Empty Nest
Rovio launches new Angry Birds-less match-puzzler Sugar Blast
Like a free-flowing Candy Crush
Event
Full conference schedule revealed for next month’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
More than 200 world-class expert speakers covering the hottest topics across mobile, PC and blockchain gaming
Extras
Fringe benefits at October’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Network with 1,500 attendees; meet publishers, investors and indie devs; take part in an Indie Pitch and one riotous party
Court Case
Niantic settles trespassing lawsuit three years after Pokemon Go launched
Spouting up like Weedles
Series C Investment
VRChat secures $10 million in funding to expand team
Investment comes from Makers Fund, HTC, Brighstone VC and GFR Fund
Products
Webzen explores new ventures with the release of its MU: Fairy Elf Figurine
Korean developer and publisher branches out to diversify its portfolio
Lovin It
AppLovin invests in Belka Games, Firecraft Studios and PeopleFun
“Strategic investments in dynamic studios with high-quality games and outstanding leadership is an important part of our goal"
App Store Kerfuffle
Apple accidentally pays Chinese App Store developers more than expected after bank error
Sources claim the error most likely affected indie developers; Apple to reclaim payouts
Charity Event
The mobile games industry is coming together for One Special Day charity event
The fundraising event is designed to include severely disabled people worldwide in the fun of games
Partnership
Gameloft and Madfinger are teaming up with Asus for ROG Phone II exclusive content
"Thanks to our close relationship with ASUS we were able to finely tune Asphalt 9: Legends”
Event
Win FREE expo space in the Big Indie Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
You could get the opportunity to showcase your game to the global games industry FREE this November, worth $650
Share This
Next Games looking to raise $8.85 million by offering shares in the studio
“The third and final phase of the turnaround project is to secure additional funding”
Job News
UK games industry veteran Stuart Dinsey takes UKIE chair role
He replaces Revolution's Noirin Carmody
Seamless Loading
NCSoft's latest potential mobile blockbuster Lineage 2 M set to release in Q4
Previous titles Lineage M and Lineage 2 Revolution both made over $1 billion
Project Xcloud
Microsoft partners with SK Telecom on 5G-based cloud gaming in South Korea
“Partnerships, like the one we announced with SK Telecom today, are critical to continuing that trajectory and moving the gaming industry forward”
Shadow Drop
Update: Pokemon Go has best month for revenue in three years
Worldwide catch 'em all brings in $110 million as Dr. Mario World ends run as worst-performing mobile game from Nintendo
Event
Last chance to save on tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki and Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
At midnight TONIGHT, prices for the October’s Helsinki conference hit full price, and Early Bird discounts for the November’s Jordan event end
Nintendo Direct
Switch Online SNES games, Deadly Premonition 2 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons headline Nintendo Direct
Growing library of SNES titles will be available to subscribers from September 5th
Diversity Survey
UKIE launches new diversity survey for the games industry
“This new Census will give us for the first-time a crucial understanding of the diversity make-up of the games industry”
Job News
Age of Learning appoints former Disney Asia head Paul Candland as CEO
“Paul’s outstanding talent and business acumen will greatly accelerate our growth in providing our world-class educational solutions”
Google Play Rival?
My.Games could launch its own Android store
Publisher is holding internal discussions about the marketplace following the announcement of its PC storefront
Education
Nintendo UK partners with Digital Schoolhouse on UKIE “play-based learning” programme
“DSH has evolved enormously in just three years and their support means we can reach more pupils and teachers than ever”
Smashing
Nintendo Switch games dominated Amazon for the month of August
Six of the top 10 best-selling games for the month were attributed to the console
Event
Rovio, ENCE Eports, Wargaming and Tenjin set to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Speaker lineup for the two-day B2B conference in October set to make a strong return
Event
PechaKucha is back for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Riotous fun with Powerpoint on stage at Finland’s biggest B2B event for the games industry
Third Time Lucky?
Starbreeze applies for third extension to reconstruction period
Follows acting CEO Mikael Nermark saying that his No.1 priority is "securing the long-term financing for the company"
Supporting Vr
Ex-Beat Games boss Beck looking to invest in VR projects
“I think it will be great to put a bunch of money together and start supporting new developers”
Global Expansion
Virtuos expands with new offices in Montreal and South Korea
"As we continue our global expansion plan and open new offices around the world our mission remains focused on creating great games”
Lego Star Wars
TT Games Brighton developing a new LEGO Star Wars game for mobile devices
The game feature content from all nine Skywalker saga films, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rogue One
Gotta Sync ‘em All
Pokemon Masters champions 10 million downloads in four days
Number one for downloads across 27 countries including the US and Japan
New Studio
Fate/Grand Order developer Type-Moon opens new subsidiary studio
New location is headed up by Dragon Quest Builders series director Kazuya Niinou
Deal Closed
Annapurna Pictures reportedly resolves more than $200 million in debt
The agreed deal will see participants in revolving credit facility receive an estimated $0.82 on the dollar
Perfect Balance
Modus Games acquires Brazilian dev The Balance
The developer is the first acquisition by the publisher and will be renamed as Modus Studios Brazil as part of the deal
China Expansion
Huya picks up minority stake in ESL for $30m
The two companies plan to expand esports services in China following the deal
Spectator Games
Lucky’s Tale developer Playful Studios raises $23 million for spectator games
“We’re working on a large project It’s about the fact that video games are becoming a spectator sport”
Job News
Stillfront names Goodgame’s Phillip Knust as group chief product officer
"Establishing this role on the Group level is an important step to further accelerate synergies and develop Stillfront"
Obituary
Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka dies
He had worked on titles such as Aquaria and TowerFall Ascension
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Voodoo's top 10 download dominance wanes
Rankings from August 19th to 25th
East Meets West
East Meets West: Mobile esports games earned $15.3bn in 2018, and Blizzard sues Chinese dev over WoW 'clone'
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
Rush Wars heads into soft launch, Supercell analysis, and Zynga's growth track
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Lawsuit
Blizzard sues Chinese developer Sina Games over World of Warcraft ‘clone’
Glorious Saga was shut down on August 29th for "irresistible reasons" following the lawsuit filing
Event
Last week's Games Mixer 2019 near Gamescom was a great success
An international audience learned about the potential in the Korean games market with G-STAR
New Tv Show
Etermax unveils new Trivia Crack animated series Triviatopia
The new show will launch for free on YouTube and YouTube Kids on September 12th
Mobile Esports
Mobile esports games earned $15.3 billion in 2018
Over 51% of China’s domestic games market was grossed by mobile titles.
Esports Team
Pole to Win launches its own PUBG Mobile esports team
Orange Rock Esports to compete at the Vodafone 5G PUBG Mobile finals in Milan
Gears Royale
Gears Pop snags one million players
The title has been an early top 100 grossing game in the UK and US
Who's There?
Instant games developer Knock Knock raises $4m
The San Francisco-based studio has raised $6 million to date
Event
One week left to save up to $250 on Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
Early Bird prices for the two-day B2B conference are set to end next week
Event
Just one week left to save on the price of tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Mid-term prices are set to revert to full price for October’s two-day B2B mobile games industry conference next week.
Company Expansion
Keywords expands offices in Poland and Mexico
Services provider set to recruit more staff