Event
Judging starts for the Big Indie Awards at G-STAR
Which of the 400 entries will make it through to the live awards ceremony in Korea?
Homely
Playrix’s Homescapes builds up $420m in revenue for first year
The game took in $28.5 million in September
Crunched
IGDA responds to public outcry over working conditions within the gaming industry
Executive director Jen MacLean remarked that it was unfortunately common but IGDA is looking into it
Referred
Mobile gamers referred through organic social channels have up to 67% higher retention
They also have a 63 per cent higher lifetime session count versus non-referred players
Woah
In-app header bidding can increase ARPDAU by 30%, claims Appodeal
Participating app of the test also saw eCPM rise by 17 per cent
Laid Off
Report: Remaining Telltale Games staff get the boot
One of the staff affected took to Twitter to confirm the news
Korea
Jagex joins the Big Indie Awards at G-STAR as sponsor
Runescape firm supports international celebration of independent game developers this November
Fishing
Digital marketing outfit Jellyfish knuckles down on app space with ASO Co purchase
Among ASO Co’s clientele are Spotify, eBay and Twitter
Funding Bytes
Chile dev TinyBytes Games picks up $1.4m investment
CEO Andres Constantinidis on why Initial Capital and London Venture Partners have made their first foray into Latin America games funding
Switch Up
New and improved Nintendo Switch in the works for 2019
The goal is to make the device brighter, thinner and more energy efficient
Invested
Tencent invests $318 million in Chinese video-sharing company Bilibili
Publisher acquires 12.3 per cent of shares in a company that dabbles in running League of Legends and Overwatch esports teams
Tale Continued?
Telltale wants another company to hire ex-staff and finish The Walking Dead: The Final Season
The third episode is reportedly nearly finished
Jobs News
Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder Mike Morhaime steps down
World of Warcraft executive producer employee J. Allen Brack replaces him in top job
Get Up And Vote
Games publisher Jam City wants to get US voters mobilised for the midterm elections
Happy or unhappy with the state of the country? Then you need to vote
Event
PC Connects returns to London next year
Pocket Gamer Connects London brings its own backup as PC joins blockchain sister event at The Brewery
Growing Sales
Playrix’s hit mobile match-three Gardenscapes rakes in $880 million
Game picks up $35 million in September alone thanks to Annie Smith update
Royalties
Ketchapp brings Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia IP to mobile
Prince of Persia: Escape landed on iOS and Android September 27th
New Motto, New Tech
Applift rebrands to focus on UA and retargeting
Company launches new toolset Mobile Journey Advertising, along with new website, slogan and logo
User Ad Revenue
IronSource unveils new tool to measure ad revenue sources
User Ad Revenue tool tracks which marketing channel user came from to help developers identify the top performing networks
Event
The Jordan Gaming Summit is one month away
We’ll be there with another of our hotly contested Big Indie Pitch competitions
Returning
Garena Online publishes Contra: Return in Southeast Asia
The retro-classic is currently available in Philippines, Thailand, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Hong Kong
Enough Is Enough?
Studio employees campaign against poor working conditions with #AsAGamesWorker hashtag
Developers let out their frustrations over industry working conditions
Jobs News
Animoca Brands brings in Xbox co-founder Ed Fries as strategic advisor
Former Microsoft exec had been advising developer Pixowl before it was acquired by the Hong Kong publisher
Game Of The Year
Nominate your game for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019
Lobbying ends on October 22nd
Heading East
Supercell takes Clash Royale League World Finals 2018 to Japan
Event leaves London behind in favour of Asia
Report
Facebook dominates AppsFlyer Performance Index rankings, but Google is catching up
Apple Search Ads establishes itself as a mainstream player
Craft
Fortnite isn't top dog yet - Minecraft is now pushing 90 million monthly active users
The second-highest selling game of all time found an extra 20 million monthly users in 2018
Event
G-STAR trade visitor pre-registration now open
Korean games industry event also puts business matching system live
Sales Out
NetEase’s PUBG-like Rules of Survival bags $75 million
Another battle royale success for the publisher alongside Knives Out
Revenue Found
Nintendo’s Dragalia Lost generates $3.5 million in five days
Picks up over 800,000 downloads
Acquisition News
Animoca Brands picks up majority stake in AI accelerator Zeroth for $1m
Publisher underwrites $2m worth of investment into Zeroth SPC
Big Brother
Tencent tests facial recognition to restrict gameplay time in Honor of Kings
Chinese publisher wants to check identity and age of players
Event
Big Indie Awards still open to Korean entries
General nominations now closed, Local Developer Award open until the end of the month
Stream On
Google tests games streaming tech in Chrome with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Odyssey
A select number of consumers can play the game in this way for free
Stellar
Hugo Games picks up Dawn of the Dragons dev 5th Planet for $737,000
An extra $160,000 will go towards funding a sequel to the studio's Dawn of the Dragons sequel.
Jobs
Sega of America’s Ian Curran and Tatsuyuki Miyazaki take on additional roles as COO and CEO of Atlus USA
Former CEO Naoto Hiraoka bcomes brand owner to promote company's titles worldwide
Off Course
Nintendo successfully sues Tokyo’s unofficial Mario Kart tours for $89,000
Real-life Mario Kart operator MariCar ordered to stop using Nintendo's property immediately
Gearing Up
Amazon partners with Eden for $20k GameOn Masters: Gear.Club esports tournament
Competition gets sports car manufacturer Pagani as sponsor
Expert Advice
IGDA launches Virtual Mentor Cafe in support of recently laid off devs at Telltale, Capcom Vancouver, Big Fish and more
People affected can seek advice from industry experts
International Recruitment
Games Factory Talents aims to showcase global dev talent to Finnish studios
Initiative to focus on Eastern European developers seeking jobs in Finland
Market Data
Analytics firm Appfigures unveils new mobile market intelligence platform
Explorer offers insights into app performance
Business Shuffle
Tencent restructures business for first time in six years as games regulations bite
Publishing giant setting itself up for future challenges
Nostalgic Deal
Liquid Media snaps up 65 retro game IPs from Throwback for $1 million
Titles include All Star Baseball, NFL Quarterback Club, NHL Breakaway and College Slam
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile game charts: Snake Vs Colors cracks top spot on US App Store while China's top grossing gets a shakeup
Google Play and App Store rankings in the US, Great Britain and Ireland, and China for the week of September 17th to 23rd
Funding Round
Blockchain outfit ClanPlay secures $2 million for its gamer rewards platform
Company aims to build “the world’s first marketplace for in-game actions"
Blockchain Assemble
Fig, Ubisoft, Alto and more form Blockchain Game Alliance
“Blockchain has all the potential to change the gaming ecosystem, creating one that everyone can benefit from”
Revenue Estimates
The Sims Mobile takes home $20 million
Title said to have made $3.17 million in August alone
Tapped Up
Ad tech outfit Tappx names Fernando Saiz as chief marketing officer
Promoted from head of growth
Revenue
Lords Mobile plunders over $825 million in revenue worldwide
IGG's massively-multiplayer strategy game raked in $7 million in one week alone earlier this month
Acquisition News
Chinese tutoring services provider snaps up chidren's apps developer Dr. Panda
Companies to work on "new models for future education"