Service Disruption
Meta pulls Horizon Worlds from VR as platform shifts to mobile
Horizon Worlds will disappear from the Quest Store by March 31st 2026, with full shutdown on headsets by June 15th
Pgc Barcelona
Save up to €290 on PGC Barcelona before Super Early Bird offer ends
Last chance to save - tickets start from just €98 until Thursday, March 19th
Jobs News
Ubisoft names Julien Bares as GM of mobile and casual-focused Creative House 5
Former Tencent Games and 2K veteran will head up division home to Ketchapp, Kolibri and others
M&a
Smartly signs letter of intent to acquire measurement platform Incrmntal
Terms of the deal were not disclosed
Alternative Marketplace
Epic Games Store opens up to mobile self-publishing in August
GM Steve Allison teases major publishers could release on the marketplace later this year
Fortnite Comeback
Fortnite set to return to Google Play on March 19th
The return follows a long legal battle with Google that saw the title originally removed from the Google Play Store in 2020
Payout
Melon Sandbox surpasses $1m payouts in 2025
Melon Sandbox has accumulated 150m downloads across platforms
Milestone
Ludus hits $3m monthly revenue as installs surpass 8m
Vietnam launch marks a strategic push into Southeast
Strategic Move
Saudi Arabia acquires a fresh 5.03% stake in Capcom through EGDC
The investment is positioned as a financial play targeting capital gains and dividends
New Offerings
Apple cuts App Store fees in China after regulator talks
Developers in the Small Business Program and Mini Apps Partner Program will see fees drop from 15% to 12%
Layoff News
Meta planning layoffs that could affect 20% of workforce
The potential cuts would be the company’s largest since its 2022–2023 “year of efficiency” restructuring
Gdc 2026
GDC Festival of Gaming draws 20,000 attendees as industry gathers in San Francisco
GDC took place in San Francisco from March 9th to March 13th, 2026
Nominations Named
No mobile games nominated for Best Game at BAFTA Games Awards 2026
Nominations are now public, and mobile’s appearance is sparse
Funding News
Quicksave Interactive secures HyperScope Ventures investment for Playables.ai
Playables.ai enables advertisers to create playable ads using simple prompts rather than traditional development workflows
Strategic Move
Nodwin Gaming appoints MTG gaming executive Arnd Benninghoff as board member
The company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round to support global expansion and strategic acquisitions
Tencent Tech
Tencent showcases AI lighting tech MagicDawn at GDC
Open-world MMO Roco Kingdom: World was used as a demonstration of new capabilities
New Offerings
Google Play rolls out Game Trials so players can try full paid games before purchasing
New “buy once, play anywhere” model lets players access supported games on both mobile and PC
Company Growth
Mobvista reports $2.05bn revenue for 2025 as Mintegral drives growth
Mintegral generated $1.96bn in revenue, remaining Mobvista’s primary growth driver
Market Report
Study shows 77% of mobile gamers spend $100 or more per month on online purchases
92% of gamers who bought a product after seeing an ad said they were satisfied with the purchase
New Offerings
Razer reveals AI tools to speed up game development pipelines
The company’s “Future of Play” showcase introduced tools designed to accelerate game development pipelines
Leadership Change
Stillfront announces change to Nomination Committee ahead of AGM
Roger Storm of Handelsbanken Fonder has stepped down from the Nomination Committee with immediate effect
Expansions
Sega Sammy plans to expand transmedia strategy as mobile and live service titles take centre stage
The company is using games as the starting point for broader entertainment expansions across multiple platforms
New Offerings
Google Cloud unveils autonomous AI agents as next phase of game development
The company said the games industry is entering its biggest shift since the move from 2D to 3D graphics
Rating System
PEGI expands age ratings to cover loot boxes and in-game spending
Games containing paid random items such as loot boxes will now default to a PEGI 16 rating
Online Safety
UK government votes against blanket social media ban for under-16s
The government is consulting on whether games, AI chatbots and social media should face stricter controls
Kingshot Crown
Kingshot’s first year: $800m, 11 months of growth, but backlash from whales
Century Games’ Kingshot was the most lucrative new mobile release of 2025
Market Report
Vietnam’s mobile games market reached $825m in revenue in 2025
