Ar And Ai
Niantic Spatial spin-off nets $250m funding after Scopely acquisition
Monopoly Go developer is investing $50m into the tech firm
Speaker Spotlight
Aghanim's Conor McLaughlin on why direct-to-consumer will be a game changer
"The single biggest opportunity right now in mobile gaming is direct to consumer. There is no debate. The question is how to do it effectively."
Pgc Shanghai
Save the date: PG Connects international event series expands with Shanghai Summit
All- new one-day conference for the global games industry lands in Asia this July 30
Jobs News
Eugene Evans departs Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast
Executive did not reveal his plans for the future following his exit
Video
Pocket Gamer Reacts: Breaking down Scopely's blockbuster $3.5bn deal for Niantic's games business
The PocketGamer.biz's hot takes on this big news
Straight Stats
Pokémon Go has 20m weekly active players nearly nine years after its global launch
New figures have emerged on Niantic’s licenced games following $3.5bn Scopely deal announcement
Motorised Mayhem
TinyBytes CEO Andres Constantinidis on Massive Warfare, Battle Cars and why the numbers just keep going up
From Massive Warfare's 70 million downloads to Battle Cars 100 percent monthly revenue growth, TinyBytes focus on motorised mayhem is setting the mobile games world on fire
Transmedia
Making alternative app stores appealing to players: Amilova's plans to build a transmedia community
PocketGamer.biz speaks to ChibiPhoenix CEO Adrien Bacchi about its ambitious plans to extend its platform for manga and comics to games
Milestone
Ludus: Merge Arena surpasses 5m players and races past $3m monthly revenue
Developer said it will launch a Clan Wars update at the end of March
Acquisition Accomplished
Scopely acquires Pokémon Go developer Niantic's games business in $3.5bn deal
Blockbuster deal brings the multi-billion-dollar hit mobile game under the Savvy Games Group umbrella
Deal Tracker
Show Me The Money: Jam City agrees Ludia sale, Scopely's rumoured $3.5bn Niantic deal, and MTG acquires Plarium in February 2025
Our deal tracker highlights the key acquisitions, investments, and partnerships from the last month
Funding For Games
Felicity Games raises $3m to boost Indian game publishing and global expansion
Publisher aims to provide Indian studios with the tools and support to compete globally.
New Studio
Virtuos opens new studio in Seoul
The South Korean developer is actively hiring to fill roles in the new office and is open to partnerships
Jobs News
Former Netflix VP of games Mike Verdu exits streaming firm
Verdu had not long taken up the role of VP of GenAI for games prior to his departure
Seed Round Secured
Good Job Games secures $23m investment round
The round was led by Menlo Ventures and Arcadia Gaming Partners’ new fund
Funding News
PvX Partners secures $3.8m seed funding to scale games and consumer apps
Founding team include NetEase, Mobile Premier League and Morgan Stanley veterans
Platinum Sponsor
GeeMee joins Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025 as platinum sponsor
GeeMee is the platinum sponsor of Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025, bringing revolutionary advertising technology to the event.
Event Checklist
Your Pocket Gamer Connects event checklist be prepared before you walk through the doors
With this checklist, you can make the most of your time attending Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025 and set yourself up for success.
Funding News
Monopoly World developer Reality Games raises $4.7m
Studio plans to expand title into new markets after launching in Poland and the Philippines
Investment News
App distribution platform Applivery secures strategic investment from Supercell
Investment will go towards growth in device and software management worldwide
Funding News
Liminal raises $5.8 million to empower player creativity using AI
“A positive vision of the future should recognise the power of AI to ignite the imaginations of players of all ages,” said Liminal founder and CEO Brendan Mulligan
Interview
How STAN aims to become India's Discord
STAN CEO and co-founder Parth Chadha talks building a Discord competitor, untapped opportunities, and identifying gaps in India's games industry.
Funding For Games
Tilting Point launches $150m UA fund to support game developers
Developers retain “full autonomy" over their marketing strategies
Pgc San Francisco
It's next week: PG Connects San Francisco 2025!
