Game Update
Steer Studios pulls Grunt Rush from app stores for planned updates
The studio’s debut title is currently unavailable to new players
Strategy Spending
Whiteout Survival hits $3bn in player spending in under 2.5 years
Century Games’ strategy title has been among the five highest-earning mobile games every month this year
Age Of Casual
Tencent gives Age of Empires the Last War treatment on mobile
Age of Empires: Survival brings hypercasual gameplay to the longstanding strategy franchise
Podcast | Episode 60
Games investment tips, Clash Royale's evolution, and China's rising global influence | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 60...
Esports World Cup
Esports World Cup 2025 begins in Riyadh with record $70m prize pool
Of the prize pool, $27m will be spread across the top 16 clubs while this year’s winner will earn $7m
Acqusitions
Azerion sells Whow Games to DoubleDown Interactive in deal worth up to $76m
The advertising firm said the sale is part of its broader portfolio optimisation strategy
New Partnerships
Genies partners with Unity to bring AI avatar tools and IP assets to developers
Genies will debut a custom landing page in the Unity Asset Store later in 2025, with full integration into the Unity Editor set for 2026
Funding News
Turkish studio Circle Games raises $7.25m to expand puzzle portfolio
Funds will go towards upcoming projects as well as growing its development team
Roguelike Revenue
Habby's Wittle Defender hits $10m in gross player spending
Habby’s tower defence title launched worldwide on Android and iOS on June 9th
The Power Of Playables
Interactive ads surge 20% among top apps as advertisers bet big on playables
Liftoff’s latest report shows the playable ads formats grew eight times higher than non-playables for top spenders last year
Bitcoin Comeback
SaruTobi is first game on iOS with ZBD-powered Bitcoin microtransactions
The game is the first on the App Store to use ZBD's Lightning Network for Bitcoin integration
Strike Over
Video games strike ends after 11 months as SAG-AFTRA ratifies new contract
The new agreement includes an immediate pay increase of over 15% for performers, with raises scheduled for November 2025, 2026 and 2027
Building And Bolstering
French dev Million Victories secures almost $40m in funding from Haveli Investments
The studio’s flagship mobile game Million Lords: World Conquest has 100,000 monthly players
Deal Deluge
Games M&A hits $3bn disclosed deal value in Q2 2025
A new wave of M&A through late 2025 and into 2026 is expected as companies leverage improved valuations for growth
Creating A Council
UK Video Games Council establishes to inform and support government policy
The council will be supported by UK trade bodies Ukie and TIGA, with ongoing input from the wider industry
Resilient Growth
Green Game Jam reached 108m daily active players to spur real-world climate action in 2024
The new Playing for the Planet Annual Impact report shows that the alliance fell short of its goal to grow membership by 25%, achieving a 14% increase
Data Diligence
The IAB updates its Diligence Platform to educate data suppliers in "increasingly regulated environment"
The update follows after the IAB’s new Gaming Measurement Framework, outlining ad formats for games
Revenue Royale
Clash Royale hits post-pandemic record of $3.8m daily revenue with new mode Merge Tactics
Daily player spending has reached its highest since 2021
Anime Ahead
Garena Free Fire anime details emerge in new teaser trailer
The series is being directed by Ken Takahashi, who previously worked on Fate/Grand Order’s anime adaptation
Clash Newcomer
Supercell releases major Clash Royale update with new game mode Merge Tactics
The new mode is fully turn-based with ‘Rulers’, turn-based battles and more
China Changes
Overseas studios to be eligible for domestic licences in China for games developed in Shanghai
The Shanghai Municipal Government will test this in a pilot programme
New Offerings
Savvy Games Group and PNU’s Applied College sign MoU to equip women for careers in games development
Training will cover areas like concept design, 3D modelling, animation and interactive storytelling
Sporty Celebration
MLB Rivals hits 5m downloads and 1bn pitches as it marks second anniversary
Developer Com2uS is offering players a series of special events and rewards both in-game and on social media
Moving To Mobile
Global Worldwide closes funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures in mobile manoeuvre
