The End Game
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite shutting down on 31 January 2022
Location-based wizarding game fails
Turning Up The Volume
Splash raises $20 million for Roblox music game
Will improve virtual instruments and establish more partnerships
Booster
PUBG Mobile announces partnership with Koenigsegg
Two of Koenigsegg’s most innovative models now available in-game
Big Savings
Attend both Pocket Gamer Connects Digital NEXT and Pocket Gamer Connects London and save up to $969
Purchase a combo ticket today for big savings and amazing value!
Diamond Geezers
Xsolla Diamond Club accelerates mobile games industry connections
Join Xsolla's Diamond Club for access to the world's leading conferences and mentoring from industry experts
The New Meta
The Sandbox raises $93 million to grow open NFT Metaverse
Already over 500,000 connected wallets
Job News
Frauke Grabow joins FunPlus as Europe’s Head of HR
FunPlus continues to hire top talent
Bye-bye
China version of Fortnite is being shuttered
Playable test version had previously been live for almost three years
Legendary
League of Legends: Wild Rift surpasses $150 million
Took just over 1 year
Live And Online
Highlights from the 2021 Huawei Developer Conference
The highlights from the 2021 Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) are now live and online to enable developers and publishers to catch up with all of the keynotes
Positive Signs
Nazara reports H1 2021 revenue growth of 30%, reaching $35 million
EBITDA increased by 700%
Up And Coming
Ex-War Robots execs launch Kek Entertainment, raise $3 million for multiplayer mobile titles
Debut will be competitive mobile action game featuring deep tactical elements
Growing Pains
Roblox servers are back online following three-day outage
Reportedly not due to external intrusion
On The Move
Nintendo is closing offices in California and Toronto
This is Nintendo's largest layoff since 2014
Favourable Financials
MTG's Q3 2021 sales up 61% to $170 million
Significant growth from its games portfolio and esports earnings
Big Indie Awards
Last chance to nominate your team or game for The Big Indie Awards 2021
Nominations for The Big Indie Awards 2021 have been extended to Friday, November 5th
Prosperous Partnership
State of Survival gains 20 million new players from The Walking Dead partnership
Brought the zombie survival mobile title to over 100 million
Thrills & Chills
Five horror games to get you in the Halloween spirit
Get spooky this weekend with these horror game recommendations!
Activision Acquisition
Activision acquires Digital Legends for unannounced Call of Duty mobile game
Will join the company's roster of wholly-owned independent studios
Rising
Rovio puts Darkfire Heroes into maintenance mode as it announces Q3 2021 sales of $83 million
Q3 2021 was Rovio’s best-performing period since 2019
New Markets
Connect with new business partners at G-STAR 2021, the biggest game exhibition in Asia
Expand your horizons and break into new markets this November
Dungeonin'
Diablo Immortal closed beta now playable in Canada and Australia
And so it continues
Good Fit
FunPlus appoints Ben Cousins as head of European studio operations
Bringing two decades of free-to-play and games-as-a-service experience
Touchdown
UK-based New Star Games takes US by storm with Retro Bowl
Number one free app on iOS in US, with 7 million downloads and zero UA spend
Coming Soon
Arena of Valor offers $1 million in prize money at international championships
The event will be online and streamed on multiple platforms
Steady Growth
My.Games reports steady YoY revenue growth of 2.3% for Q3 2021
Mobile games contribute 75% of overall quarterly revenue
Super Early Bird Ending
Last chance to save up to $585 with Super Early Bird tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects London
Book now before prices rise at midnight tonight and attend the leading b2b conference for the mobile games industry
25 Every Month
Pokémon Masters EX adds new in-app bundles
The recent dev letter outlines upcoming plans for the game
More Catching
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have a nostalgic early-purchase bonus
Pokémon Legends: Arceus has gifts for early purchasers too
Event
Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum live event returns
Hong Kong's DELF offers international online access this December 10th to 12th
Terraria Triumphs Again
Terraria Mobile sells over one million units three week after Chinese debut
Will roll out to Greater China territories starting next year
News
Sentry begins catching and monitoring issues in Unity
More than 800 game development companies currently use Sentry
News
Chipotle is the first restaurant brand to open in Roblox
This comes as part of Chipotle’s 21st Boorito celebration
Funding Fanatics
Thunderful Group acquires Robot Teddy for $13.7 million
Will lead newly established in-house investment arm, Thunderful Investment
Ka-ching
US social casino users still spending post-pandemic; Q2 2021 was a record $260 million
iOS social casino spending in US reached $1 billion during height of pandemic
Pg Connects
Explore shared visions, values and company culture at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital NEXT
Learn from top studios and industry experts on November 15-17
Bloomin' Lovely
Niantic and Nintendo launch Pikmin Bloom
Will roll out globally, starting with Australia and Singapore
Rewarded
Animoca-backed Gamee launches Arc8, its blockchain mobile gaming platform
Play and win crypto
New Ways
Admix raises $25 million to monetise the metaverse
Advertising tech is moving with the times
News
Next Games and Netflix launch Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales
The game features exclusive content based on the Stranger Things series
Expansion
Outfit7 relocates head office to Limassol
Will scale team to support company growth
Jumping The Baby Shark
PUBG Mobile partners up with Baby Shark
Players will be able to earn emotes and themed gear
Forging New Alliances
Goodgame Studios launches in-house publishing arm, starting with mobile
Its debut is War Alliance from Magnific Games
Marketing Magnification
IronSource acquires mobile marketing outfit Bidalgo
Second acquisition during October
Pg Connects London
Pocket Gamer Connects returns to London in February 2022
Book your place before midnight on Thursday and save up to $585 on the leading mobile games industry conference
U-turn
ByteDance lays off Ohayoo employees following CCP gaming crackdown
News follows restrictions on under 18s play time
Ad Insight
How to prepare your game’s monetisation strategy for the future
Learn about the growing trends in app monetisation and what you can do to stay ahead of the curve in Episode 5 of the PocketGamer.biz Podcast
Heir Apparent
PUBG: New State will launch worldwide on November 11
Has surpassed 50 million pre-registrations
Highlighting Diversity
Wooga's Switchcraft leads the way for casual puzzle mobile game diversity
63% of main cast come from BIPOC backgrounds, with 38% LGBTQ+
Get Job
Nordic Game Talents aims to help game dev recruitment in Nordic region
Three day event starts 27 October