Bird Feed
Rovio teams up with Jazwares to create range of toys for Angry Birds
The range of toys will support Rovio’s upcoming entertainment ventures
Surf's Up
Subway Surfers hit monthly download record of 52.5m in June 2018
2.1 billion-plus downloads in total
Fated
Former Fate/Grand Order and Zero Escape devs launch new indie studio
Four titles are currently in the works, one anime and three games
Here Comes The Boom
Boom Beach blows past $820m in revenue for Supercell
The MMO real-time strategy released back in 2013
Exclusive
Vinnie Jones is the face of Stanga Games' Underworld Football Manager
The Snatch actor will be the face of the game for an undisclosed period of time
China
It could take another four-to-six months for China to start approving new games again
Governmental restructure may see the region’s normally-booming market frozen for another half year.
Pgc Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects day two begins with Blockchain, Indie and Growth tracks
A packed second day awaits
Switch
Nintendo cites cheaters for the decision to restrict cloud saves on Switch
Switch Online cloud saves won’t be enabled on a number of titles
Spend
Report: Industry less reliant on "whales" than it used to be
Less stigma on in-game spending is creating a market less reliant on big-spenders.
Social
Former Zynga director Kate Gorman's Fort Mason Games reveals first project
The women-led startup hopes to make a name in casino gaming through better representation of women
Rawr
Ludia’s Jurassic World Alive takes home over $25m in four months
The location-based title averaged $1.2 million per week in revenue for August
Ballin'
Outerminds taps up YouTubers Ethan and Hila Klein for mobile game
Ball Riders is available to grab on the Google Play store and Apple App Store
Open For Business
Unity and Google Cloud launch open-source matchmaking project
Open Source is games engine agnostic to allow game creators to reuse a common matchmaker framework
Game Changers
Facebook talks Instant Games on Messenger: “We’re investing a lot in making this a better experience”
Social network working to improve game discoverability
Pgc Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki kicks off with talks on hyper-casual and monetisation
Two days packed with talks covering all aspects of the games industry
X Marks The Spot
From Nintendo Switch to PC: Inside Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki’s Connect X track
Pocket Gamer Connect Helsinki lands in Finland September 11th to September to 12th
Fold
Tencent axes poker game as China tightens the leash on gaming
Servers for “Everyday Texas Hold’Em” will go offline on September 25th
Pubg
Tencent is holding its first PUBG Mobile tournament in India
PUBG Mobile Campus Championship 2018 will pit teams from 1000 colleges against each other
China
A third of the Chinese population is playing mobile games
China’s 459 million large mobile audience rivals the total population of Japan and the US combined
New Digs
Nexon swaps up US offices in California to reflect company culture
New Hawaii Street HQ is two floors and 49,307 square feet
Not Too Shabby
Mobile Strike racks up over $1 billion in revenue for Machine Zone
Lion’s share of income hails from the US with 55 per cent
Badges And Beer
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Badge Pick Up Party kicks off tonight!
Skip the registration queues at the venue and head straight to the bar the night before
Traded
All things Trade Trends at Pocket Gamer Connect Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki will last from September 11th to 12th.
Eastern Delights
A peek into Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki's East meets West track before it happens
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki will last from September 11th to 12th
Blast
Toon Blast revenue rockets to $200 million in its first year
Toy Blast follow-up reaches milestone thanks to a successful celebrity marketing campaign
Monetised
Looking inside the Monetiser track at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland from September 11th to 12th
China
China’s gaming crackdown pushes Tencent towards further age restrictions in Honor of Kings
As part of a government campaign to prevent myopia amongst children and reduce gameplay time
R&d
Scotland set for $11.6m games research and development centre
Students also stand to benefit with work experience through InGame partnership
Camp
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp reaches $50 million in worldwide revenue
But the mobile life-sim is still the slowest-growing of Nintendo’s three mobile titles
Good Cause
Gameloft, Wargaming, Bandai Namco and more support War Child's Armistice 2018 charity fundraising campaign
Money to go toward supporting children affected by war
Acquisition News
UK publisher PlayStack acquires Finnish developer Hisome
Studio renamed PlayStack Oy and will be responsible for development and finding new partners
Come Together
NantWorks invests in H1Z1 developer Daybreak and forms new publishing division
Mobile versions of H1Z1 coming
To Absent Friends
Square Enix COO Mike Sherlock passes away
"Mike was a principled and charismatic leader who led by example. He was extremely proud of the progress and success we have shared over the years"
Thank You!
Celebrating the sponsors for next week’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
All the companies who help make Europe’s biggest mobile B2B games industry event possible
Ban
France bans mobile phones during school
Phones, tablets and smart-watches banned during school hours for under-15 students
Publishing Deal
Mobile internet giant Cheetah Mobile secures publishing rights for Ministry of Games' Trade Town
Cheetah Mobile beat multiple publishers to win the deal
Top Celler
Dead Cells is selling four Nintendo Switch copies for every one sold on PS4
Roguelike slasher manages to outsell on Switch despite console’s smaller install base
Knight
Hollow Knight topped Nintendo Switch eShop charts in Europe last month
25 per cent cut and fourth free content release help propel Hollow Knight to No.1
Bought
AppLovin acquires in-app header bidding company MAX Inc
Discoverability platform expands services to include the new header bidding solution
Kitted Out
Looking into the Developer Toolkit track at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland on September 11th to 12th
Super
$1.5m daily August revenue pushes Supercell’s Clash Royale to $2.2 billion in lifetime earnings
The daily intake was up from the $1.2 million per day average in July
Earthquake
Nintendo Direct delayed following earthquake in Japan
The games showcase will be rescheduled soon
Contact!
The A-Z (and a bit!) of who’ll be at next month’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki (UPDATE)
Who would you like to meet at Europe’s biggest B2B mobile games industry conference and expo?
East Meets West
South Korean publisher Pearl Abyss acquires Eve Online studio CCP for $425 million
Icelandic studio claims it will maintain independence while supporting Pearl Abyss' current and future projects
Super Purchase
Nielsen snaps up market research outfit SuperData
No figure put on the deal
Investment Round
Roblox picks up $150 million investment to fuel global expansion
New translations and support for currencies expected as company continues to grow
Amazon
Amazon quickly follows in Apple's footsteps and hits $1 trillion valuation
The online store joins Apple as the second public US firm to pass the threshold
Lay Of The Land
Looking across the Live Ops Landscape at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki touches down in Finland on September 11th to 12th
Switch
Nintendo Switch closes on five million sales in Japan
Handheld hybrid has sold almost five million units in its home market
Listed
Chinese mobile games publisher CMGE looking to raise $500 million through Hong Kong IPO
The company originally delisted from Nasdaq in 2015 in the US