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PocketGamer.biz’s top five biggest news stories of 2021

Our most-viewed news items

PocketGamer.biz’s top five biggest news stories of 2021

With 2021 coming to a close, PocketGamer.biz is reflecting on the year's news stories that have drawn the most eyes.

In a year full of metaverse discussions, the battle of Apple vs Epic, and the continued impacts of the global pandemic, there has been no shortage of game-related news to bring attention to.

Notably, our five most-viewed news articles this year did not follow a particular theme or revolve around the year's most prominent talking points, but rather each aligned to its own title or company.

However, you can find PG.biz's thoughts on the biggest events of 2021 including IDFA, Epic vs. Apple, and a year of mergers and acquisitions, in our mobile gaming trends of 2021 article.

Now, without further ado, in this list we will be taking a look back at our five biggest news articles in the year 2021.


Click here to view the list »
  • 1 Supercell sought a new game lead

    Supercell sought a new game lead logo

    At the start of the year, right back in January, Supercell revealed that it was searching for a "strategic, long-term visionary" game lead for Clash Royale.

    This followed Seth Allison’s shift in role from Clash Royale to Clash of Clans and left a gap in the development team.

    Our coverage also noted Supercell’s high revenue figures.


  • 2 Axie Infinity saw a monthly trading volume of over $170 million

    Axie Infinity saw a monthly trading volume of over $170 million logo

    In July, we reported that the play-to-earn blockchain game Axie Infinity had reached a record high in both its economic value and playerbase.

    Whilst available on PC, Mac, and iOS, Sky Mavis' Axie Infinity has mostly been played on Android. It had hit the milestone of 350,000 daily users by early July and as a marketplace for NFT trading, in the 30 days leading up to this it hosted more than $170 million in trading volume.

    $11 million in net income was generated towards the game's treasury.


  • 3 Konami’s eFootball PES Mobile celebrated 400 million downloads

    Konami’s eFootball PES Mobile celebrated 400 million downloads logo

    Back in spring, Konami’s eFootball PES Mobile series scored a lifetime total of more than 400 million downloads.

    Achieved accumulatively between iOS and Android, this milestone was celebrated with an interview with Barcelona FC captain Lionel Messi.

    Since then, eFootball PES Mobile has achieved a further 50 million downloads.


  • 4 Plants vs. Zombies came back to life on mobile

    Plants vs. Zombies came back to life on mobile logo

    PopCap Games and Electronic Arts originally soft-launched Plants vs. Zombies 3 in Ireland, Romania and the Philippines in 2020. Then, after months of testing, the game was pulled, feedback was incorporated, and the developers returned to the game’s roots.

    Following this, a pre-alpha test of Plants vs. Zombies 3 launched in 2021 as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases yet to be included, and our coverage of this second launch is what earns Plants vs. Zombies 3 a position in our top five news articles.

    Classic line-based tower defence gameplay returned, but the art style was fresh and puzzle features were new.


  • 5 Multiple World of Warcraft games in development

    Multiple World of Warcraft games in development logo

    Activision Blizzard revealed in February that multiple free-to-play World of Warcraft games were in development.

    These upcoming, previously unannounced titles were confirmed by CEO Bobby Kotick.

    With World of Warcraft being among the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time, and following a rejuvenated interest in 2020, we aren’t surprised to see this make it into our top five most-viewed news pieces for 2021.


News Editor

Aaron is the News Editor at PG.biz and has an honours degree in Creative Writing.
Having spent far too many hours playing Pokémon, he's now on a quest to be the very best like no one ever was...at putting words in the right order.