Week In Views
Tencent props up Ubisoft leadership, and Pokémon gets the LEGO treatment | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Nintendo App
Nintendo Today mobile app launches to keep fans informed on Switch 2 and more
App is free download but requires a Nintendo account
Investment News
Kameha Ventures launches $27m fund to support game tech startups
The team will provide strategic guidance, mentorship, and long-term backing for early-stage founders
Cloud Partnership
Amazon Luna partners with EA to bring Star Wars and more to cloud gaming platform
The service has expanded to four new regions, now available in 14 countries
Tax Breaks
Alberta scraps plans for video game tax credit
The government will now support the industry through “strategic funding partnerships and investments”
New Games
New release roundup: Simon’s Cat Match, NBA 2K All Star, DriftX, Piano Tiles 2+ and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover the past week
Super Backer
Supercell steps up investment arm push
Developer calls on companies to reach for potential partnerships on new website
Short Report
AppLovin shares dive 19% after latest short-seller report
Muddy Waters claims ad tech firm violates platforms' terms and conditions; AppLovin CEO says it's "easy to discredit a short report like this in minutes"
Investment Deal
Tencent invests $1.25bn in new Ubisoft subsidiary focused on top IP
Spin-off includes licences and teams for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry
Publising Deal
Skystone Games takes US publishing rights for Mobile Legends as TikTok ban looms
ByteDance has been forced to relinquish publishing rights to the MOBA and Marvel Snap by US lawmakers
Crossovers
Subway Surfers and Crossy Road collide in first-ever crossover event
Event will include limited edition crossover characters and other surprises
The Future Of Iap
Monetisation trends 2025: Insights from Elevatix CEO Kseniia Maiboroda on revolutionising IAPs
Find out why the Elevatix CEO believes the future of mobile gaming lies not just in profitability but in building trust and lasting relationships with players
New Partnerships
Anzu and Claritas partner to offer improved attribution metrics for in-game ads
The partnership aims to bring transparency and performance optimisation to in-game advertising
Going Public
Discord could go public this year as IPO plans take shape
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are on board for planned flotation
Gdc 2025
GDC 2025 wraps up with nearly 30,000 attendees
Next year's edition will take place at the Moscone Center from March 9th to 13th, 2026
Game Closure
Square Enix to shut down War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius after five years
The title will remain playable until May 29th, 2025
Aliexpress Gaming
Games of AliExpress: Play-to-earn and the future of shopping
Department of Play's Will Luton provides a deep dive into the retail site's mobile game strategy
Eid Al-fitr
Celebrate Eid al-Fitr with a 30% discount on Dubai GameExpo Summit 2025 tickets
Eid Mubarak! The Dubai GameExpo Summit 2025, the leading B2B event in the MENA region, is offering a special discount for the holiday season.
Pgc Barcelona
Super early bird tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona 2025 end soon
Book now before prices rise at midnight thursday, march 27, and attend the newest addition to the leading b2b conference for the mobile games industry
M&a
DoubleU completes $30m Paxie Games acquisition
Purchase sees South Korean developer take a 60% stake, with the remaining share to be purchased over the next three years
Industry Insights
Million Victories' big year and ambitions for a billion dollar future
CEO Benoit Ducrest shares the highlights of 2024 and the teams even bigger ambitions for the future
Reach For The Stars
Unleashing Growth: Why Creator Programmes are Essential for Mobile Game Success
Nexus.gg provides a deep dive into the opportunities and benefits of working with content creators and why building dedicated creator programmes can reap huge benefits for your games
Investment News
Türkiye's Feraset secures $4.5m to expand AI-powered consumer apps
The funds will go towards scaling its marketing efforts and working towards increasing its global subscriber count
Market Report
German games market declined to €9.4bn in 2024 as in-app purchase and hardware sales fell
In-game and in-app purchases fell 3% to €4.6bn ($4.9bn)
New Studio
Space Ape vets launch Offroad Games
New studio takes Space Ape-developed titles Chrome Valley Customs and Fastlane: Road to Revenge with it
