Money Money Money
Pokemon Go had its second best month ever for revenue in July 2020
Due to Pokemon Go Fest
Unwanted Attention
Female Scrabble Go players have been receiving messages from "creepy men"
"In Scrabble Go, players are able to access mute and block functions within the chat feature"
To Battle!
Epic gains temporary protection against Apple for Unreal Engine
Fortnite is still banned from the App Store
Unity Ipo
Unity reveals plans to IPO on New York Stock Exchange
Raising money to pay off a loan and maybe make some acquisitions
Let's Jam
Homa Games is hosting the first IP hypercasual game jam
Begins on September 9th, 2020
Righting Wrongs
Apple Korea is providing $84 million in support programmes for small businesses
$33.6 million will aid South Korean manufacturers
Pgbiz Roundtable
Join us on August 25th for our next PocketGamer.biz RoundTable session
Focusing on the importance and growth of online events
Master The Meta
Master the Meta: Understanding Epic Games' app store crusade
News and insights from the Master the Meta team
Got Your Back
Microsoft gives its support to Epic in its ongoing feud with Apple
"Developing a game using different game engines for different platforms may be prohibitively expensive and difficult"
Possible Acquisition
Report: Tencent closing in on Leyou Tech Holdings acquisition
Follows a long list of suitors for the Hong Kong company
See You In Court
TikTok is taking Trump and his executive order to court
The US president wants the app banned
Celebrate
Fate/Grand Order's English version exceeds 11 million downloads
It broke $4 billion in lifetime revenue this year
Sour Apple
Apple insists that Epic deliberately chose to "cheat" the company after being denied a special deal
Tim Sweeney claimed he asked the change to be for all iOS developers
Free Falling
Fall Guys is falling onto mobile devices in China through partnership with Bilibili
No word on a Western release
Most Read
Hot Five: Playrix soft-launch, Fall Guys clone removed from App Store, and Take-Two acquires Playdots
The hottest articles of last week
Dropping By
Twitch introduces a new version of Drops
"Now, once the initial integration is complete, anyone on the game developer team can create a Drops campaign"
What About Us?
News publishers are asking Apple to take a lower commission on the App Store
Amazon has a better deal than other companies
Love Not Hate
TikTok is working to fight hate speech on its platform in the US
Amidst its ongoing struggle against president Trump
Takin' Care Of Business
Mobile games jobs weekly: Panzerdog founders exit, Ubisoft fires creative director and former Riot staff establish new studio
The movers, shakers and job opportunities in mobile gaming
Done Deal
Smilegate teams with Amazon to bring one of its games to the West next year
"Amazon Games is uniquely positioned as a publisher to reach entirely new audiences"
Investment
March Capital unveils a $60 million March Gaming Fund
"Gaming has joined the ranks of becoming a mainstream conversation"
Discount Ends
Just one week left to save on the price of tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020
Make sure you book your tickets now and save with our Mid-Term prices for September’s online-only conference
Now That's Epic
Epic Games is holding a #FreeFortnite tournament with some interesting prizes
Follows Fortnite's removal from the App Store
Speedway
Horizon Chase races through 50 million downloads as it celebrates its fifth anniversary
"This is only possible due to the awesome support we've received from all of our players"
Funding
Hiber raises $2.25 million in a seed funding round for its creative platform
"Each of the new investors brings additional expertise and guidance to our business"
Money Money Money
F2P games network Lootcakes raises $2 million in seed funding
"Lootcakes aims to be the leader of a new data paradigm we call 'rewarded data-sharing'"
Young Talent
Pocket.watch is building a new brand and mobile game with YouTube child star Diana
"Diana has been on our radar for some time"
Schedule Revealed
Conference schedule has been revealed for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020
Find out what’s happening at next month’s online-only mobile games industry conference
Fallout
Update: Fall Guys clone 'Fall Gang: Knockout' accumulates 81,000 downloads before being removed from App Store
The iOS title generated $3,500 after adding a premium option
Back In Business
The National Videogame Museum will reopen on August 22nd
It was forced to close due to COVID-19
Best Of Both
Bossa Studios embraces remote working in its new structure
Staff can choose to work from the office or at home
Sequence Complete
YoYo Games adds Sequences to GameMaker Studio 2
As part of the version 2.3 update
Top Of The World
Apple becomes the first US company to be worth $2 trillion
Follows a surge in share prices
Coast-to-coast
Zynga teams with NASCAR to bring "iconic" Chevrolet Camaro to CSR Racing 2
Available as part of America Road Trip series
Sign Up
Pre-registrations are open for Netmarble's BTS Universe Story
A pre-launch writers event will be held
Moving On
Panzerdog founders Alexey Sazonov and Sergey Kozyakov have left the company
"We are very proud of what was achieved with Tacticool, and we'll miss our awesome team"
"positive Cultural Impact"
Former Riot and Netflix employees set up new studio Odyssey Interactive, raise $6 million
Canadian studio will aim to ship first title by end of 2021
Farewell
Seriously lead character designer Miguel Francisco departs the company
"Time for new adventures"
Hat In The Ring
Report: Oracle is looking at acquiring TikTok
The app will be banned without a deal
In Or Out?
Maybe IDFA opt-out rates won't be a disaster after all?
But the data from Adikteev is really strange
Expansion
Kolibri Games is expanding with a new studio in Romania
"We truly believe in the potential of Idle Miner Tycoon and are excited to start working on entirely new titles that will expand the universe"
You're A Winner
Cornfox & Bros wins big at The Finnish Game Awards
Oceanhorn 2 takes Small Screen Game of the Year while Remedy's Control takes the overall prize
Be More Green
Rovio, Sybo, and more are encouraging players to protect the planet
Part of the first Green Mobile Game Jam
Online Pocket Jam
Pocket Jam #5 heads online with Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020
The Finnish Game Jam joins us for next month’s digital conference with its fifth edition of the Pocket Jam
Another Account
Oculus hardware will soon require a Facebook account to use all features
"We know that social VR has so much more to offer, and this change will make it possible to integrate many of the features"
Switching Allegiances
Capybara Games' Grindstone is the latest Apple Arcade exclusive to jump to Switch
Joined by Takeshi & Hiroshi and Manifold Garden
Catch 'em All
Pokemon Masters is rebranding as Pokemon Masters EX
Various events are being held for its first anniversary
On The Rise
Simulation games had great revenue growth in H1 2020
Casino had the most growth in downloads
Farewell
En Masse Entertainment is shutting its doors
"Our focus in the coming weeks and months will be on our team, helping them to find new opportunities, and on our games, to ensure a seamless transition for you"
See You In Court
EA faces lawsuit over Ultimate Team loot boxes
Firm facing a class-action lawsuit in California