Esports
Snapdragon Pro Series goes to Japan for Brawl Stars final in Tokyo
The Snapdragon Pro Series, hot off their announced partnership with Samsung, continues to feature heavily in DreamHack events, now at the Brawl Stars final in Tokyo
Privacy In Gaming
King takes a new approach to privacy notices in its new update
The new creative approach aims to tackle the issue of uninformed users
Views Week
Week in Views - What caught our editorial eyes in the last seven days
The PocketGamer.biz team reflect on a week of big business and back-slapping
Updates
Seven Knights 2 sees additional updates with two new heroes
Netmarble’s RPG battler is seeing two new heroes and an even further extended anniversary event for it’s latest update
Announcements
Devolver Digital announces “Devolver Tumble Time”
Devolver’s latest game looks to be an innovative new spin on the hypercasual genre featuring recognisable characters from their various franchises
The Game Awards
The Game Awards were held last night, but how did mobile gaming do?
The night saw awards, announcements, and a few surprises along the way
Releases
Vampire Survivors surprise launches on mobile
The popular roguelike ‘bullet hell’ game comes to mobile from developer poncle, ‘100% free, for real’
Acquivision Blizzard
FTC vote to sue to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard
The Acquisition has faced criticism for its possible effect on competitor PlayStation
Meet Our Partners
Pocket Gamer Connects partners with SpecialEffect for Pocket Gamer Connects London 2023!
We come together once more with the incredible charity SpecialEffect to support gamers with disabilities throughout the world.
Job News
Magic Eden appoints Chris Akhavan as Chief Gaming Officer
Magic Eden hopes the new hiring will boost its Web3 vertical
New To Netflix
ElectricNoir's Scriptic: Crime Stories is "a new category of digital entertainment" now on Netflix Games
An hour-long live-action crime drama played on mobile
Job News
Xsolla appoints Berkley Egenes to the role of Chief Marketing Officer
Egenes previously held the role of vice president of global marketing
Stocks
Embracer Group approved for Stockholm exchange
The news means that Embracer will now be traded on the Nasdaq Stockholm and not the First Growth North exchange
Gamerefinery Report
GameRefinery’s November 2022 report delves into the state of the mobile market
The World Cup proved to be a popular subject for events, while a Square Enix collaboration with a TikTok star failed to engage audiences
Supersonic Studio
Sega opens new California-based office to encourage creativity and facilitate streaming
Office will be a space for 235 employees across Sega and Atlus
Multiplayer
Epic debuts family-friendly cabined accounts for its games
In an attempt to appeal to parents whose kids play their various games, Epic Games is debuting a new type of ‘Cabined accounts’ for players on PC, console and mobile
Lucky Seven
Nintendo’s most successful mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes celebrates Version 7.0.0 update
Book 7, new characters, in-game celebrations and more
Representation
King leads the pack in Activision-Blizzard's 2022 representation report
Activision-Blizzard’s latest effort to be more transparent reveals information about their representation and diversity in the workplace, with mobile arm King coming out on top
A Platform To Empower
The Mirror platform aims to someday be "akin to a next-gen Roblox"
$2.3 million raised in pre-seed funding; led by Founders Fund
The Business Of Creation
Kinetix launches first AI-powered emotes
The emotes can be integrated into a variety of games and metaverse worlds
Playing For The Planet
Flick partners with PlanetPlay as part of environmental commitment
The partnership includes a new Flick Solitaire deck designed by Alliga Mirguesinov.
Revenue Results
Genshin Impact makes it to $4 billion revenue as PUBG Mobile reaches $9 billion
Installs for both games are down compared to last year
Alleged Arrest
Yuji Naka reportedly arrested for second time in three weeks over insider trading allegations
Trading investigation relates to Square Enix’s Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy franchises
Collaborations
Qualcomm Snapdragon Pro Series to partner with Samsung
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Pro mobile eSports tournament will exclusively utilise Samsung devices
Drumming Up Interest
World’s Fastest Drummer game speeding towards release
The game will be released this Saturday
App Store Updates
Apple adds new price points to App Store and support for foreign currency
Apple had previously required developers to adhere to a set amount of price points for their games and apps, this latest update adds many new ones
Gaming Post-covid
China rolls back zero-covid policy, but what does this mean for mobile gaming?
