Pgc Summit San Francisco
Meet Tencent, Scopely, Jam City, Discord and more at PGC Summit San Francisco
From indie developers to the biggest brands in mobile represented at the games business event on March 9th
Funding News
Cheer Games raises $4.5m pre-seed to build puzzle franchises
The studio plans to use the funding to develop new puzzle titles and expand its Barcelona team
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Tickets now live for Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai, July 29th
Your gateway to games business in China
Speaker Spotlight
Tebex's Liam Wiltshire: "New regulations quietly change who owns the player relationship"
The monetisation platform's VP and GM discusses monetisation, UGC and cross-platform gaming ahead of his PGC Summit San Francisco talk
500 Million Lifetime Downloads
Avakin Life surpasses 500 million downloads, cementing 12-year legacy as a global powerhouse
Lockwood Publishing's Avakin Life surpasses 500 million lifetime downloads, as the platform celebrates 12 years of continuous growth
New Offerings
Roblox launches AI-powered chat system that automatically rephrases inappropriate messages
The feature replaces blocked text with more respectful language while preserving the original meaning
New Offerings
Pitchify launches Pitch Direct to make pitching to publishers more transparent
The platform allows publishers to set clear criteria including budget, platform, genre and timelines
New Offerings
Mistplay launches Playtime Events to deepen engagement in rewarded ads
The new reward model blends time-based incentives with event-driven milestones
Buyout Concerns
AppsFlyer halts $1.9bn sale talks after private equity bidders seek revised terms
Talks with Apollo and Fortissimo Capital broke down as market pressure weighed on software company valuations
Company Restructure
nDreams proposes restructuring with 78 roles at risk and two studios set to close
VR developer plans to close Near Light and Compass studios
Industry Insights
Lessons in mastering live ops from Marvel Snap
Ethan Levy and Matt Ricchetti share insights for running live ops across platforms and keeping players coming back
All Stars Arrives
Making Candy Crush All Stars match ready with fresh mechanics and first official partnership
Senior game designer Dasha Mironava and principal games designer Therese Sander share details on All Stars’ design philosophy, new multiplier mechanic and Life Savers partnership
Pokemon Pocket
Pokémon TCG Pocket hits six-month high as franchise turns 30 years old
The digital card game generated $4.7m on February 27th, its highest sum since August 2025
New Offerings
Ofcom invites small games studios to workshop on navigating regulation
Regulator seeks feedback from early-stage developers on compliance challenges
New Offerings
Former PlayStation and Xbox hiring lead launches Rocket Game Talent
New boutique firm aims to help studios scale hiring operations
Market Report
Mobile games host three times more malicious ads than other apps says AppHarbr
One in every 58 ads in mobile games is malicious, AppHarbr report finds
Acqusitions
Open World acquires Drope.me to scale creator-driven games marketing
Acquisition expands Open World’s ability to run large-scale creator campaigns
Pgc Summit San Francisco
Helika is building the AI Publishing Engine game studios never had
Game development was democratised. Publishing wasn’t. Helika is going to fix that
Speaker Spotlight
BLKBOX.ai CEO Athar Zia talks marketing trends, ad failure rates and the future of AI
Zia gives insights into the current mobile marketing landscape ahead of his PGC San Francisco Summit talk on March 9th, 2026.
New Deal
Google cuts fees for mobile apps and games
Fortnite is set to return to Google Play as Epic settles worldwide legal disputes - though a revised US court injunction settlement is still pending
Rethink Liveops At Gdc
ThinkingData Summit: Global studios coming together to rethink live ops and data during GDC
Register for the ThinkingData Summit or sign up and receive the post-event recap series.
Security Review
Report: Trump administration reviews Tencent gaming investments over security concerns
Officials are assessing whether the company’s investments pose potential national security risks.
Industry Insights
How Gossip Harbor builds live ops from day one
Balancy breaks down Gossip Harbor’s approach to onboarding players through live ops
Pgc London Live!
