Cloud Gaming
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer thinks it’s a long while before the cloud replaces traditional consoles
"I think this is years away from being a mainstream way people play”
Top Dog
Dimoso’s Jonathan Lopera joins Zynga to head up London communications team
The team will be responsible for publicising the company’s current and future games, employment opportunities and studio leadership outside of the US
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Fortnite’s mechs send the battle royale hit to number one in the US
Rankings from July 29th to August 4th
Still Got It
Nida Harb 3 helps drive Stillfront revenue up 46% to $50m in Q2
Earnings before tax more than double to $13.3m
Event
Animoca Brands, Nutaku, Pixel Federation and Remedy Entertainment to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Speaker lineup for the two day B2B games industry conference shapes up to be something special
Lawsuit Dropping In
Epic Games struck with class-action lawsuit over Fortnite account hacks
More than 100 class members have filed the document against battle royale phenomenon
Gun Violence
Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick says it's "disrespectful" to blame entertainment for US gun violence
Games exec says that mass shootings are "uniquely American"
Event
Check out the Big Screen Gaming track in association with Games Helsinki at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Brand new track featuring PC console, XR and blockchain at the two day B2B games industry conference in October
Trump Tariffs
US video game console and mobile tariff delayed until December
“As part of USTR’s public comment and hearing process, it was determined that the tariff should be delayed to December 15 for certain articles”
Perfect Growth
Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile and Perfect World power Tencent's smartphone revenue to $3.2bn in Q2
Overall online games business grew eight per cent to $3.9bn
Moving On
Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell leaves virtual reality company
“Virtual reality is still on the bleeding edge of technology, and this community continues to pioneer the way forward”
M&a
THQ Nordic acquires Milestone, Gunfire Games and Goodbye Kansas Game Invest
Racing specialist Milestone, Darksiders maker Gunfire and investment firm Goodbye Kansas Game join the European publisher firm's portfolio
Dark Days
Isbit Games closes after running out of funds
“We have been working very hard to fight for the survival of the studio”
Whoops
Twitch CEO apologises to Ninja for pornography recommendation on his old channel
The platform was using the Ninja landing page to push other streams
Cancelled Content
Mojang cans Minecraft Super Duper Graphics Pack
The project was announced at E3 2017
Prize Payment
New esports payment solution Prize Payments launches
Company estimates that $300 million will be paid out in prize money in 2019
Bomb Threat
Bandai Namco investigates potential bomb threat at Santa Clara office
This follows recent acts of violence across the US
Hard Pill To Swallow
Dr. Mario World’s first month revenue is Nintendo’s lowest on mobile to date
$1.4 million in revenue places the puzzler last out of all five major releases
Event
Pocket Gamer Connects returns to London in 2020!
Two-day games industry expo featuring Big Indie Pitch, Investor Connector, party and more
Jaffajam
New Zealand hyper-casual start-up JaffaJam wants to shake up the sector
Studio soft-launches new title Mountain Madness built on its own BubbleGum toolset
Top Publishers
Tencent was the top grossing global apps publisher in July
Tencent grossed $679 million in revenue
Going Mobile
The Chinese Room’s first game Dear Esther is set to hit iOS devices later this year
Over one million units have been sold since its launch in 2012
Os Wars
Huawei unveils new Android rival HarmonyOS
The announcement comes amidst US trade war that has seen smartphone manufacturer banned from working with US firms without government approval
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Hangar 13 wants to "surprise and disrupt", Blockchain Cuties launches, and Ninja hits 1m Mixer subscribers
The biggest stories of the last week from the PC, mobile and blockchain spaces
Legal Advice
Update: Annapurna Pictures seeks bankruptcy protection
The company owns Annapurna Interactive, publisher of indie titles such as Florence and Donut County
East Meets West
East Meets West: US to overtake China as world's most lucrative games market, and PUBG Mobile makes more than Fortnite
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
Roblox on track for $100m dev payouts, Fyber launches FairBid, and Angry Birds Movie 2 is the highest-rated video game film
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Roblox Developers Conference
$100m dev payouts, 1.2 billion hours of engagement a month: What we learned at the Roblox Developers Conference
The Roblox team discussed the game’s growth, the latest developments on the platform and its predictions for the future
Company Acquired
Animoca Brands acquires digital marketplace Quidd for up to $8 million
$8 million was raised in strategic capital funds
Winner Winner
Sensor Tower: PUBG Mobile is making more money than Fortnite
July saw sales increase by 748 per cent year-on-year
Twitch Studio
Twitch launches first-party streaming software Twitch Studio
Previously, streamers had to use third-party software such as OBS and XSplit to power their broadcasts
Cool
Epic to disclose loot box odds following ESA pledge
Meanwhile, THQ Nordic refuses to put name to list of publishers as it says it has no plans to use this business model
Big Appointment
Bigpoint names Yoozoo Holding Group president Jeff Lu as new MD
Former MD Brian Morrisroe leaves German developer
Event
Discover the secrets of South Korea’s games industry in a FREE games mixer near Gamescom
Speakers revealed from G-STAR, Samsung, Kunlun, Gameforge and Lucrion
Guns Or Games!?
Walmart orders its staff to remove signage for violent video games following mass shootings
But, of course, stores are still selling guns and ammo
Event
Just one week left to save up to $350 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Early Bird prices for October’s two-day B2B mobile games industry conference ends next week.
Market Value
The US will overtake China as world’s most lucrative games market this year
Global games market estimated to be worth $152.1 billion by the end of 2019
Video Game Tax
UK video games tax relief pays out $392 million to devs
Over 1,075 games have made claims since 2014
Event
Take a peek at the first ever Asia Digital Entertainment Summit
Two day event supporting the digital entertainment industry, with companies like Sony, Valve, Activision and more involved.
Loot Boxes
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony will now require developers to disclose loot box odds
Agreement has been made for odds to be shown by the end of 2020
Event
Last chance to save up to $310 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan 2019
Super Early Bird ticket prices end tonight at midnight for November’s two-day B2B games industry conference
Under Investigation
Report claims Activision Blizzard has avoided taxes on billions
The Candy Crush publisher moved $5.59 billion to subsidiaries in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013 to 2017
German Games Market
Employee numbers in the German games industry on the decline despite market growth
Number of games companies also rose from 524 to 614 in 2018
Closing Doors
Square Enix shutting down Star Ocean Mobile
Less than two years into game being available worldwide
Red Hot
Angry Birds film sequel currently sits as highest-rated video game movie ever
Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus pegs birds follow up at 82 per cent
Game Time
Google to share fresh Stadia game details in August livestream
Stadia Connects returns on the opening night of Gamescom
Financials
Animoca Brands posts highest revenue quarter in company’s history
Company took $5.8million in sales during Q2 2019
Esports Park
NetEase plots $725 million esports park investment in Shanghai
The facilities will be located in Shanghai
New Partnerships
Tencent Cloud chases new partners in South Korea and Southeast Asia as it plots international growth
The division has set a goal for five-fold international revenue growth
Joy
Pop-up Pokemon Centre capturing London this October
We hope to see you again soon