What's Next?
The Walking Dead: Our World dev Next Games lays off 26 staff as losses mount
Operating losses for 2018 increases to $19 million
Diamonds Are Forever
Minecraft has its best year ever on mobile earning $110 million
Good news for Steve
Big Deal
Report: Facebook wanted to buy Unity game engine to drive VR and AR business
Wants to be a key player in the next major computing platform after mobile
From This Moment On
Amazon launches new reward scheme Amazon Moments
Tailor-made discounts
Events
Pocket Gamer and Pixonic reunite for our second Party @ GDC 2019
Cap off your first day at GDC with free drinks, dance and networking
Lovin' It
AppLovin study reveals two-thirds of British people play mobile games
But only 64 per cent reckon they're a gamer
Maple
Maplestory M’s massive success is only part of Nexon’s record-setting financial results
Nexon’s highest full-year performance across both PC and Mobile made FY2018 one of the publisher’s strongest years to date
External Funding
Rovio looking to sell over 30 per cent of its stake in streaming service Hatch
To stream or not to stream that is the question
Let It Go
Disney collaborates with Kuato Studios for new storytelling app Disney Story Realms
The genie is out of the bottle
Not So Angry Now
Angry Birds 2 Q4 gross bookings up 77 per cent year-on-year as Rovio reports record quarter for games business
Finnish giant reveals it has 13 new games in development, anticipates big 2019 with new Angry Birds Movie sequel set to launch
Switch's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake set for Nintendo Switch 2019 release
Classic gets new lick of paint
We're Serious
Nintendo reveals Tetris battle royale game for Nintendo Switch
...what?
Mario Maker
Nintendo reveals Super Mario Maker 2 for Nintendo Switch
Set to release in June 2019
No Filter
Pokemon Go update will add new AR camera functionality
Coming very soon
Zap
Ubisoft partners with Mozilla for new bug detecting AI Clever Commit
Looks to improve Ubisoft’s player base
Super Hire
Former Grand Cru CEO Markus Pasula joins Supercell as game developer
Former Rovio SVP of global studios Antti Viitanen took up reigns of Grand Cru in February 2018
Port
Human: Fall Flat will land feet-first on mobile with a little help from 505 Games and Codeglue
505 Games partners with Curve Digital to bring the PC and Console indie hit to handheld devices
Turkey
Gaming Istanbul celebrates its fourth birthday in Turkey's billion-dollar gaming market
“The gaming bridge of Eurasia” wraps up its fourth year with international exhibitors
We Like Ike
Fire Emblem Heroes has grossed over $500 million in two years
More than all other release for mobile combined
Job News
PlayStation vet Lindsay joins Keywords-owned music firm Cord Worldwide as head of audio
Was previously head of audio at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Smart Move
Activision Blizzard: "Mobile is a top priority for us"
Expect more mobile games from the Call of Duty and Overwatch publisher
Hail To The King
Candy Crush maker King's revenue up in 2018 to $2bn, touts $100m ads business
"The next phase about where the ad business heading is about continued scaling"
Studio Closure
Report: King's Seattle studio to close
Decision results in 78 job losses
Job Losses
Activision Blizzard to cut eight per cent of workforce despite "record revenue"
Firm says development workforce to increase by 20 per cent
Market Opportunity?
‘Kid-safe’ ads platform SuperAwesome raises $13m to build YouTube rival
New video on demand service aimed at the seven-to-12 age group
Report
Mobile grows while PC declines in NCSoft’s Q4 financial results
The Lineage M publisher’s financial results paint a mixed picture for the MMO publisher
Sales Star
Brawl Stars scores $110 million in two months
Supercell might be in another annual drop, but Brawl Stars might be the game to turn things around
Changes
App monetisation platform Tapjoy appoints new CEO
Jeff Drobick takes the reins
New Clan
Supercell staffing up China game development studio
CEO Ilkka Paananen discusses his evolving vision for the company
Financials
Supercell revenue drops again to $1.6 billion for 2018
But Brawl Stars performance signals better times ahead
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Coin Master continues to dominate Great Britain and Ireland
Charts from January 28th to February 3rd
Back In Business
GungHo breathes new life into Puzzle & Dragons as MAUs and sales increase in Q4
Sales and profits up quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year
Sales Lost
CyberAgent president “regrets relying too much on a single game title” as Dragalia Lost underperforms
Sales fall below expectations and aren't enough to recoup costs in other areas of the business
Going Public?
Report: Unity eyes up 2020 IPO
Firm eyes first half of 2020 for flotation, sources claim
Nintendo
Nintendo wants to break beyond its existing fanbase despite multiple franchise successes
The Mario-maker’s recent Q&A also touched on keeping players online and the rapidly-declining 3DS
New Plan
Square Enix mobile games underperform as publisher signals it’ll rebuild business
Lowest sales quarter in 2018 and 2019 financial years for smartphone and browser sectors
Swipe Right
HQ Trivia dev Intermedia Labs adds Tinder CEO to board
Joins co-founder Rus Yusupov and investor Jeremy Liew on the board
New Studio
Sumo Digital opens mobile studio in Leamington Spa
Sega Hardlight founder Chris Southall heads up new branch
Hot Five
Diving into TabTale's hyper-casual business, Miniclip acquires Masomo, and Apex Legends could get mobile cross-play
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Job Losses
Report: Activision Blizzard set for hundreds of layoffs
Unclear what teams will be affected by decision
Welcome To The Party Pal
Say hello to our new PocketGamer.biz staff writer Matthew Forde
Rising star to report on the hottest news and conduct key interviews
Telling New Tales
Former Telltale devs open new interactive narrative games studio AdHoc
First project likely to blend gaming with live action content; partner on project to be announced in near future
Oh No
Swedish tax agency demands $370 million from Candy Crush Saga maker King
Skatteverket claims King owes substantial taxes after its acquisition by Activision in 2016
Bird’s Eye View
Rovio and Resolution Games partner for Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs
Available on Vive and Oculus Rift now
Cut
Google won’t be dropping its 30 per cent revenue split in the wake of Epic’s Fortnite antics
"I think there's a value exchange there and it's been the industry standard"
All Aboard
Sega, Riot and THQ Nordic among the ESA’s six new members
US-based trade body bolsters its ranks with three new and three returning members
Big Initiative
King becomes first UK games company to sign Tech Talent Charter to push diversity in the UK
Publisher claims women only count for 19 per cent of people working in UK games industry
Indie Fund
FoxNext rolls out indie development fund
No figure placed on how big this pot is though
Epic Win
Fortnite surpasses $500 million for iOS in less than a year
Game took 326 days to hit the milestone
Back Of The Net
Miniclip acquires Head Ball 2 dev Masomo
Studio's flagship IP has racked up over 60 million downloads to date