Industry, AI and everything in-between - Seven fabulous fireside chats from PGC London 2026
HyprMX have managed to capture some of the excitement and energy from the pioneers and business leaders at PGC London 2026. Here are seven of the very best
Job News
Beyond The Pixels strengthens leadership ahead of its debut title Astro Burn
Former Fnatic and GIANTX CEO Wouter Sleijffers joins the studio as chief operating officer
Policy Shift
Unity Asset Store to remove content from developers in Greater China region
The change affects developers based in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau
Tiga Stands Firm
TIGA calls on the UK government to strengthen the Video Games Expenditure Credit in the upcoming Autumn Budget
Proposed reforms include raising the VGEC rate and expanding qualifying expenditure to 100%
Making Matches
Hay Day Match is the latest match-3 attempt for Supercell’s IP
Supercell’s Hay Day Pop was cancelled in 2020, but Hay Day Match is being made by Playabit
Aurora Award
Aurora Awards Europe - nominations now open!
Celebrating the women of the European games industry this summer at PG Connects Barcelona 2026
Finding Funds
Antihero Studios raises $4.5m in seed funding ahead of Misfitz open alpha
a16z Speedrun and Laton Ventures led the round
Pgc Summit Malmo
Nordic Networking? Come meet PGC Summit Malmö 2026 this May 27th and 28th
Meeting-centric summit purely focused on boosting business opportunities for games professionals
Funding News
Istanbul-based Vento Games secures $4m to scale family-friendly mobile puzzle portfolio
Funding will support talent expansion and accelerate the rollout of new brain-building puzzle titles
Child Safety
UK consultation on kids’ online lives: what the video games industry needs to know
Celia Pontin explains the UK government’s consultation on keeping children safe online
Legacy Games
How King grew Pet Rescue Saga to $1 billion and sustained it for over a decade
King’s Oriol Caro discusses how long-term live ops shape decisions for legacy mobile titles
Pokemon Party
Pokémon Day 2026: Legendaries, legacies and the latest opportunities for a $10.7bn mobile portfolio
The Pokémon Company’s seven active mobile games have surpassed $10bn in player spending, led by Pokémon Go and Pokémon TCG Pocket
Buyout Concerns
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defends decision to walk away from Warner Bros. Discovery bid
“It should be highly scrutinised the way I’m glad that ours was highly scrutinised”
Industry Outlook
Metacore CEO says 2026 will define mobile gaming’s next era
Mika Tammenkoski says 2026 could redefine mobile gaming as the industry emerges from decline and moves toward a more mature, disciplined operating model
Layoff News
Halfbrick confirms layoffs as part of internal restructuring amid wider industry pressures
The Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride developer says strategic priorities, not performance, drive changes
Game Contest
Hypixel Studios and CurseForge launch $100,000 modding contest for Hytale creators
Each core category features a $27,000 prize pool, with $10,000 awarded to first place
Environmental Impact
ZeptoLab and PlanetPlay bring climate action into Bullet Echo for World Wildlife Day
Special $5 and $15 bundles tie in game progression to environmental support
Why Barcelona
Seven reasons why Barcelona is a rising star in the games industry
Why global studios are flocking to one of Europe’s leading development hubs
Pgc Summit San Francisco
Start GDC week with Scopely, Tencent, SYBO and NBCUniversal
Final call to join conversations with industry leaders at PG Connects Summit San Francisco, March 9th
Social Media Survey
UK government opens consultation on social media age restriction, curfews and games crackdown
Surveys have opened to adults and young people on potential measures to curb apparent dangers from technology
Funding News
Minit Games raises $2m to bring instant play gaming into the feed era
Startup prepares for invite-only early alpha following pre-seed round
New Offerings
Krafton sets a new corporate vision built around bold imagination and global franchise growth
The publisher reaffirms its commitment to AI-driven tools to enhance both development workflows and player experiences
Seriously Celebrating
Pokémon Go celebrates 30 years of Pokémon with rare encounters and web shop promotions
Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are being rerun, increasing accessibility after almost 10 years of Go
Job News
Sixteen Tons appoints former Wooga VP creative Sebastian Nußbaum as chief creative officer
He joins amid renewed momentum for Emergency HQ, working alongside CEO Jan Richter
Leadership Change
GDAI expands leadership to deepen policy engagement across India’s games sector
The move targets global competitiveness through policy and talent reform
Hot Five
Hot Five: Overwatch Rush unveiled, Arknights: Endfield’s $46m month, and "bad news for Xbox"
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Podcast | Episode 85
The future of Xbox and Pokémon's 30th anniversary | 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 what's inside this week's episode 85...