Sweet Home Alakazam
Pokémon Home captures $5.5 million in revenue across first six months
Seven million installs since launching on February 12th, 2019
Connect The Dots
Take-Two Interactive to acquire Two Dots developer Playdots for $192 million
"Diversify and strengthen"
Fancy A Coffee
Pokemon Cafe Mix stirs up five million downloads
It was released on June 23rd
I Spy
East Side Games teams with FX Networks for Archer: Danger Phone
Was originally announced by Disruptor Beam in 2019
Investment
Tencent makes minor investment in hypercasual specialist Voodoo
"We can improve the way we distribute on Android"
Retaliation
Epic files injuction to prevent Apple from removing its developer tools from Mac and iOS
"Apple's actions will 'break' Fortnite for millions of existing players"
Sweet Investment
Lumikai launches first venture capital fund for games in India
"India's 300M+ user gaming market represent a global inflection point"
Breaking Records
Consumer spending on mobile reached $50 billion in H1 2020
There were 64 billion app installs
Work Hard
Electronic Arts leadership has been in "wartime" mode since coronavirus pandemic
"We had to roll up sleeves and get in to work with our teams"
Taking Issue
Facebook criticises Apple for its App Store commission costs
Follows the removal of Fortnite
Hybrid Monetisation
Gaming Spotlight: Why hybrid monetisation is a sustainable business solution
Join us and Facebook Audience Network for a webinar discussing best hybrid monetisation practices
Together Again
Netmarble teams with BTS for second game BTS Universe Story
"BTS Universe Story will bring fresh, all-new content to players"
Outta Here
Ubisoft fires creative director Ashraf Ismail due to misconduct
"Following an investigation by an external firm, it was determined that Ashraf's employment with Ubisoft had to be terminated"
Honest Work
Playrix soft-launches match-three puzzler Farmscapes
New mobile title is available across Canada, Australia and the UK
Trump Card
Trump is demanding that TikTok divest its US operations within 90 days
"There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States"
Funding
Wildlife raises $120 million with a company valuation of $3 billion
"We will use most of the resources from this round to expand our creative powerhouse"
Most Read
Hot Five: Subway Surfers crosses three billion downloads, China requires names for gamers, and Epic goes to war
The hottest articles of last week
Takin' Care Of Business
Mobile games jobs weekly: Street Fighter boss Yoshinori Ono resigns, Embracer Group acquires 8 studios, and THQ appoints first North American CEO
The movers, shakers and job opportunities in mobile gaming
Financials
NetEase generated $2.6 billion in revenue for Q2 2020
"We saw healthy gains across our business in the second quarter"
Financials
Rovio's games revenue increases 2.2 per cent year-on-year in Q2 2020
"We had an eventful Q2 and continued delivering on our strategy on multiple fronts"
Event
Next month's Top 50 Mobile Game Makers 2020 features speakers from the best in the business
Join us online as we reveal the top 50, hear from some amazing talent - and network with them all - totally FREE!
It's A Battle
Fortnite generated just $10 million in revenue from Google Play before its removal
It secured 11 million downloads in four months through Google's store
Financials
Netmarble experiences great growth in Q2 2020 as Seven Deadly Sins continues to perform well
"Netmarble had a very strong second quarter with strong performances from games launched in the first half of the year"
Booted
Update: Epic is suing Google after Fortnite's Google Play removal
The boot follows Fortnite's removal from the Apple App Store
Epic Battle
Epic sues Apple after Fortnite removed from App Store
Two titans of the mobile games industry have gone head-to-head
Regenerated
Blockchain-powered trading card game Doctor Who: Worlds Apart coming to mobile in 2021
Reality Gaming Group becomes the first developer to ever use a BBC IP on the blockchain
Like A Ninja
GungHo's free-to-play Switch shooter Ninjala has hit four million downloads
It was released on July 24th
Making Friends
My Talking Tom Friends was the most downloaded mobile game for July 2020
Several new entries make the top downloads list
Grab A Deal
Epic is circumventing Apple and Google's fees to offer discounted V-Bucks in Fortnite on mobile
"Epic passes along payment processing savings to you"
Busy Busy
Embracer Group acquires eight new studios including DECA Games
"It is with great pleasure and excitement for the future that DECA joins Embracer today"
Join The Creed
Lilith Games teams with Ubisoft to bring Ezio Auditore to AFK Arena
"We're thrilled to add Ezio from Assassin's Creed to our hero lineup from today"
Expelliarmus
Zynga opens pre-registrations for Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells
"We'll be delighting fans with the memorable characters, sound and story of the original books and films"
Financials
Tencent's revenue up 28 per cent year-on-year as it generates $31.5 billion
"We achieved generally robust operating and financial results in the second quarter"
Mix It Up
GDC 2021 will be hybrid of physical and digital events
Will be held from July 19th to July 23rd
Game Taxonomy
Sensor Tower expands platform with new Game Taxonomy and ARPDAU features
Game Taxonomy developed in partnership with Deconstructor of Fun
You're A Winner
Voodoo to award $100k and a publishing contract to the winner of its hypercasual competition
It will be held through September
New Acquisition
Testronic acquires Whyttest to expand its QA capacity
"I'm delighted that Whyttest is now part of the Testronic family"
The More You Know
New research demonstrates the positive impact of videogames on young people's literacy
They can also help with creativity, empathy and wellbeing
Still Running
Subway Surfers has surpassed three billion downloads
Adding 500 million downloads since May 2019
Welcome Aboard
Sybo hires ex-Gram Games VP of product Jeremy Stein to head up its Copenhagen studio
"With multiple top-grossing mobile games to his credit, Jeremy's proven success is a big win for SYBO"
Embrace Diversity
Report: 46 per cent of all gamers are female
The majority of gamers are above 20 years of age
Helping Charity
Quakecon at Home raises more than $30,000 for charity
The online event took place over the weekend
Expansion
THQ Nordic appoints Eric Wuestmann as its first North American CEO
"We certainly see an opportunity to expand our team on the ground in North America"
Financials
Stillfront Group revenue up 148% year-on-year in Q2 2020
The growth has been attributed to recent acquisitions
Money Money Money
PUBG Mobile shoots through the most mobile games revenue in July 2020
Lineage M had its best month since April 2018
Money Money Money
US games spending hits a quarterly high with $11.6 billion in Q2 2020
"During the pandemic, many have turned to video games not only to keep them preoccupied, but also to stay in touch with family and friends"
Reasons To Attend
20 reasons why you need to (virtually) attend Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020
250 expert speakers, 21 conference tracks, 1,500+ industry professionals, exciting fringe events - next month’s online conference is set to be a cracker!
By The Book
The EU is keeping an eye on Apple and the App Store
"The Commission is aware of these concerns regarding Apple's App Store rules"
Milestone
Summoners War breaches $2 billion in lifetime revenue
It also broke 116 million downloads
Welcome Aboard
Activision Blizzard names MLB executive Tony Petitti as its new sports and entertainment president
"I couldn't be more excited to use my own 30 years of sports and entertainment experience to help Activision Blizzard realise its ambitions"