Monster Money
Monster Hunter Now’s Carnival Global a "roaring success" with 151% revenue surge
The paid event was a global adaptation of Now’s first in-person event, Carnival 2024: Shibuya
Rewarded Ua
How Almedia is riding the rewarded play wave
Freecash has become one of the top newcomers in the rewarded user acquisition space that has taken off this year
Mena Market
MENA start-up investments decline 52% to $134 million in October
UAE start-ups raised $61.8m across 15 deals, while Saudi Arabia-based start-ups secured $50m from over 21 deals
New Studio
Tencent’s Lightspeed Studios opens new Japan studio
Experienced game director Hideaki Itsuno will helm Lightspeed's Japan studio
Development Decisions
Nintendo’s game development costs see "inevitable" rise but bigger budgets "do not necessarily equate to better ideas"
Nintendo board members discuss the company’s design philosophy, to create original games that "consumers will be satisfied with"
Ready To Raid
Modern Times Group acquires Raid: Shadow Legends maker Plarium for $620m
Plarium generated $613m in revenue during the 12 months ending September 30th, 2024
Investment News
Animoca Brands raises $10m to expand metaverse platform Mocaverse
This latest round follows previous funding totalling $31.88 million
Safety And Security
Roblox is updating child safety measures with two key changes being introduced by the end of 2024
Roblox will make unrated games undiscoverable and limit social hangouts to users 14 and up
Record Revenue
Krafton achieves record-breaking quarter with over $500 million in revenue
Mobile led the way in contributing over $300 million in revenue
Live Ops Tips
A decade of live ops: Keeping creativity, player communities and gameplay alive
Exient’s Tommy Prentice and Steve Cassar Laudi offer insight on long term live ops
New Partnerships
Angry Birds team up with Talking Tom to battle in new crossover event
The collaboration will run from November 7th to November 28th 2024
Jordan Event Report
Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan 2024 - A record breaking success in the MENA Games Industry
Dead Sea conference draws 2,500+ professionals from 30+ countries as MENA region cements its place in the global industry
Potential Bribary
Nine NetEase Games employees allegedly arrested for money laundering and bribery
General manager Xiang Lang is among those reportedly under investigation
Breaking Free
Amplitude Studios becomes independent of SEGA
“We part on good terms and wish our friends at SEGA the best for all their future projects."
Match-3 Monarch
Royal Kingdom surpasses $20m in soft launch revenue with November 21st global release date set
Dream Games is building on the Royal Match brand with a new match-3 title
Milestone
Ludus: Merge Arena hits over £2 million in monthly revenue and secures 3 million installs
The game's daily active users grew by 50% in October
Industry Outlook
India’s games industry is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2028
India has 568 million gamers, 25% of whom are paying users, showing a 17% YoY increase
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell acquires Space Ape, Pokémon TCG Pocket’s strong start, and Goddess of Victory: Nikke approaches $1 billion
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Global Trends
Global Trends: FunPlus CBO Chris Petrovic talks IP, AI's potential and going cross-platform
We catch up with industry leaders to get their insights on the state of play in the games sector
Creating Content
NetEase launches Eggy Party creator program with cash rewards for top map designers
Each time a new user downloads a map via the creator's code they receive incentives
Universal Appeal
Why the universal language of games means you don't have to rely on localisation
Angry Birds, Tetris and Candy Crush Saga are examples of gameplay attracting global appeal, says YallaPlay CEO Kareem Seddik
Awards Winners
Jordan Games Awards 2024 Winners revealed
Ceremony celebrates the best and brightest across the country
Getting Into Games
Should you be a generalist or specialise?