Two days, 10 tracks, 90 speakers… Connect with the global mobile games industry on March 17th to 18th
Raining With Revenue
Wuthering Waves rides the wave to $250m after Version 2.0’s major comeback
Version 2.0 triggered a 178% spending surge on release day, followed by a 169% boost with Version 2.1
Rollback Discount
Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025 offers limited-time rollback discount on tickets
Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco will host over 750 attendees next week. To ensure everyone can attend, a limited-time rollback discount is now available.
Balatro Timeline
“I don’t think I would have rated Balatro higher than an eight and I made the damn thing”
LocalThunk said the timeline series will serve as both a story for players and a personal reference
Shares Synchrony
Trump tariffs hit Japanese games companies as shares in Nintendo, Sony, DeNA and Capcom fall
US president Donald Trump’s latest 20% tariff on Chinese imports to the US appear to be having a knock-on effect on shareholders’ confidence in Japanese game makers
App Stores
Brazil orders Apple to allow alternative app stores on iOS within 90 days
Ruling judge extended Apple’s compliance deadline from 20 to 90 days
Age Verification
Utah becomes first state to require app store age verification for minors
Social media giants Meta, Snap, and X (formerly Twitter) have praised the law
Expansions
Appcharge expands into North America and Korea with new leadership hires
Sean Megaw will drive North American growth while Jin Woo Hong is set to lead its South Korea operations
Lta X Mmm: Game On!
LTA + Next-Gen MMM = winning growth strategies across search, TikTok, and beyond
GAME ON! Get Kochava and TikTok’s Gaming Growth Guide to Level Up Your ROAS
Ar Attraction
How Pokémon Go developer Niantic's games stack up ahead of a potential Scopely acquisition
Rumours around Scopely’s potential AR acquisitions gets us diving into the numbers behind Niantic’s whole catalogue
Hot Five
Hot Five: Goddess of Victory: Nikke hits $1bn, Pokémon Go spikes to 2025 high, and AppLovin's shock buyer
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Community Funding
Military history animation studio Yarnhub plots games expansion with community-led investment
YouTube content creator wants to build a military shooter for its 2.1m subscribers
Gameexpo Summit
Ramadan special offer for Dubai GameExpo Summit
Claim your 10% discount today
Podcast | Episode 45
Tripledot’s surprise acquisition of AppLovin's games business | 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 45...
New Deal
Blizzard grants NetEase greater decision-making power over its games in China
Renewed partnership could lead to China-exclusive content like culturally inspired skins
Cloud Gaming
Amazon GameLift Streams brings "high-fidelity" cloud gaming to any device
Tech giant claims services can stream high-fidelity, low-latency games without modifications
Week In Views
Apple’s ATT privacy policies finally face the music, and Pokémon GO’s stellar Unova event | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Five New Games
New release roundup: A Perfect Day, Bellemint, Retro Slam Tennis and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
M&a
It was Tripledot?! What the UK studio's acquisition of AppLovin's games business means
The mystery buyer was revealed this week
International Women's Day
How Drest relaunched on Unity to merge fashion with gaming
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to Drest founder and co-CEO Lucy Yeomans about her career and founding a fashion gaming company
International Women's Day
"Establishing credibility was my biggest hurdle as a young entrepreneur"
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to WalkMe Mobile Solutions CEO Lígia Gonçalves about building her own company
International Women's Day
"Inclusion isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a core part of how we create better games"
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to King's Marta Cortiñas about her career and work on Candy Crush Solitaire
French Fine
France readies Apple ATT antitrust fine and ban
A decision is expected to be reached this month, potentially leading to the privacy policy's first regulatory veto
Supersonic Growth
Supersonic surpasses 6.2 billion global downloads in five years
The firm was ranked as the fifth largest mobile games publisher in the world by downloads just behind Tencent, Azur, Onesoft, and SayGames.
New Partnerships
Women in Games and UKIE partner to support greater representation in the UK games industry
Partnership will provide networking, mentoring, and skills-building opportunities
Purchasing Power
Xsolla launches direct-to-consumer publishing suite
The toolkit brings Xsolla's services into one place to drive web store sales
Achievement
Rewarded play platform Almedia ranks as Europe’s third fastest-growing company in FT1000 listing
Rewarded play firm’s inclusion highlights its impressive 18,773.2% growth between 2020 and 2023