The country now has around 54m gamers, placing it among the world’s top seven markets by mobile game downloads
Developer Support
Tenjin joins Turkish government incentives programme for game developers
Eligible Turkish studios can now receive government reimbursement when using Tenjin’s services
Event Report
Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco smashed expectations
Mobile-focused business event sets the tone for GDC week, bringing together leading games companies from around the world
Bossfight Comeback
Squid Game: Unleashed dev Boss Fight Entertainment relaunches as indie studio Bossfight
The original studio was shuttered under Netflix due to a change in course at the streaming giant
New Offerings
Epic Games cuts V-Bucks bundles as Fortnite pricing update rolls out
Players will receive fewer V-Bucks across most purchase tiers under the new pricing structure
Compatibility Test
Rovio’s Beacon tech "indispensable" to its own games but less compatible with Sega’s
Sega has yet to achieve "the level of results that had been expected" prior to Rovio’s acquisition
Friends And Features
Discord expands its Social SDK with native mobile linking and focus on friends
Discord users will now see a linked friend’s status in-game, such as competing or watching
Layoff News
Electronic Arts lays off an undisclosed number of employees across multiple Battlefield studios
The cuts impact teams at Criterion Games, DICE, Ripple Effect Studios and Motive Studio
New Office
Maysalward opens new headquarters in Amman
The new office will host The Capsule, a programme designed to expand the studio’s capacity-building efforts
Market Report
Around 70% of UK adults are gaming with increasing focus on social connections
One in four UK players expect to spend less time on social media to make room for gaming
Acquisition
NCSoft acquires 70% of JustPlay in $205m deal to expand its games portfolio
The South Korean publisher will strengthen its European presence through the acquisition
Scopely Celebration
Scopely celebrates 15 years with more than $15bn in lifetime revenue
The publisher has achieved over 150bn hours of playtime across its portfolio
Apple Troubles
German publishers urge antitrust fine against Apple ATT
Industry groups say Apple’s proposed ATT changes fail to resolve competition concerns
New Partnerships
Sumo Digital partners with Arm to explore AI-powered "PC-class" graphics for mobile games
Arm’s neural technology adds AI accelerators to GPUs to push mobile visuals closer to PC quality
Rainbow Six Start
Rainbow Six Mobile snaps up $1.6m in first 14 days
Player spending has been led by the US since global launch, already surpassing any country with soft launch access
Clash Comeback
Clash Royale celebrates 10 years and $4.9bn in player spending after resurgence
2025 was a major comeback year for the title, bolstered by changes to daily battles, influencers and more
New Offerings
Roblox launches Incubator and Jumpstart programmes to help developers build more advanced games for its platform
The company is pushing for a new generation of Roblox experiences that go beyond the traditional look
Market Report
Mobile accounts for 55% of total games revenue in 2025 as studios shift towards retention
A new Adjust report shows day one retention across gaming apps reached 27% in 2025
Creator Crossover
PUBG Mobile teases MrBeast collab as eighth anniversary approaches
The version 4.3 update is set to launch on March 12th as part of PUBG Mobile’s eighth anniversary celebrations
Pgc Summit San Francisco
How important is the power of a publishing label?
PGC Summit San Francisco panel asks the age old industry question: should you self-publish or use a publisher?
Pgc Summit San Francisco
Discord’s plans for acquisition, retention and monetisation
Senior developer advocate Anthony Tešija discusses the messaging platform's current and upcoming features for engaging players with your game
Pgc Summit San Francisco
PGC Summit San Francisco kicks off with Second Dinner, Scopely, Discord, Helika and more
Mobile-focused one-day conference set to bring together games industry professionals as GDC week begins
Developer Support
Tech firms urge Google to abandon developer registration for apps distributed outside the Play Store
An open letter warns that the policy could undermine the historic openness of the Android ecosystem
Online Safety
Türkiye proposes new regulations for digital platforms and game distributors
Digital game distributors may be required to appoint a local representative to operate in the country