Our panel of industry experts discuss making your way in the industry at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
Pgc Jordan
Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan begins today
Two-day conference features star speakers, the Jordan Games Awards, networking opportunities, and much more
Week That Was
Pokémon TCG Pocket’s big launch, Rainbow Six Mobile is back and is technology in a downward spiral? | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Lawsuit
The Pokémon Company and Nintendo are seeking an injunction against Palworld creators Pocket Pair
Details of the exact patents The Pokémon Company and Nintendo are using in the lawsuit have now been shared
Financial Outlook
Netmarble CEO cites slowed growth in Q3 2024 as revenue hits $478.6 million
The company plans to launch nine new games next year for mobile and PC
New Offerings
Nintendo confirms Switch 2 backward-compatibility with original Switch games
The Japanese firm has now sold 146 million Switch units till date
Financials
Unity reveals its Q3 financials as results “exceed guidance”
This year has also marked many changes for the company with new leadership, the cancellation of the Runtime Fee and the launch of Unity 6
Mena's Rising Star
How government investment is fueling rapid growth in the MENA region
The fast-growing market is levelling up its gaming ecosystems and development talent
Indian Games Market
M-League launches Blast+ to bring free-to-play games to the growing Indian mobile games market
The new publishing arm will offer various expertise from localisation to live ops strategies
Earnings Report
AppLovin's Q3 revenue hits $1.2 billion marking 39% year-over-year growth
Software platform revenue rose to $835 million a 66% increase year-over-year
Game Design
Ludo.ai evolves into complete game design hub with major update
Ludo says the new update supports “every stage of game design."
Five New Games
New release roundup: Professor Doctor Jetpack, Drive Ahead! Carcade and more
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Job News
Unity appoints Jarrod Yahes as its new CFO
Jarrod joined Unity from Shutterstock where he served as CFO for five years
Mena
Playable Factory on making mobile ads that work
MENA games industry insider Stephen Sandmann speaks with Playable Factory COO Orkuncan Aydın on developing mobile ads and growth in the MENA region
Earnings Report
Playtika reports Q3 revenue of $620 million as DTC platforms drive 8.3% growth
Revenue from the top three games grew 1.1% but decreased 0.8% year-over-year
Sponsored
Navigating the Storm: How Creative-Level Attribution is Changing Mobile Marketing
Jesse Lempiäinen, the CEO & Co-founder of Geeklab explores the challenges of attribution in marketing and how the company's new creative-level attribution framework can help
Sale Sorted
Take-Two sells Private Division and almost all its games
Take-Two will continue to support cross-platform RPG No Rest for the Wicked
Mystery To Solve
Clash of Clans launches true crime podcast to solve Hammer Jam heist
Fans are encouraged to follow the investigation and share their theories when new episodes drop
Mobile Matters
Take-Two Interactive generated $1.35 billion in Q2, but it’s still stuck in the red
The company reported a loss of $365.5 million for the quarter
New Partnerships
ByteBrew teams up with Google Cloud to support developer community with analytics suite
Google wants to "push the boundaries of what's possible in game development."
Tiktok Webinar
Unlock your games next level with TikTok - registration open for exclusive free webinar
Leveraging TikTok platform expertise and Q5 momentum to maximise LiveOps player engagement and monetisation, boosting your game's success
Indie Insights
Incredible Indies: Bringing the monster-catching game Miraibo Go to life
Miraibo Go had over 400,000 pre-registrations and launched recently on mobile and PC
Games Industry Survey
21% of game developers in Europe hit by layoffs with 54% now utilising AI in daily work
New employment survey shows that 39% of developers work on pet projects, but 10% have left game development for other industries
Pokemon Power
Pokémon TCG Pocket has second best mobile launch in the franchise, beaten only by Pokémon Go
The latest Pokémon release has earned an estimated $33.7 million in its first seven days
Job Losses
“Majority” of Sharkmob London studio hit by layoffs
Company confirms layoffs as staff say most of the team has been let go
Major Milestone
Call of Duty: Mobile hits one billion downloads
AppMagic estimates show the title has generated consistent revenue each year since launch
Jordan Schedule Reveal
Full schedule revealed for Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan 2024
On 9 - 10 November, join us for 14+ hours of conference sessions and the chance to connect with all the key MENA representatives
Podcast
Unlock new revenue streams and transform mobile game monetisation with Aghanim's all-in-one DTC platform | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode…