Industry Voices
Rovio’s Anastasiya Kara on AI, live ops and Spain's growing games market
Industry experts share their insight ahead of Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona
India On The Rise
LVL Zero unveils global mentor network for inaugural gaming incubator cohort
Startups to receive support across publishing, growth, and live ops
Moshi Media
Moshi Monsters returns with new animated TV series amid multi-platform revival
A new Moshi Monsters game is also planned for early access in 2026
Discount Deal
Save €190! PGC Barcelona Early Bird prices end this week!
Book your tickets by midnight this Thursday, May 14th
Policy Shift
Google Play to shift chargeback costs to Android developers in 2026
New Review Refund API launching in July 2026
Proposal Rejected
eBay rejects GameStop acquisition proposal over financing and strategic concerns
Board calls GameStop bid “neither credible nor attractive”
Rovio Restructuring
Sega calls out sluggish Rovio performance as it eyes turnaround
Sega’s latest financials noted that Rovio will undergo restructuring, then focus on expanding the Angry Birds brand
Switch 2 Success
Nintendo Switch 2 nears 20m unit sales in under a year but shares have tanked 40%
The Switch 2 has outsold its predecessor’s first year by 32% with two months still to go
Pgc Barcelona
Scopely’s growing presence in Barcelona: From five employees to 750
Scopely originally established an office in the city to work on an end-to-end platform
Marvellous Mena
How Nimble Fox Games is building a hybridcasual studio around speed, but not chaotic speed
Founder Qasim Ali on building a Saudi pipeline, killing games fast and why quality alone is not enough
Job News
Roblox appoints Mohamed El Sheakh as general manager for MENA and Türkiye
The new GM will oversee partnerships and developer ecosystem growth
Acqusitions
NCSoft subsidiary Veroplay acquires Moving Eye Games and Swamp Attack franchise
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed
New Offerings
Guerrilla Games co-founder Arjan Brussee is building a European alternative to Unreal and Unity
The Immense Engine aims to compete with Unreal and Unity
Adaptations
NBC greenlights Wordle game show adaptation for 2027 debut
Savannah Guthrie will host the Wordle television adaptation
Funding News
Grand Games raises $70m Series B to scale hybridcasual games
Funding will support marketing, hiring, and upcoming game launches
Pgc Barcelona
Socialpoint head to speak at PGC Barcelona next month
Ivan Zaguirre joins a host of star speakers at our big conference next month
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell to acquire Metacore, Kohort raises $7m in Series A, and CCP rebrands to Fenris Creations
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Offerings
Discord launches Nitro Rewards with Xbox Game Pass and gaming hardware perks
Subscribers will receive monthly orbs drops and bonus quest rewards
New Partnerships
Spin Master and Supercell partner on global toy line for Clash and Brawl Stars franchises
The global toy line is scheduled to launch in summer 2027
New Offerings
Esports Foundation and JioBLAST launch India Rising pathway to Esports World Cup
Chess will serve as the first competitive title for the programme
Industry Voices
Zynga’s Javi Digiorgio on creative resilience and Spain’s rising games scene
Industry experts share their insight ahead of Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona
Mobile's Key Challenges
Is Metacore a warning sign?
The Merge Mansion developer's challenges and acquisition by Supercell highlights mobile’s big challenges
Aurora Award
Last chance to nominate for the Aurora Awards Europe
Celebrating the women of the European games industry this summer at PG Connects Barcelona 2026
Week In Views
GameStop's eBay bid, Xbox's leadership reset and Candy Crush's marketing lessons | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Esports Tournament
The Battle of Polytopia World Championship returns with a $10,000 prize pool
More than 10,000 players entered the tournament qualifiers in 2025
New Offerings
Flexion launches Exprexion to help expand mobile game monetisation beyond Apple and Google
The company is pushing for a more decentralised future for mobile game distribution
New Partnerships
Gamefam teams up with Borussia Dortmund for FIFA Super Soccer on Roblox
The event introduces exclusive Borussia Dortmund-themed quests and rewards for players
Pgc Summit Shanghai
How Chinese game makers leverage AI
Discover how the world's biggest games market is running ahead at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai this July
New Games
New release roundup: Gambonanza, The Rhymatory, Perchang World, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
M&a
InMobi acquires mobile growth platform MobileAction
Deal will help expand InMobi's advertising services
Ai For Ua
Exclusive: Kohort raises $7m to build UA AI agents for mobile
The company's suite of AI tools have been trained on $6bn of historical UA spend
Marketing Moves
All Stars, ASMR and IRL experiences: Candy Crush’s marketing strategy unwrapped
We meet with King’s marketing team to discuss strategy, branding, and how to advertise a 14-year-old game
Funding Influx
Astrocade raises $56m to expand AI-powered games creation platform
The company claims its platform now generates hundreds of millions of plays monthly
Acaster On Apple Arcade
Perchang World launches as Apple Arcade exclusive, marking comedian James Acaster’s first games role
The original Perchang gets a sequel 10 years later, designed with Apple Arcade in mind
Legal Proceedings
Supreme Court rejects Apple's bid to pause Epic Games contempt ruling
Apple now returns to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to fight over what commission it can lawfully charge on external payments
Funding For Games
Griffin Gaming Partners launches $100m indie games fund
The fund has already backed 15 game projects
New Offerings
IGDA Portugal launches to support local game developers
The organisation aims to support sustainable careers for game developers across Portugal
Comeback
Freecash returns to Google Play after policy review
Almedia is still working with Apple to restore Freecash on iOS
Shake-up
Eve Online studio CCP rebrands to Fenris Creations as Google takes minority stake
Fenris has partnered with DeepMind to train AI and explore new gameplay experiences
Leadership Change
Microsoft reshuffles Xbox leadership as Asha Sharma pushes turnaround
The Windows company will discontinue Copilot on console and begin winding down the mobile version
Industry Insights
Why copying best practices won’t help your company grow
Nikita Guk explains why copying best practices from successful studios rarely works and what actually drives organisational performance
India On The Rise
LVL Zero founding partner Krish Anurag on selecting studios, equity-free funding and building India's global game pipeline
"The best teams aren't building just for India. They're building from India for players across the globe"
Unionisation
Wizards of the Coast declines to recognise MTG Arena union
Workers say an NLRB election is now expected within weeks
New Partnerships
Savvy Games Group and Roblox sign MoU to grow Saudi Arabia’s game development ecosystem
Partnership focuses on game development training and education initiatives
Investment News
EasyWin closes second seed funding round at $20m valuation
The company expands its real-money gaming platform into 12 countries
Done Deal
EA signs multi-year licensing and partnership deal with Brazilian Football Confederation
Deal includes licensing rights and plans for joint marketing activities.
New Offerings
Supercell taps action sports filmmaker Ty Evans for Clash Royale short film
The campaign creates a fictional extreme sport called “rhino riding.”
M&a
Mistplay acquires MAF’s MyChips to boost rewarded play platform
Deal expands Mistplay's rewarded LoyaltyPlay global partner network across North America, APAC and Europe
Events
Gamescom LATAM 2026 welcomes record 154,000 visitors
Attendance figures up by 17.5%
Pgc Barcelona 2026
Scopely, Gameloft and Tilting Point join speaker lineup in Barcelona this June
Global games leaders take the Pocket Gamer Connects stage