Cyberspace
Japanese games firm Koei Tecmo hit by cyber attack
Forums of UK subsidiary breached, user information potentially stolen
Catch Em All
Niantic offers players chance to be a real trainer in Pokémon Go
"Try giving yourself a theme, like a cool and dynamic Electric-type Trainer or a fluid and powerful Water-type Trainer"
Green Thumb
Ustwo games is planting a new tree for each download of Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
So far 276,490 trees have been planted
Money Money Money
Mobile consumer spending hit $111 billion last year
An increase of 30.2 per cent year-on-year
Hackernom
Cut the Rope star Om Nom gets new soft-launched title with Cybernom
ZeptoLab will be looking to recreate the success of Om Nom: Run
Ninten-yay
Nintendo snaps up Luigi's Mansion 3 dev Next Level Games
The deal is expected to close on March 1st
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Mobile app Roshambo Live picked up by ITV for pilot live TV show
ITV's Studio 55 cited the game as a potential 'media landscape gamechanger'
Investment
Mobile Dev Memo's MDM Investment Syndicate has already made four deals
"The Mobile Dev Memo Syndicate closed its fourth deal just before Christmas, putting it at an investment cadence of one per month since its launch in September"
Homecoming
Epic Games purchases a shopping mall to be its new HQ
Construction will begin this year
Splash The Cash
Nordisk Games acquires 40% of MercurySteam
This is the firm's first investment outside of the Nordic region
Over The Horizon
Animal Crossing: New Horizons closes out 2020 at the top of the UK charts
It experienced a seven per cent increase in sales
Big Spender
European consumers spent $54.6 million on mobile apps on Christmas Day
Globally mobile spending hit $407 million that same day
Getting The Boot
Apple purges 39,000 titles from its Chinese App Store
As a result of apps not having a license
Welcome Back
Huawei returns Tencent's games to its storefront
Following removal due to a revenue share dispute
Rip
Yoozoo Games CEO and chairman Qi passes away at 39
Allegedly due to being poisoned
2020 In Review
Gismart VP of business development on company growth, expansion, and juggling hypercasual titles
As part of our 2020 in review series
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: "I see a bright future ahead for virtual conferences," says Mowhawk Games CEO Leyla Johnson
PGC Digital #5 kicks off on February 8th
Event Access
Take part in Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #5 completely FREE!
Get involved with our online-only conference in February without spending a single penny!
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: HipHopGamer on being 'authentic and fearless' in an ever-growing gaming sphere
PGC Digital #5 kicks off on February 8th
Reasons To Attend
17 reasons why you need to virtually attend Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #5
250+ speakers, 14 conference tracks, 1,500+ industry professionals, exciting fringe events - February’s digital conference is set up to kick the new year off in style!
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: "staying on top of trends involves being a gamer yourself" says Roundhill Investments' Mario Stefanidis
PGC Digital #5 kicks off on February 8th
Unlimited Networking
Connect with industry professionals around the world with the MeetToMatch platform at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #5
The meeting platform is a core component of the online conference in February, and it’s free to all attendees
Mtm 2020
Master The Meta: 2020 in review
A lookback of our MTM column this year
One Million
Survival Hunter Games: American Archer achieves over 1 million downloads in five months through AppGallery partnership
The already popular mobile game leveraged AppGallery’s marketing capabilities to boost its growth in new markets
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Eaton Smith LLP's Chris Taylor on gaming's endless possibilities
PGC Digital #5 kicks off on February 8th
Getting The Boot
Apple is preparing to remove more apps from the Chinese App Store
Continuing from the ISBN issues earlier this year
A Good Deed
The ESA Foundation raises $468k for various charities
It will also be used to fund its scholarship programme
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Sketchbook Games' Mark Backler on not giving up on getting into games
Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #5 kicks off February 8th
A Dynasty
Yoozoo launches Dynasty Scrolls worldwide
The series has 200 million registered users in China
New Acquisition
Moon Active snaps up mobile games dev Melsoft
"We were searching for a company that has the right products and at the same time shares our culture and values that will allow us to grow together in synergy"
Journalist Bar
Get free consultation on your games with the Journalist Bar at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #5
Get on the experts’ radar as our PocketGamer.com and PocketGamer.biz journalists offer feedback on your games digitally
Loot Boxes
Report: 31% of young gamers don't know how much they spend on loot boxes
"We are calling for parents to be aware of the risks of loot boxes when buying presents this Christmas"
What A Year
Voodoo's portfolio saw over two billion downloads in 2020
It also had 300 million monthly active users
Winner!
Huawei names Free Fire as the best shooting and multiplayer game on AppGallery
Archero, AFK Arena and Asphalt 9 were also winners
Free Falling
Human: Fall Flat hits two million Chinese sales in six days
It shot to the top of the charts
Money Money Money
Mobile app marketing specialist Liftoff secures backing from Blackstone
“We’re excited to be partnering with Blackstone, one of the premier private equity firms in the world"
Independent
Digital Extremes will maintain creative independence after Tencent takeover
"We will continue to create great content for Warframe, and we will remain creatively independent"
Public Potential
Playtika IPO shows revenues and debts of $2.3 billion
It aims to raise over $1 billion
Connect With Top Talent
Connect with top publishers and indie developers at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #5 with the Publisher SpeedMatch - registration is now open
Sign up to meet the biggest publishers in the game or to scout new talent to take your business to the top
Need To Know
Raw Fury makes its publishing agreement public
“We believe having publisher contracts out in the open helps level the playing field"
Got Stock
Stillfront and Embracer Group dominate the stock market
Both companies have made various acquistions this year
#freefortnite
Epic Games returns to its #FreeFortnite campaign
It sent out packages to journalists and infleuncers
Switched
The Nintendo Switch is entering the "midpoint" of its cycle
"We believe we're just at the midpoint of this life cycle on this platform"
Positive Influence?
Game influencers could get hit by weird additions to US coronavirus relief bill
Amendments to the legislation could give companies an edge in handling how their IP is used
Going Digital
The digital games market grew 15 per cent in November
Mobile was up nine per cent year-on-year
Possible Deal
ByteDance is looking to acquire mobile games publisher CMGE
Its company stake would be worth $275 million
An Imposter!
Among Us hit 500 million monthly active users in November
Majority of users are on mobile
Gobble Gobble
Bandai Namco teams with the NBA for Pac-Man content
"Everyone at Bandai Namco Entertainment is extremely proud and excited to bring Pac-Man together in partnership with the NBA"
Welcome To The Family
Voodoo acquires Paris-based studio OHM Games
"We're thrilled to be able to build on our existing relationship with OHM Games"
Farm Life
Goodgame Studios opens pre-registrations for Big Farm: Home & Garden
Only avaiable through Google Play