Pocket Metaverse
Chillchat raises $1.85 million for create-to-earn "pocket metaverse"
Led by blockchain platform Solana's VC arm, Solana Ventures
Fifth Time's A Charm
Dutch antirust regulator serves Apple fifth $5.7 million fine
ACM claims Apple's suggestions are "unnecessary and unreasonable"
Digimon Discontinued
Bandai Namco to shut down Digimon ReArise from April 21 2022
In-game currency sales discontinued from today
Starting To Slow
PUBG Mobile hits $237 million for January 2022
Global mobile games market generated $7.4 billion, a 7% fall
Welcome Back
Riot Games appoints co-founder Marc Merrill as president of games
Former co-CEO will oversee current and future projects, as well as R&D
Titles And Trends
Kolibri Games hires Dzmitry Yudo as product director for new games
Leading the initiative to explore idle games
Very Big Indie Pitch
TAP TRICKS unique one-touch skateboarding action wins as live Very Big Indie Pitch returns
Winners breakdown
It's A Secret
Secret Society Games appoints Andreea Enache as chief business officer
Formerly of Sony, Konami, Namco, Marvel, and more
Vamoosed
FIFA Mobile pulled from Vietnamese app stores
"Local regulations issues" lead to complete service shutdown
Revving Up
Animoca Brands acquires Torque Burnout dev Grease Monkey Games
Indie dev will align focus with P2E, NFT, and blockchain operations
Compiling Cards
Pokémon TCG Live is getting a limited launch in Canada next week
The Pokémon Company keeps to its promise following delay
Investor Encouragement
Supercell highlights excitement for external developers and importance of young talent
The Level Up program begins
Angered Attorneys
Attorneys seeking $27 million for securing $100 million settlement against Apple
Fallout of the Apple antitrust class action suit
Triumvirate Hires
Lockwood Publishing expands leadership with three strategic hires
Brings on industry veterans James Cox, Rob Hendry, and Chris Tilston
Mobile Merger
Netmarble US studio to join Kabam in merger
Simon Sim to become Kabam COO
Over 1,900 Live And Digital Attendees
PG Connects London Live was back with a bang, with over 1,900 delegates!
The UK’s leading mobile game show saw over 230 expert speakers and 900 companies from 60+ countries connecting in c. 6,000 meetings!
Avia Expands
AviaGames brings in Scott Leichtner and Weiming Lu
Hires industry veterans to aide in global expansion
Goods Of Growth
Embracer Group's Q3 net sales increased 135% to almost $600 million
Nine month performance increase of 78.3% to over $1.2 billion
Blending Ads
Anzu to bring in-game ads to Dakar Desert Rally
Will integrate in-game ads onto vehicles, roadside signs, and more
Won't Melt In Hands
Tilting Point to launch M&M’s Adventure on iOS and Android in Spring 2022
Developed by Vietnam-based mobile studio Gear Inc.
Metaverse Music
Yahaha partners with Spitfire to bring The Dead Daisies into the metaverse
Making rock music more accessible through the metaverse
Adios Achievements
Microsoft to switch off Xbox Live services on Windows Phones in May
Achievements and cloud saves will discontinue from May 16 2022
Equine Expansion
Star Stable Online launches worldwide on iOS
Following a year-and-a-half of soft launch
For The Future
FunPlus and Creative Art Works launch second character design apprenticeship
Targeting "underserved" NYC teenagers and young adults
Time To Celebrate
Your guide to the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2022
Celebrate the best of the industry in 2022 with us!
Well Sourced
IronSource revenue rises 67% to $553 million
Projects up to $820 million in revenue for 2022 fiscal year
Brand-new Brand
MiHoYo launches new international HoYoverse brand
Keeping the MiHoYo name in China
Still Growing
Stillfront revenues rise 37% to over $586 million
Planning to soft launch 15 titles in the first half of 2022
Entertainment Veteran
Scopely adds Salaam Coleman Smith to board of directors
Bringing over 20 years of entertainment industry experience
Furthering Fashion
Drest appoints Saikala Sultanova to newly formed position: VP of growth
With experience at Ubisoft Mobile and more
Ar Audio
Niantic and Sony partner for bring hi-fidelity audio AR
Starting with AR mobile game Ingress
Advert Veteran
Guy Ben-dov joins Anzu as EVP to drive blended ads
Co-founder of Double Fusion and Side-Kick Games
Annie Goes Ai
App Annie rebrands to data.ai with focus on unified data AI
Partnered with Similarweb to provide unified mobile and web market dataset
Invested Growth
Gameloft Toronto appoints Michael Stolls as studio head
Will lead the studio's "aggressive expansion" over the next few years
Salem At Stillfront
Stillfront appoints Alexandre Salem as SVP operations & platforms
Previously held positions at Huawei, Google, and King
Sharks Eating Chickens
PG Connects London: a quick-fire green game jam
Mensah-Bonsu, Muntean, and Esteris' Green Live Ops panel prompts a lo-fi game jam
Playing God
PG Connects London: how Genvid aims to bridge into the Metaverse
Genvid director of developer relations Chris Hamilton talks MILEs and accessibility
Look At This
PG Connects London: the untapped artistry of UI
Edd Coates, founder of Game UI Database, brings Sonic, Joker, and Link to his panel discussing the aesthetics and function of user interfaces
Hard Questions At Supercell
Supercell's 45% revenue increase in 2021 follows staff burnout
2021 revenue reached $2.24 billion, and a message about sustainable working from Supercell CEO
Building Blockchain
Animoca Brands opens new subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan
Expanding business
Studio Shares
Krafton acquires Smash Legends dev 5minlab for $19.9 million
100 per cent of shares acquired
Making Milestones
Voodoo surpasses 6 billion downloads across games and apps
One billion downloads achieved in the past 9 months
Under Observation
PG Connects London: The regulations surrounding free-to-play
Wiggin associate Isabel Davies talks the changes in regulation that affect the monetisation and marketing of F2P
Pg Connects London
Pocket Gamer Connects London: what to look out for on day two
Selection of speakers from Niantic, Animoca Brands, and Epic Games
Innovation
PG Connects London: The new frontier of entertainment
Terra Virtua chariman Gary Bracey discusses what NFTs and the metaverse means for the mobile games industry
Meet The Experts
Speaker Spotlight: Matchmade's Jiri Kupiainen on influencer UA for small-mid-sized creators
Meet the mobile gaming UA experts at Pocket Gamer Connects London
Where Aso Aims
PG Connects London: the evolution of ASO in 2022
AppTweak head of ASO Simon Thillay talks the avenues ASO may take in 2022 and onwards
Finnish Funding
Return Entertainment raises €5.3 million in funding to create cloud-native games
Funding led by Bitkraft Ventures
Free Fired
Garena Free Fire banned in India after 238 million downloads
Free Fire: Illuminate and Free Fire Max extinguished
Pg Connects London
PG Connects London: How to monetise beyond the App Store and Google Play
Xsolla's Miika Luotio and Black Block's Robin Squire talk ways to take back financial control from app marketplaces