Redundancies
Montreal-based Ludia lets 45 staff go in new round of layoffs
The company has clarified the impact its restructuring will have on its employees
New Features
Niantic adds Campfire to Pokemon Go in social gaming push
The new feature aims to draw players of their biggest game into their social ecosystem
Shock Report
Google accused of misleading its advertisers on over 80% of ad placements
“Repackaging shitty, brand-unsafe outstream as instream is a big problem," quotes a new report with potential refunds running into billions
Data & Research
Skrmiish announces new Head of Data, Dr. João Pela
Bringing CERN-style data analysis to the world of play-to-earn
Unmissable Savings
Ten reasons why you need to attend Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki this September!
Book your ticket to PG Connects Helsinki ahead of time and save up to £330 using our Early Bird offer!
Updates
Unity goes deeper into AI as it announces two new tools
The game creation platform has positioned the use of generative AI as increasing focus of its offering
Financials
MAG Interactive sees in-app purchases soar 54% year-on-year in latest financials release
The company is known for titles such as Wordzee
Report
Midcore makes up 35% of total gaming revenue on iOS in the United States
The findings come as part of a report from analytics firm Liftoff
Let's Get Gaming
YouTube gets into games with new Playables product
Employees are starting to test the platform's first steps into games as it moves beyond video
Series Surge
In-game Ads solution Anzu raises $48M in Series B funding
Funding round led by Emmis Corporation and supported by many new high-profile investors
Finding Funds
Pixion Games raises $5.5 million for Web3 RPG Fableborne
Investments come from Blizzard, Shima Capital and more
Restructuring
Hi-Rez announces layoffs in studios, dissolving Rogue Company: Elite developer First Watch Games
Right now it's not entirely clear who will take over development of the mobile title
Investment
SuperScale raises $5.4m in Series A funding round
The scaling firm raised €5 million as part of the funding
Documentation
Zynga, Playrix and Niantic were all potential entries on Microsoft’s shopping list
News comes as part of the revelation Microsoft considered buying Sega
Thanks For Coming
The Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by PG Connects was our biggest and most successful debut event in a new territory – here’s what you missed!
1300+ attendees, 800+ leading companies, 60+ countries represented and over 100 expert speakers congregated in Dubai at our first event in the city
Features
Subway Surfers to introduce first AR features into the long-running title
Sybo introduced the “Subway Studio” feature as part of their latest update
Metaverse
Roblox is introducing experiences for users 17 and over
Users over 17 accounted for 38% of Roblox’s daily active users in 2022
Coming To Kwalee
Kwalee hires Adrian Garton as VP of HR in mission to find the industry’s "best talent"
Garton has more than 25 years’ experience in HR
Success In Funding
Animoca Brands subsidiary Anichess raises $1.5 million in seed round
The company is working on a decentralised chess game
Mini-games
WeChat’s mini-games have over 400m monthly active users
The all-in-one social media app and platform is used extensively throughout China
On The Up
June's China game approvals make it 2023's biggest month yet
In an incredibly consistent year, approvals have eked ahead to 89
Very Big Indie Pitch
Smash Head Studio's roguelite action platformer wins the first ever Dubai Big Indie Pitch
Winners breakdown
Milestones
Goddess of Victory: Nikke passes $400m on mobile
Latest figures put it in spitting distance of heavyweights like Diablo Immortal
Rewarded Play
Zebedee and adjoe partner to bring bitcoin rewards to games
The partnership will let players earn blockchain as they spend time in-game
Investment
Flexion gains new shareholder in Alta Fox Capital
The Texan firm has invested an undisclosed amount in the publisher
Trading
Hero Wars developer Nexters to restructure as GDEV Inc
The company resumed trading on the NASDAQ this year
Accelerating Diversity
Ten game makers named for the Wings Elevate 2023 accelerator program
The Netflix sponsored program features ten game makers all from gender diverse development teams
Investment Fund
Lumikai launches new $50m game fund backed by Supercell, Krafton and more
The fund focused on investing into early-stage game makers
Harry Potter
$360M grossing Harry Potter: Magic Awakened finally gets a global release on June 27
The game generated over $228 million in it's first two months alone from initial China release in 2021
Developer Funding
Avatar tech company Genies unveils $1 million developer engagement fund
The fund is for developers building AR experiences for a new social network
World Rainforest Day
Playtika will secure over 314 thousand acres of land in the Amazon
The latest House of Fun Impact initiative is in partnership with environmental rewards program Dots Eco
Launches
Tencent extraction shooter Arena Breakout set to release on July 14
The shooter promises a hardcore experience for mobile players
Legslation
Finland’s Neogames industry body weighs in on controversial new immigration law
The latest proposed reforms continue to draw strong criticism from companies who rely on foreign talent
Investment
Mobile fashion title Drest acquires £15m in new funding round
The mobile dress-up game has collaborated with numerous fashion brands
Ea Reorganisation
EA Games breaks into two companies: EA Entertainment to look after mobile games
Mobile remains under Jeff Karp as part of the newly formed EA Entertainment as FIFA Mobile hits $1 billion in revenue, EA Sports becomes an entity in itself
Magazines
Game acceleration platform Homa launches new physical and digital magazine
The studio will feature exclusive insights in both an online and print format
Ai Powered Ugc
Yahaha launches AI driven, cross platform co-creation tool
The studio has attracted significant interest and investment
Angry Birds
Angry Birds educational games are on the way
The games come as part of a new partnership between Rovio and Legends of Learning
Eyes Open
Anzu and Lumen’s two-year study finds that in-game ads come out on top
In-game ads have higher viewability and lead to higher purchase intent, study finds
Milestones
FIFA Mobile passes $1bn revenue threshold
The game was first released in 2016 and is based on the highly successful console franchise
Legislation
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen and other game execs decry Finland's "catastrophic" new three-month immigration law
Finnish Game leaders call out new rules that would require unemployed skilled workers to leave the country
Job News
Keywords Studios appoints Robert Kingston as CFO
Kingston brings more than 25 years of experience to the role
Ubisoft Mobile
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot on Ubisoft’s increasing presence on mobile
Guillemot outlined their success and future plans for mobile at their Ubisoft Forward event
New Mobile Games
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and AEW to partner for new mobile title
The game will be a free-to-play title
Report
Indian mobile gaming market report predicts rise to $8.6bn in value
The report was produced in collaboration with AppTweak and Appsflyer
Event Excitement
Mobile version of World of Tanks is makings its Tankfest debut this week
World of Tanks Blitz is joining the PC version in being featured at the yearly Dorset event
Delays
New Zealand competition authorities to delay decision on Activision Blizzard acquisition to July 17th
The delay comes as the US FTC and UK CMA both levy actions against the landmark deal
Thank You
Meet the fantastic companies supporting tomorrow’s Dubai GameExpo Summit
A massive thank you to our fantastic sponsors and partners, the Dubai GameExpo Summit wouldn’t be possible without your support!
Newzoo Report
79% of all gamers play on their phones, with 35% only gaming on mobile devices
47% of gamers play on multiple platforms, but mobile dominates single-platform play
Job News
Kris Davis and Olivier Courtemanche appointed co-heads of PlayStation mobile
The new appointments follow Nicola Sebastiani’s decision to leave the company