Meaningful collaborations, Arknights: Endfield's first six months and AI in China | Week in Views
The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can't let go of…
So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we've created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.
Paige Cook
This week’s Mobile Mavens looked at whether partnerships and collaborations are really worth it and one thing became pretty clear. Most of the Mavens commented that collaborations only truly work if it actually fits the game.
Collaborations have definitely worked on me over the years, celebrity promotions not so much. I don’t personally care for those because it can feel like a glorified ad with a familiar face.
However, I have definitely been tempted when it's a game franchise I love. For example, I remember reinstalling The Division 2, a game I hadn’t played in years, just because it added Resident Evil-inspired cosmetics. However, I jumped back in, claimed the rewards, played a little and then drifted away again.
That’s probably the key point. A lot of these collaborations grab your attention, but it doesn’t guarantee long-term engagement.
Some games have built much of their identity around collaborations. I’m looking at Fortnite as the obvious example. It feels like every major film, TV show, or celebrity eventually finds its way into the game.
Fortnite has made crossovers part of its core DNA, whereas in other games they often sit alongside the experience for a short period rather than being a fundamental part of it.
Years ago, these types of collaborations felt like occasional events we would see. Today they’re absolutely everywhere.
Games partnering with films, musicians, sports stars, food brands and, of course, other games will only become more prominent as our entertainment sectors become even more interconnected.
I'm sure we'll see more great crossovers and some less so and as the Mavens said, a large part of separating the good from the bad may stem from how naturally they overlap to begin with.
Aaron Astle
Arknights: Endfield surpasses $125m in six months on mobile
Arknights: Endfield earned an estimated $126.7 million between Google Play and the App Store in its first six months.
This Gryphline title released on January 22nd, 2026 as the latest expansion in the Arknights brand - evolving from its tower defence origins to an anime and now a 3D action title. Endfield has made 41% of its earnings from Japan, with China in second at 28%, showing a sway towards players in Asia.
Of course, demographics may look different off the major app stores, on PC or on PS5 - and total revenue to date is likely higher when including these other avenues too.
Arknights: Endfield was among the first big launches of 2026, and now already half a year later, I’m curious to see how its revenue will shape up during H2. Based on recent years, it’s likely to land among the most lucrative new launches and help deliver another win to Asia in the annual contest for players’ wallets.
Mariam Ahmad
How China's game industry is using AI, from art to ad-buying
This week I talked to seven industry leaders in China on how they’re using AI day to day.
The thing that stuck with me is how far past the concept-art stage this all is. Tripo AI's Simon Song talks about turning text and images into production-ready 3D assets in seconds. MOONTON's Tiger Xu uses AI to figure out what's resonating with fans in a new market before a single tournament lands there. Mintegral's Phoena Pang has gone from a full UA team to one operator running a stack of AI agents that plan, execute and quality-check each other.
The staffing numbers are the part worth sitting with too. XDream Robotics' Jeff Lyndon thinks most Chinese studios have either cut live ops headcount by 20-40% for the same output, or kept headcount and gained a 20-40% performance boost instead.
That's his read, not verified industry data, but it lines up with everything else in the piece - customer service teams "scaled down by more than 50%," ad buyers redistributed to AI to stop them getting poached.
What's driving it, according to Avia's Tom van Dam, is less about the tech and more about appetite. Chinese studios would rather ship something imperfect and fix it live than wait for a polished version.
It’s worth a read if you want a sense of where the rest of the industry is probably headed next.
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