The oversubscribed round was "tough" in the current AI landscape, according to chairman and CEO Will Harbin
Apple Troubles
Apple appeals $587m EU fine over App Store practices
The iPhone maker said it was forced to appeal to avoid “punitive” daily fines
New Partnerships
The CoLab partners with Universally Speaking to boost quality of indie games
The collaboration will improve quality and strengthen relationships between publishers and studios
The Power Of Pokemon
Pokémon Go celebrates ninth anniversary and $8.8bn in gross player spending
Total earnings are likely even higher when including alternative stores, Go’s web shop and more
Victorious Valorant
Valorant Mobile hits 40m pre-registrations in China
Riot Games opened pre-registrations on April 21st, exclusively for the Chinese version
Job News
Stillfront recruits Emily Villatte as chief financial officer
She will assume the position on January 7th, 2026 from interim Group CFO Tim Holland
Suites And Services
Keywords’ Liquid Violet expands London studio with new recording and mixing suites
Liquid Violet will now offer end-to-end audio services through a partnership with fellow Keywords subsidiary Laced
Lawsuit Triumph
French court hands suspended sentences to three ex-Ubisoft executives over workplace harassment
All three executives left the company in 2020 following the investigations
Esports Tournament
The Battle of Polytopia Global World Championship set to kick off with $10,000 prize pool
This year's prize pool marks the biggest competitive event in the game’s nine-year history
Podcast | Episode 59
A dark day for Xbox | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 59...
Vote Now
Voting begins for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025
Voting for this year's big show has now begun
Zenless Celebration
Zenless Zone Zero celebrates first anniversary with $442.1m, just 23% of Genshin Impact’s year one
HoYoverse’s latest gacha game generated nearly one-third of its lifetime mobile revenue in its launch month
Pgc Barcelona
The value of retargeting players and when to do it
RTB House gaming account director Vera Manhoso talks data preparation and integrating an MMP at PGC Barcelona 2025
New Offerings
NetEase's Destiny: Rising hits 5 million pre-registrations ahead of August 28th global launch
Players who pre-registered early will receive in-game rewards
Acqusitions
RMV IT Services acquires hit mobile game Plane Evolution from Global Champions
Supersonic from Unity will keep its shares and continue as the game's publisher
Marvellous Mena
Gamezop commits $4m to expand in the Middle East with a new office in Bahrain
The company plans to onboard 1,000 new apps and hit $6m revenue within 18 months
Layoffs
Blizzard ends Warcraft Rumble development as company reportedly slashes up to 100 jobs
Move is part of sweeping cuts across Microsoft and its games division
Redundancies
Swedish dev Toca Boca hit by layoffs
Rubik's Match developer Nørdlight has also been closed
New Offerings
Outfit7 unveils 2025 roadmap with three new games
Leading the rollout is My Talking Tom Friends 2 which already has 2 million pre-registrations
Antitrust Heat
Apple faces potential sanctions in Brazil over App Store antitrust violations
Antitrust body recommends fines and behavioural remedies to solve the competition problems
Job News
LEGO Group appoints Fredrik Loving as SVP and global head of LEGO Game
He will report to chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin
Investment News
Boby.ai secures Revo Capital investment to scale AI products
This is Revo’s second seed investment from its new $86m Fund III, which launched in March
Funding News
Grand Mobile raises $750,000 to grow flagship title Grand Mobile
The deal closed with the company valued at $75m
New Developer Friendly Marketplace
TeleStore: A new developer-friendly marketplace for browser games and web apps
TeleStore aims to reinvent the digital marketplace by making it fair, flexible, and accessible for both developers and users worldwide
Job Losses
Report: King loses 10% of staff as Microsoft makes games division cuts
Candy Crush maker hit hard by redundancies across games group
Funding For Games
Google Play’s Indie Games Fund returns to Latin America with $2 million for 10 studios
Selected studios will receive between $150,000 and $200,000 to grow their game
Milestone
Sky: Children of the Light surpasses 270m downloads ahead of sixth anniversary celebration
The anniversary ceremony will honour outstanding user-generated content across ten categories