Expansions
Felicity expands to Singapore with $1m APAC growth plan
New hub will focus on high-growth markets like Vietnam and Thailand
Marvellous Mena
Dubai to host first Middle East government pavilion at Gamescom 2025
Pavilion to spotlight Dubai’s goal of becoming a top 10 global games hub by 2033
New Offerings
Xsolla unveils Unity SDK to give developers more monetisation freedom
The move is part of Xsolla’s push to boost direct-to-consumer revenue across mobile, PC, and web
Pgc Barcelona
"100% of IAP is up for hijacking" in DTC 2.0
Appcharge chief marketing officer Gil Tov-Ly spoke at PGC Barcelona about web shops, web games, alternative app stores and more
Series Support
Appcharge raises $58m to scale up with growing DTC demands
The direct-to-consumer platform has raised $89m to date, currently powering stores for more than 100 games
Strategic Move
Xsolla expands platform reach with SDKs for Windows Store and Epic Games Store
Partnership with Pley and Discord Bot launch expands cross-platform reach
Investment News
Arcanix secures funding to accelerate live ops platform growth
Funding will accelerate product development, early partner onboarding, and European team growth
Milestone
Fable Town surpasses $1m in monthly revenue
The merge-3 title has 2.3m installs and $7.5m in lifetime earnings
Australia Ahoy
Epic Games hails "win for developers and consumers" as Fortnite to return to iOS in Australia
After five years, a court ruling has determined Fortnite and the Epic Games Store can return to iOS
Protective Partnership
Roblox asks "vigilante groups" to leave child protection to experts, AI and law enforcement
The platform is partnered with law enforcement and has AI-based Sentinel to detect signs of exploitation
Training Camp
Maliyo Games opens applications for 2025 GameUp Africa Bootcamp
12-week remote program covers game art, design, and audio
Online Safety
Roblox open-sources Sentinel AI to detect harmful chat messages
Now open-source so other platforms can integrate the technology
Adaptations
Disney+ adapts hit mobile game Twisted-Wonderland into anime
Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation will premiere on October 29th 2025
Job News
Ex-King CEO Riccardo Zacconi joins Layer AI board
Layer AI is used by over 200 studios including Zynga, Tripledot, and SciPlay
New Partnerships
ZBD brings real-money embedded rewards to mobile games
TapNation’s Idle Bank is among the first to integrate ZBD’s SDK
Online Safety
PlaySafe ID report: Cheating makes 42% of players consider quitting games
Study shows 71% would verify their identity to stop cheaters
Pgc Helsinki
Unlock crucial opportunities in the Nordic games market
Join more than 1,500 attendees for the biggest B2B games event in the Nordics
Moshi Makeover
Mind Candy cancels Moshi Monsters Kickstarter as it targets campaign relaunch
The team is taking a pause to reflect on fan feedback almost two months into the original campaign
Earnings Report
Mobile powers Take-Two bookings growth to $1.4bn in Q1
CEO Strauss Zelnick signals continued focus on mobile direct-to-consumer growth
Investment News
Impact46 invests $6.7m in five Saudi game studios
Investments align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and National Gaming Strategy
Acqusitions
Chinese publisher XD Inc acquires 5.3% stake in Miao for $14m
Deal values studio at approximately $264m
Earnings Report
Konami's games division grows 14% in Q1 as eFootball soars
eFootball surpasses 850m downloads across PC, console, and mobile
Podcast | Episode 63
The Esports World Cup unpacked and lightning strikes twice for Supercell | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 63...
Earnings Report
Netmarble revenue falls to $502m in Q2 despite promising new launches
Seven Knights Re: Birth and RF Online Next were the company’s biggest revenue generators last quarter
Regulations
Japan orders Apple and Google to open payment systems and level app store competition
New guidelines will take effect from December 18th 2025
Subscription Strategy
Games subscription opportunities and challenges after "people have been trained to play for free"
GameHouse CEO Simonetta Lulli spoke at PGC Barcelona about lessons to learn from other industries
Milestone
Castle Duels celebrates first anniversary with 3.5m installs and $13m lifetime revenue
My.Games launches Creator Programme to reward and monetise community talent
New Partnerships
Odeeo and Claritas partner to power full-funnel measurement for in-game audio ads
The collaboration aims to direct ad budgets toward game titles
Fighting Talk
AppLovin brushes off Unity Vector challenge to ads business
"Our market penetration inside gaming is really large at this point. It's materially higher than 70%"
Financials
Playtika eyes bullish 40% direct-to-consumer revenue
DTC sales were up 1.3% year-over-year to $175.9m in Q2
Investment News
Apple to ramp up US manufacturing with additional $100bn investment
The iPhone maker plans to invest $600bn in the United States over four years
Expansions
Territory Studio partner with Savvy Games Group to expand into the Middle East
Territory will open its first Middle East location in Riyadh later this year
Talking Tom
Talking Tom & Friends: World launches globally with emphasis on sandbox experiences
The title is the second of three Talking Tom mobile games slated for 2025
Funding News
Liberty Pixel raises $1.1m for casual and hybridcasual games
Latest round brings the studio’s total funding to $2.3m
M&a
Duolingo acquires majority of team at London studio NextBeat
Acqui-hire will see staff working to expand Duolingo Music
Financials
AppLovin revenue surges 77% to $1.3bn in Q2
Net income rises by 164% Y/Y to $820 million
Ai Ambitions
Unity game engine "competitive advantage" for AI ads platform Vector
CEO Matt Bromberg discusses substantially ramping up the tech firm's AI investments
A New Vector?
Unity pins hopes on Vector AI ads platform to spark revenue growth
CEO Matt Bromberg claims inflection point despite revenue decline
Speaker Wave
Tencent, Neogames Finland and Critical Force among the first wave of speakers confirmed for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025
The first wave of the 150+ expert speakers confirmed to lead our 24-track schedule on October 7th and 8th
Funding For Games
Blue Ocean Games launches Rising Tide 2 to fund the next wave of indie developers
Submissions now open to indie developers and aspiring creators worldwide
Speaker Survey
Devcom survey: A third of devs prefer minimal AI involvement in game production
Devcom 2025 speakers say early access is still strong as platform exclusivity fades
Acqusitions
Gdev acquires Light Hour Games to expand mobile portfolio
First project is set for soft launch this October
Funding News
SuperGaming raises $15m to fuel global expansion of Indus Battle Royale
Funds will go towards game development, talent acquisition, and original IP creation
New Offerings
My.Games launches business modelling tool for AdsAdvisor
Tool is set to release in H2 2025
New Offerings
Coplay takes over Unity MCP as it reaches key milestones with public beta launch
Coplay now powers over 3,000 Unity development features weekly for studios using AI workflows
Building Blocks
Roblox daily active users surges 41% to 112m in Q2
Revenue and bookings up as losses continue
Funding News
GameRamp raises $5.4m to build AI-powered publishing tools for developers
Funding will support team expansion in the US and India
Pokemon Pickle
The Pokémon Company defends TCG Pocket illustrator in artwork fiasco
The card production team mistakenly provided artist Sie Nanahara with the wrong documents when designing Ho-Oh art
Pgc Helsinki
Bigger, broader, and better value - 2025’s must-attend B2B games event in the Nordics
What you need to know about Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, the biggest games industry event in the Nordics, taking place on October 7th to 8th
Switch 2 Sales
Nintendo Switch 2’s launch month sales more than double original Switch’s
Over 5.8m Switch 2s were sold in the console’s first 26 days, helping drive net sales up 132%