Pgc Summit Shanghai
Why great games need the right partnerships to succeed in China
Take the leap into the world's biggest games market on July 29th
Arknights In Action
Arknights: Endfield approaches $100m on mobile in three months
Japan currently leads player spending at 41% of the global mobile total
Mario Milestone
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie races past $755m to become highest-grossing film of 2026
The film earned $34.5m in the US on opening day, beating the original's $31.7m debut record
Roblox Revs Up
Roblox hires Joost Hagesteijn as first general manager for Europe
The newly created position has been established following significant growth in Europe
New Partnerships
Amanotes partners with Balancy to scale live ops across music game portfolio
Amanotes' 4bn downloads portfolio now managed through unified system
Funding News
Spill Games raises $3.1m seed round to scale systems-driven mobile games studio
The studio plans to expand its team and test over 20 prototypes in the next 18 months
New Partnerships
Playtika expands into microdrama with Bingo Blitz and Shortical collaboration
An original short-form drama series will integrate Bingo Blitz directly into its narrative
Podcast
Podcast: The state of the UK games industry with UKIE CEO Nick Poole
We discuss the challenges facing the UK's games industry and what developers need in the coming years to boost their success
Market Report
India's mobile in-app purchase revenue tops $300m in Q1 2026
Non-gaming apps generated over $200m, growing 44% YoY and driving monetisation
New Offerings
Microsoft cuts Game Pass price and drops Call of Duty day-one releases
The changes come under new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma
New Offerings
VGW launches Monopoly Match as it enters match-3 puzzle market
The title is currently in phased rollout across North America
Investment Shift
Firstpoint VC launches $58m fund to back AI-driven gaming startups in emerging markets
The fund’s strategy is built on replicating Türkiye’s capital-efficient gaming success across Europe and Asia
Industry Outlook
Games industry M&A hit 15-month high in Q1 2026 with over $100bn in deal value
Savvy Games' $6bn acquisition of Moonton was among the quarter's biggest deals
Africa Is Mobile
Deluxe Creation Studios’ Shola Edu on monetisation in Africa, global audiences and what actually drives revenue
“The goal is to build something that feels genuinely African and is good enough that the rest of the world wants in”
Staff Surge
Roblox workforce grows 24% to over 3,000 full-time staff
The platform had a "banner year" in 2025 with hits like Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden
New Partnerships
Sega and Rovio expand Angry Birds licensing with WildBrain
The expansion comes ahead of The Angry Birds Movie 3, set to drive a new wave of consumer products
Pgc Summit Malmo
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Hello Kitty Games
Sanrio launches in-house publishing label Sanrio Games with $62.9m investment
First title targets Switch and Switch 2 hardware in 2026
Raring To Go
Pokémon anime will lean into mobile portfolio with Unite, Sleep and Pokémon Go references teased
The new arc of Pokémon Horizons will begin on May 22nd, with more time to fill before the next main series games
Acqusitions
Tamatem acquires ad tech firm Playable Factory in AI-first shift
The publisher recently raised $10 million in a new funding round, bringing total investment to $25m
New Era
Apple CEO Tim Cook to step down
Apple senior VP of hardware engineering John Ternus will replace him in the top job from September 1st, 2026
Smash Out Of Stealth
Smash Games secures $2m UA financing to scale Animal Suika
PvX Partners led the round, supporting UA on mobile
Collab Central
Wuthering Waves lands collabs with Angry Birds, Resident Evil, Pragmata and more
Character designs will feature on the new Expedition Motorbike, introduced in version 3.0
New Partnerships
SayGames expands into Vietnam with BagMaster Isekai
The partnership signals SayGames’ push into Southeast Asia
Settlement Reached
Ubisoft Halifax workers approve settlement following sudden studio closure
Terms of the deal remain confidential but mark a key outcome for affected workers
Winners Revealed
Clair Obscur and Dispatch take top accolades at BAFTA Games Awards 2026
More than 1,700 BAFTA members voted across 17 categories
Funding News
Reforged Studios secures $30m to scale global games IP platform
The funding follows the company’s acquisition of German publisher Headup
New Offerings
Roblox launches agentic AI tools to speed up game development workflows
The company said 44% of top creators already rely on AI tools across Roblox’s ecosystem
Industry Outlook
Layoffs leave over half of redundant games workers still jobless
New report from Skillsearch shows budget cuts are among the top three reasons for industry redundancies
Adaptations
Paramount's Call of Duty film set for June 2028 release date
Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg lead the adaptation of the shooter franchise
Disney Deluge
Disney Solitaire celebrates first anniversary with $230.9m in player spending
Total earnings are likely higher including D2C and ad revenue
Rewarded Ads
Almedia responds after Freecash removal from App Store and Google Play
The company said media reports behind the removal were misleading and is working towards a resolution
New Partnerships
Highrise partners with Neopets for a limited-time mobile crossover
Weekly free Neopet giveaways will run throughout the event
App Delisting
Freecash removed from App Store and Google Play after data scrutiny
The app’s removal follows scrutiny over data practices and marketing tactics
Studio Startup
Barcelona-based Side Quest Games establishes to make sports games for "underserved" fans
The studio has been co-founded by Alexandre Besenval and Oscar Jardi
Settlement Reached
Roblox agrees $12.5m deal to enhance child safety
The company is committing $10m to programmes encouraging children to engage in offline activities
Strategic Move
Amazon ends third-party support on Luna as service shifts strategy
All subscriptions bought via Luna will be automatically cancelled after the next billing cycle
Pokemon Unite
Pokémon UNITE WCS 2026 India Qualifier revealed with $25,000 prize pool
The winning team will represent India at the World Championship Finals in San Francisco
Job News
Imperia Online taps Mario Vasilev as new chief operating officer
New COO role targets improved efficiency and collaboration across teams
Investment News
Sony launches Innovation Fund 4 as venture platform targets $534m in assets
The PlayStation company begins deploying capital from its latest fund, targeting high-growth startups
Competition Case
Aptoide sues Google over alleged Android App Store monopoly
Aptoide claims Google unfairly steers developers toward the Play Store while limiting rival app stores
Partnership Extension
Games for Change and Tencent expand Raising Good Gamers initiative to support families
The programme focuses on promoting healthy play, respectful behaviour and positive gaming communities
Finding Funds
Mission Control Games launches with $4m pre-seed to rethink casual puzzle design
The funding will be used to grow the team and build its first title
Milestone
War Robots marks 12th anniversary as My.Games reports 325m registered users worldwide
War Robots continues to grow adding around 20m players annually
New Studio
New studio Kemet Entertainment opens in Cairo
While starting with mobile games, the studio plans to expand into broader entertainment experiences
Digital Dice
Dice Throne launches $100k Kickstarter for digital adaptation
The digital adaptation will feature full cross-platform play across Steam, mobile and VR devices
Enhancing Esports
ESL FACEIT Group teams up with KICK for esports streams
Viewership of Counter-Strike and Dota 2 competitions will aim to expand in the MENA region
Titan Tech
Supercell’s Titan engine: Spanning flagships to "the cheapest, oldest Android handset" in the world
The "homegrown" engine is built for mobile and aims to enable reach to as many players as possible
Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass "too expensive for players", as per leaked memo
New Microsoft Gaming EVP and CEO Asha Sharma’s internal memo has been leaked
Disney Development
Epic Games reportedly developing a Disney extraction shooter
A Bloomberg report suggests the new game will launch in November this year