Pokemon Power
The Pokémon Company caught $10.8 billion from merch and licenced goods last year
License Global’s latest Top Global Licensors Report places Pokémon seventh among all licensors based on 2023 revenue
State Of Play
The state of Finland’s games market
We speak with Finnish developers and executives about the Finnish games industry's challenges and the 'survive to 2025' mantra
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason event to kick off with a $3 million prize pool
Players can earn event currency by logging in, playing matches, or spectating matches
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: "PGC enabled me to grow my network and presence"
Raptor PR's Rana Rahman shares his favourite PGC memories
Hot Five
Hot Five: HoYoverse’s next game, Monster Hunter Now’s multiplayer mindset, and three years of Pokémon Unite
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Podcast | Episode 22
How Lilith Games builds billion-dollar mobile hits | 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 22...
Final Countdown
Final hours of voting for the Pocket Gamer mobile Games Awards 2024 in association with Gamelight
It's your last chance to vote for who you think should win their respective category
Event News
Mobidictum Conference returns to Istanbul in October
Event takes place on October 15th and 16th
Week That Was
Netflix sticks with games, Humble Games closure confusion and Monster Hunter Now levels up | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Diverse Senior Team
Capcom wants 15% of its managers be women
"Looking ahead, we believe we will be able to see more female directors by broadening our scope and increasing the ratio of female managers"
Investment Round
UGC platform developer Look North World raises $4.5 million in seed funding
Start-up publishes premium mods and games for Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft
Jobs News
Xsolla appoints former Kami Vision and Samsung exec as new chief financial officer
Cathleen Nilson has previously worked at Google, EA and Intel, among other firms
Strike Action
SAG-AFTRA members go on video games strike over AI and fears of “flagrant exploitation”
Representative of producers fights back and claims it had agreed “historic” wage increases
Attack Of The Clones
Clones and how to combat them: Examples from the games industry
Futura Digital delves into the world of clones and what legal action developers can take
Ecosystem Expansion
Dubai is confirmed as Games of the Future host in 2025
Qualifiers are underway via the World Phygital Community’s Phygital Games 2024/25 tournament
Milestone
Monopoly Go! hits $3 billion in revenue
The game leads leads Hasbro's licensing-portfolio with Q2 revenue growing 20% year over year led by Monopoly Go!
App Stores
Epic confirms Fortnite’s EU iOS comeback as it quits Samsung Galaxy Store
Fortnite and other games will now be available on AltStore for iOS in the EU
Pgc Helsinki
Fabulous fringe events this October at PG Connects Helsinki
The finest curated networking for indies, developers, publishers, investors and more
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from Asphalt Legends Unite to Laid-Back Camp: Puzzle Camp
We highlight five new games that have broken cover this week
Monster Multiplayer
Monster Hunter Now’s Dimensional Links show a conscious effort to include rural players
Multiplayer levels up with this latest online matchmaking feature
Monetisation Masterclass
PocketGamer.biz MasterClass: Monetisation models, resources, and taking players on a journey
Fundamentally Games CEO Oscar Clark shares insights into the art of pricing while actually making a good game
Content Creator Collab
Monster Hunter Now looks to bring "meaningful integration" with MrBeast collab
The game’s first collab outside the Monster Hunter IP is with YouTube’s biggest creator
Awards Season
BAFTA's Tara Saunders on mobile gaming's awards snub and how the event is evolving for 2025
BAFTA's chair of the games committee discusses the importance of the awards as entries for the 2025 edition open
Vote Now
Final chance: Vote for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2024 in association with Gamelight
Deadline is midnight, Friday July 26th (and Mid-Term tickets end today!)
New Game Approved
HoYoverse’s next game Astaweave Haven among 105 Chinese approvals this July
This month’s domestic approvals in the country are at their highest since March
Safety First
Roblox claims to be "overwhelmingly positive experience" despite over 13,000 child exploitation incidents in 2023
The platform reported 13,316 incidents last year as work to navigate the "complexities" of online child safety continues
Esports Growth
Olympic Esports Games set to commence in 2025
Saudi Arabia will host the first edition next year
Live Service Look
Digital Extremes CEO believes "terrified" game makers drop live service titles too soon
Warframe is still in service after 11 years and continues to expand to new platforms
Milestone
Hero Wars: Alliance celebrates $1.5 billion in revenue
The game has garnered more than 150 million installs on mobile
Pgc Jordan
Save up to £305 on PG Connects Jordan - ends TODAY!
Time's running out for Super Early Bird prices for November's unmissable global games industry conference
Interview
"It is crucial that investors recognise the importance of investing in and believing in the local industry"
Raheebeen Studios founder Ahmed Alshaikh talks about the funding opportunities and efforts to support local developers in the KSA
Industry Insights
Why market benchmarks matter: How to work with analytics at launch
Rockbite Games founders Avetis Zakharyan and Gevorg Kopalyan share how to get the best out of your analytics
Masterclass
Register now for today's Game Monetisation Design Webinar
Deep dive learning online for user engagement, retention, monetisation and game economies
Layoffs
Humble Games denies shutting down after reportedly laying off all staff
36 employees said to be impacted by decision as publisher says it's going through another restructure
Pokemon Power
Pokémon Unite catches $83 million on mobile as it celebrates first three years
Pokémon Gold mascot Ho-Oh rises to the occasion via time-limited event for third anniversary
New Boss
Netflix recruits Epic exec Alain Tascan as president of games division
He replaces former VP of games Mike Verdu, who exited the role last month
Monetisation
Best practices for in-game shops: How to convert players into spending
An excerpt from Balancy's new digital book 'Best practices for in-game shops'
Funding Round
Mobile market intelligence platform AppMagic raises $3 million
Firm aims to develop new platform features and expand global sales force in key markets
Monetisation Design
Fundamentally Games' Oscar Clark on designing long-term games revenue
The Fundamentally Games CEO breaks down the best practices of monetisation design
Pastures New
ZeptoLab CEO Max Petrov to leave company after almost 12 years
Petrov became CEO in 2022, focusing on strategy, business and culture
Layoff News
Forte Closes Rumble Entertainment following Phoenix Labs closure
It's the second studio closure in two months
New Studio
Pixelberry vets form Candlelight Games with "heartfelt" narrative games on the way
The new studio’s founders bring experience from leading roles on Pixelberry's flagship title Choices
Studio Closure
NetherRealm is shutting down Mortal Kombat Onslaught
The closure comes just a year after launch
Netflix Games
How Netflix's co-CEOs are calibrating games investment growth with its business impact
“[It’s] worth noting that, that engagement and that impact on our overall business at the current scale, it's still quite small"
Investmen Report
Early-stage VC games funding hits 12-month high but growth and later stage investments still "very depressed"
Konvoy Ventures report notes "very depressed" VC investment landscape for growth and late-stage games companies
Ai Concerns
SAG-AFTRA could strike over AI protections for games performers
The union and games companies are said to remain “far apart” in their negotiations.
China Expansion
Xsolla opens new Beijing office
Company says move signifies “renewed commitment” to the region
Executive Departures
Perfect World CEO and co-CEO resign after mass layoffs
Senior VP Gu Liming takes reins at Chinese developer
Women In Games
PLAYSTUDIOS’ Ravid Sela on the importance of data-driven decisions in ad monetisation
As part of Liftoff's Women In Games Series, PocketGamer.biz speaks to Ravid Sela, Ad Monetisation Manager at PLAYSTUDIOS.
Ongoing Rift
Tencent's mobile games vanish from Huawei app store rankings
The move left rival NetEase's titles Eggy Party and Fantasy Westward Journey in the top positions