
Pocket Gamer Connects 2024 Celebrating a decade of uniting the games industry
Pocket Gamer Connects 2024 Wrapped looking back on a year in the games industry through the Pocket Gamer Connects perspective
Studio Closure
Vancouver studio Hothead Games closes
Canadian developer forced into bankruptcy after mobile and console publishing deals fell through
Top Charts
The top grossing mobile games of 2024
Analysis of the highest revenue-generating mobile titles of the year
Pgc London
PG Connects London 2025: Meet our latest confirmed speakers from Supercell, Playstack, UKIE and more!
Supercell, Yogscast, Playstack, UKIE, Unity… Just some of the 280 experts bringing you 56 hours of content across 31 tracks on January 20th to 21st
Investment News
Sony becomes Kadokawa's largest Shareholder with $318m investment
Future partnerships will focus on joint investments, discovering new creators, and promoting media mixes of their IP
Funding For Games
Moon Beast Productions raises $4.5m to ‘revolutionise’ action RPGs
The studio plans to unveil more details about the project in early 2025
New Partnerships
NEOM Media partners with Kwalee, Sandsoft, Tamatem and others to launch games publishing network
This is part of its Level Up accelerator program to bolster the gaming ecosystem in Saudi Arabia
Pgc London
Start networking right now! MeetToMatch is LIVE for Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025
Hop into our sophisticated meeting platform and start networking with leading companies today
Legal Battle
Did the European court just give cheats a thumbs-up?
Futura’s head of digital practice Alina Davletshina shares on the impact of Sony’s case against Datel
Funding For Games
Vgames raises $142m for third fund to back global game studios
The fund has invested in companies like InnPlay Labs, SuperPlay, 1047 Games, and Candivore
Best Of The Best
Asian developers dominate as 2024's top 10 new mobile games surpass $3 billion
Dungeon & Fighter: Mobile, Love and Deepspace, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket and others led the way for new games’ success this year
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Kayfo's Doumgou Tibiang Yeshua on how to get a career as a developer
In this series, we highlight the talented team members working in the games industry and how they got their break
Funding News
Databricks raises $10bn to bring company valuation to $62bn
The funds will go towards acquisitions, expansions and developing new AI products
Milestone
Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing series hits 2.5 billion downloads
The company said that the franchise attracts over 50 million players monthly
Levelplay X Bigo Ads: Win-win
BIGO Ads Integrates with Unity LevelPlay: Boosting Revenue for Mobile Game Developers
Global Demand Meets Massive Traffic: A Win-Win for Developers and Advertisers
App Store Trends
Apple reveals most downloaded games and apps on the App Store for 2024
Monopoly Go, Roblox, Squad Busters and more amongst most played games on iPhone
Funding For Games
Turkish developer Agave Games gets $18m funding
The Find the Cat studio will use the funding to continue development on existing titles and expand its team
Career Zone
Joint venture between PG Connects and Games Factory Talents returns to create career opportunities in London
Connecting talent with opportunity in the industry - the Career Zone returns to Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025
Global Trends
Global Trends: Pocket Gems CEO Ben Liu on the art of making great games and the need for "luck and magic"
We catch up with industry leaders to get their insights on the state of play in the games sector
Age Rating
Balatro rated 18+ by PEGI as developer critiques rating system
LocalThunk compares 18+ rating to EA Sports FC’s age three rating
New Offerings
Pokémon GO partners with McDonald's US to add PokéStops and Gyms at 13,500 locations
The events will run from December through to March 2025
New Partnerships
Kiddopia teams up with Moonbug to bring Little Angel characters to learning platform
The first set of Little Angel-themed games will launch in 2025
Investment News
Aonic receives €152 million investment to fuel M&A
Games group includes nDreams, TutoToons, Red Games, Exmox, Gravite and more
Podcast | Episode 40
Games industry trends 2024 review | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode 40...
Sponsor Shoutout
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025 expo and conference nearly full
Space is filling rapidly for Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025, the biggest b2b games event in London and the UK...
New Partnerships
WHO teams up with Goodville to launch new virtual health assistant ‘Sarah'
Players can interact with Sarah through an in-game chat
Tiktok Ban
US court rejects TikTok's bid to halt pending ban
ByteDance must divest TikTok by January 19th, 2025 or face a ban
Leaving Soon
Netflix removes GTA 3 and Vice City from gaming library after one year
GTA: San Andreas is still available to play for now
New Offerings
Samsung takes cue from NYT as it introduces games to News app
The Six trivia game is currently available to Galaxy users in the US and Canada
Hot Five
Hot Five: Animal Crossing’s comeback, Balatro’s big milestone, and Infinity Nikki’s record launch
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Zynga sells Chartboost, Epic partners with Telefónica and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete hits $3M | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Milestone
Balatro has sold over 3.5 million copies
The card game also won the 2024 Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards
Audience Choice
PG Connects London 2025 to spotlight indie developers with Big Indie Zone Audience Choice Award sponsored by Jam City
The conference, which takes place on January 20 - 21, 2025, will feature several fringe events providing developers opportunities to present their games
Awards Season
Balatro wins Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards
Balatro also won Best Debut Indie Game and Indie Game of the Year
New Games
New release roundup: Monument Valley 3, Girls’ Frontline 2: Exilium, Cyber Quest and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week