Partnership Deal
Scopely to make game based on CD Projekt IP
Polish developer has worked on The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077
Investment News
Planetarium Labs secures $3m funding to expand Immortal Rising 2
The funds will go towards enhancing gameplay mechanics and growing the community
Modest Metrics
Supercell’s Mo.co hits 2.5m downloads and $570k in first week
By comparison, Squad Busters accumulated 30m downloads and $11.8m during its first seven days
Price Cut
Havok lowers licensing fee for studios with budgets under $20m
Companies will only need to pay $50k to use its tech
New Offerings
GGWP teams up with Unity to launch proactive voice moderation tools
Vivox users can integrate GGWP’s AI to monitor voice and text, offering a full view of user behaviour
Investment News
Uthana raises $4.3m with open beta for AI-powered animation platform
The brand said its Motion Library offers over 10,000 animations searchable by natural language
New Partnerships
Banijay Rights and Tactile Games partner to launch Simon’s Cat Match on mobile
The title is now available on FireOS, Android and iOS devices
Company Spotlight
Company spotlight: Geniee
Find out more about Geniee, the ad-tech and marketing company which is helping publishers maximise revenue and enabling advertisers to drive real impact
Spending Star
Honkai: Star Rail rockets past $2bn on mobile in under two years
The gacha RPG has taken 10 months longer than Genshin Impact to hit the milestone, but now frequently outperforms HoYoverse's flagship
High Stakes
How Playstack bet on Balatro and won big
Playstack CEO Harvey Elliott shares a behind the scenes look at the journey of Balatro
M&a
Savvy Games Group plots PC and console M&A
Deal could potentially be led by Scopely, says CEO Brian Ward
Mobile Majority
Double-digit games industry growth labelled "a fantasy" as revenue forecast to hit $237bn in 2025
Mobile game predicted to earn $110.9bn this year, over half of all games software revenue
Marvellous Mena
Sandsoft's CEO on the publisher's hybridcasual evolution and global expansion
David Fernandez Remesal discusses the publisher's journey throughout the past year and its plans for 2025
Gdc Takeaways
Five takeaways from GDC 2025: A quieter year, AI was the big trend, and the engine wars go silent on the show floor
The impact of a challenging few years and an industry in transition was reflected in the show's attendance and on the show floor
Gameexpo Summit
Here's why every MENA indie should be at May's Dubai GameExpo Summit
Connecting the Middle East and North Africa with the global games industry this May 7th and 8th
Subscription Superiority
Apple Arcade "likely wouldn’t be profitable" without Apple One bundle, report claims
Apple Arcade reached two million users in its first year, but would reportedly struggle to break even alone
Accessibility In Games
ESA launches Accessible Games Initiative with support from industry leaders
The initiative is supported by founding members Electronic Arts, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, and Ubisoft
Funding News
Opus Major raises $10m to develop debut game and expand team
The studio is led by ex-Madbox founders Jean-Nicolas Vernin and Pierre-Armand Nicq
Eu Guidelines
New EU guidelines demand transparency for in-game purchases
The CPC said it will “monitor progress and may take further actions if harmful practices continue"
Mena Games Awards
Don't miss the chance to be considered for the MENA Games Industry Awards 2025
Become apart of the prestigious awards recognising the visionaries, developers, publishers, investors, and legends who are shaping the future of the MENA games market.
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell’s mo.co gets invite-only launch, Blood Strike celebrates first anniversary, and Pokémon Sleep’s Legendary comeback
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
All Stars
Candy Crush All Stars returns with $1m prize pool
Qualifiers began on March 20th, with first knockout phase set to kick off next week
Five New Games
New release roundup: mo.co, Halfbrick Sports: Football, Avatar Legends: Realms Collide and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Lucrative Legendaries
Pokémon Sleep's big revenue strategy returns with first Legendary event of 2025
Previous Legendary events have raked in $16.5m over a combined six weeks
Pokemon Property
Pokémon Go won't get obtrusive ads or sell location data after $3.5bn Scopely acquisition, product director confirms
"That is not happening in Pokémon Go - not now, not ever."