Navigating new trends, why award shows overlook mobile, and Supercell’s AI testing | 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.
Craig Chapple
"Business model and platform transitions are extinction events for companies"
At PocketGamer.biz, we naturally report a lot on industry trends. Whether that’s the hottest new games and big numbers coming out of the UGC space (Roblox, Fortnite), or the latest developments and movements in AI (Starberry just announced it’s going all-in on the tech).
But how do companies, large and small, go about embracing new trends and identify which buzzwords to chase and which ones to ignore?
I had an insightful chat with Tyranno Studios chief gaming officer Michael Rubinelli about just that. He shared his decades of experience across companies like EA, Disney and Mattel, embracing everything from free-to-play to web3 and AI.
He shares what companies get right and how they get it wrong - with insights on how you can avoid chasing fads while staying adaptable to industry changes.
We’ll be conducting more video interviews in the coming months (in fact, I’ve got another awesome podcast to publish next week). Be sure to watch the Michael Rubinelli interview and stay tuned for more video content from myself and the rest of the team.
Paige Cook
Umamusume: Pretty Derby wins Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2025
The Game Awards 2025 just wrapped up and as usual, there’s debate around how much mobile is at the show, the answer being very little.
The nominees for the Best Mobile Game award consisted of big recognisable names, with Umamusume: Pretty Derby taking home the win.
Every year, awards shows such as The Game Awards and the BAFTAs often sideline mobile. Given that it’s a huge part of the industry, I understand the controversy and it’s a tough pill to swallow when you consider how incredibly hard mobile teams work.
As for why this happens at big-name shows, though? My take is that these shows cater to a certain audience and chase the big cultural moments in games. Look at the big winner of the night, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. A surprise hit from a small French studio, a stunning-looking game with a unique story to tell with much fanfare around it.
My point is that not only did the game achieve something amazing from a technical standpoint but it also created a significant buzz beyond the game itself, with story breakdown videos, fan art, fanfic, people debating the meaning of the story and millions of sountrack listens on Spotify.
It makes a cultural impact that sticks. Not to say some mobile games can’t do that - Wuthering Waves won the Player’s Voice Award - but most mobile games operate in a very different way than what a triple-A PC or console game might.
If you look at Google Trends and its Year in Search report, the top 10 most searched video games on Google are predominantly PC/console titles. Shows like this want to generate buzz and tap into the game names everyone is talking about, even if technically more people are playing a mobile game somewhere else.
Mobile developers do deserve more recognition, but, as unfortunate as it is, I don't think it will come from awards such as these, and I feel that next year the same debate will happen all over again.
You can see the winners of our own Pocket Gamer Mobile Games awards here.
Aaron Astle
How Mo.co used ai to test the player experience
It’s always interesting to hear insights and behind-the-scenes from games developers, and here we have a glimpse at the testing process from one of mobile’s biggest.
Supercell shared during PGC Helsinki that its portal-hopping dungeon explorer Mo.co has used AI-powered bots to test the gameplay experience, informing developers as to possible player actions, bugs, overpowered weapons and more.
When bots randomly do something right - like taking down a boss - they can be told to repeat this behaviour and so the process becomes further refined.
Distinctions between reinforcement learning and imitation learning were also discussed, with Supercell data scientist Markus Ojala noting the strengths of the former before a game ever enters players’ hands.
Companies