The easing of lockdown restrictions could signal a sharp decine for the country's mobile market
Shuttering
Witcher: Monster Slayer to shut-down and developer Spokko to shutter
The Witcher: Monster Slayer, will be shut down early next year alongside its developer Spokko, whose talent will be folded into CDPR
New Acquisition
Keywords Studios to acquire Californian company Helpshift for $75 million
The company aims to become a market leader for in-app customer service solutions
Riyadh Recap
Last week's Leaders Summit demonstrated the huge potential of the $6.8bn MENA market
Saudi Arabia hosted a new type of event from the Pocket Gamer team which united games companies from around the world – here’s what you missed
Milestones
Goddess of Victory: Nikke hits $70m revenue in first month of release
The shooter-gacha game has seen massive success, topping even Diablo Immortal and Genshin Impact in the charts
Music Metaverse
Animoca Brands acquires majority stake in music metaverse platform PIXELYNX
The company is helping people discover new music – and new ways to monetise it
Outside News
Chinese game services go dark in memory of former Chinese premier
A National Day of Mourning in China includes the temporary cessation of services for money online games on multiple platforms
Censorship In Games
China blamed for Goddess of Victory: Nikke censorship, despite being unavailable in China
Upcoming graphics content differs from a previously leaked beta, leading to claims that the game is being censored to appease Chinese regulators
Milestones
Homa’s Merge Master reaches 100m downloads
Homa, formerly Homa Games, announce that it and developer Fusee's title Merge Master had accrued 100m downloads
‘tis The Season
Kick off the holiday season with the Pocket Gamer Xmas Mixer 2022 happening in London tomorrow!
Last chance to join us in the heart of London tomorrow for an evening of drinks and knowledge-sharing to mark another year of industry success!
Report
Saudi Arabia games report reveals a development community that's ripe for expansion
A report by Savvy Games Group subsidiary Nine66 reveals some key findings about the growing Saudi games market
Sunsetting
Gwent sees the end of further card development as CD Projekt Red aims to hands its keys to fans
Gwent will cease adding new cards at the end of 2023 but ‘Project Gwentfinity’ will hand control of the game to its fans
Aquivision Blizzard
FTC rift signals fresh hope for Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard in America
The board is expected to make its recommendations regarding the deal by mid-December
Mobile Revenue
Nintendo sees mobile gaming as a marketing strategy as opposed to a revenue generator
The company may see success in mobile gaming, but console remains the top earner
The Esports Scene
Delve into the esports industry with what we learned at Discover: Esports
With esports growing as rapidly as ever, we took time to connect with and learn from top professionals in the scene at this brand new b2b event
User Acquisition
New tech aims to boost user acquisition in a post-IDFA world
With Google set to follow suit with Apple’s ‘walled garden’ approach to data privacy, companies are finding new ways of understanding their audience and marketing to them
Views Week
Week in Views - What caught our editorial eyes in the last seven days
The PocketGamer.biz team reflect on a week of hot new games, success stories and legal worries…
Alternative App Stores
Flexion to sign third alternative app store publishing deal with tap4fun
The games marketing company has been signed on for a third consecutive deal to publish tap4fun’s game Age of Apes to alternative app stores
New Appointment
Guillermo Arias joins Digital Development Management’s investment services division
Arias brings almost three decades of experience to the role
Analysis
Tencent aims to branch from mobile for their big international push
In a recent interview, Tencent global games CEO Michelle Liu said the company’s future lay in the AAA side of games and moving away from mobile as it moves into the international market
Netflix
Desta developer Ustwo reveals why they took the game to Netflix
Developer of Desta: The Memories Between, Ustwo Games revealed why they brought it to Netflix Games
Hires
SYBO appoints Rovio Vet, Philip Hickey, as new Chief Marketing Officer
Philip Hickey will replace outgoing Naz Amarchi-Cuevas, as Chief Marketing Officer at SYBO
Esports
Snapdragon Pro Series to host Clash of Clans and Brawl Stars eSports final
With a $100,000 prize-pool, the Snapdragon Pro Series will be hosting the Mobile Challenge finals for Brawl Stars and Clash of Clans
Newzoo Report
UK and Germany on track to generate a combined $12.1 billion to the global gaming market in 2022
Almost 75 percent of the population of both countries engage in gaming