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"
Bluff Plus
Zynga launches new casual card game Bluff Plus
Zynga Turkey gets its first game launched since being acquired in 2017
Too Much Pay
EA shareholders vote against its exec compensation payment plan
It is rare for a plan like this to be rejected
What's Your Genre?
Report: 49 per cent of mobile players pick a new game based on genre
"With this genre report, we sought to understand people's motivations for downloading a specific game"
Financials
Sega Sammy experiences a loss in Q1 FY2021 despite increase in free-to-play revenues
F2P titles generated $98 million
Put 'em Up
ByteDance is looking to fight back against Trump and the US ban of TikTok
"Will try every possible way to fight back"
Financials
DeNA's game profits are on the rise earning $200.5 million in Q1 FY2020
Overall revenue dropped four per cent year-on-year
Pgbiz Roundtable
Join us on August 11th for our "Monetise, not Bastardise" PocketGamer.biz RoundTable session
Discussing new methods of monetisation, brought to you by AudioMob
No More Nicknames
Chinese gamers will need to use their real names to log in for online gaming from September
So the government can track time spent on games
Master The Meta
Master the Meta: Understanding Zynga's remarkable trajectory and newest acquisition
News and insights from the Master the Meta team
Helping Out
TIGA answers House of Lords inquiry into employment and Covid-19
Trade association outlines four measures to help the industry
Wanna Merge?
Tencent is looking to merge streaming platforms Huya and DouYu
It would seek to be the majority shareholder
Money Money Money
Microsoft's worth jumps up by $77 billion after announcing plans to buy TikTok in the US
It is valued at $1.6 trillion
Being Prepared
TikTok is returning money to advertisers ahead of its possible US ban
It will honour ad campaigns it can still complete
Moving On
Street Fighter boss Yoshinori Ono leaves Capcom after nearly 30 years
"I've been with the Street Fighter brand for a long time, experiencing good times, bad times, and even non-existent times"
Going Nowhere
AT&T appears to be keeping hold of Warner Bros. Interactive
"Warner Bros. Interactive remains part of the Studios and Networks group"
Masterclasses
PocketGamer.biz MasterClasses: Early Bird ends at midnight!
Last chance to save $130 before prices rise
Most Read
Hot Five: Zynga acquires Rollic, EA discusses WB Games purchase, and Blizzard staff request pay rise
The hottest articles of last week
Going Digital
Digital sales made up 55.6 per cent of Nintendo's software revenue in Q1 FY21
Around 50 per cent of Animal Crossing: New Horizons sales were digital
Stripped Back
Facebook Gaming launches app without Instant Games for iOS
"Unfortunately, we had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple's approval"
Takin' Care Of Business
Mobile games jobs weekly: Sega president Kenji Matsubara resigns, Improbable welcomes new head of publishing, and more Ubisoft exits
The movers, shakers and job opportunities in mobile gaming
Hard Work Recognised
Voltage entertainment increases the pay of Lovestruck writers following 21 day strike
"While we work together to move forward, releases will be on a slower schedule at first"
You Larvitar To See It
Pokémon Café Mix generates 2.9 million downloads in first month, tops $1 million revenue
Pokémon Smile accumulates over half a million installs
Game Of The Show
Ukie unveils 15 finalists for its UK Game of the Show award
Winner to be crowned on August 24th
Financials
Nexon has its best Q2 to date as it generates $610.4 million
"Nexon is performing exceptionally well"
Access Denied
Apple claims that cloud gaming apps like Project xCloud violate its policies
Microsoft is still commited to bringing its platform to iOS
Banned
President Trump signs executive orders to ban business with TikTok and WeChat
Will come into effect in 45 days
Io-no
Project xCloud testing ceases on iOS devices
The app was expired on August 5th
That's Epic
Epic Games secures $1.78 billion in new funding round
"Having the support of leaders in the financial community accelerates Epic's efforts to build a new kind of digital ecosystem"
Acquisition
Enthusiast Gaming acquires Omnia Media from Blue Ant Media Solutions
The deal is worth CAD$54.5 million
Equal Pay
Update: Blizzard staff members preparing list of workplace requests as part of ongoing pay dispute
"We will continue to adapt our compensation to build and keep the workforce our company needs today and tomorrow"
Financials
Zynga generates a record $452 million in Q2 2020 though suffers a net loss of $150 million
"We delivered tremendous results in Q2"
Change It Up
Lab Cave appoints Luis Bertó as its new managing director
CEO Jesús Martínez will depart the company on August 7th
Money Money Money
No More Robots sees $5 million in revenue for its third year
It will bring half a dozen games to Nintendo Switch in the next year
Develop:brighton Digital
Develop:Brighton replaces physical event with digital-only conference due to coronavirus
Still taking place on November 2nd-4th 2020