Winner Winner
Report: Tencent set to acquire 10% of PUBG developer Bluehole for $500 million
Sale is not intended to raise capital for Bluehole but instead is a chance for early investors to cash out
Hang With The Squad
AzzyLand, Bart Baker, Chad Wild Clay and more star in Squad Rivals mobile game
Content creators have a combined audience of 41 million YouTube subscribers
Greatest Generation
In a bid to combat industry ageism Game Advocacy unveils first 50 Over 50 list
Recognition hopes to shine a spotlight on ageism within the games sector
Dialled In
Sony’s PlayLink project is still alive with seven new games coming this year
Playstation’s local mobile multiplayer platform expands with games old and new
Big Drops
Fortnite for Nintendo Switch stacks up two million players in less that 24 hours
Epic’s hit continues to be a worldwide phenomenon in spite of cross-platform woes
Stranger Definitions
Netflix not getting into games despite commissioning Minecraft interactive TV show and Stranger Things games
How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?
Developer Awards
Entries open for The Big Indie Awards at G-STAR
Gala ceremony in South Korea the grand finale to another fantastic year of international Big Indie Pitches
New Job
Chimera signs up ex-Ubisoft Blue Byte designer to head up game design
Sebastian Bombera joins with over 13 years on industry experience
Lock Down
Apple closes App Store loophole in a bid to stop developers from sharing data on users' friends
The move cracks down on a practice that has been reportedly going on for years
Hitting The Mark
MAG Interactive’s Paint Hit makes a splash with one million downloads in one day
The paint shooter is sitting in the number one spot on the Google Play casual games chart in the US
Crazy
Animoca Brands eyes Middle East revenue potential with Crazy Defense Heroes release
An Android version of the game is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2018
Go Beyond
Beyond Games: A London mini-summit and mixer
Brought to you by Game Insight and Pocket Gamer; takes place on June 26th
Data Klaxon
Analysing player behaviour in the Chinese mobile games market
Chinese gamers are also more likely to surpass the world spending average
Fortifying Ps4
Sony blocks Fortnite cross-play between PS4 and Nintendo Switch
The battle royale hit can still be played between mobile, PC, Mac and Xbox One though
World Cup
Epic lays out Fortnite World Cup 2019 plans as battle royale hit surpasses 125m players
$100 million prize pool to support numerous competitions
Back In The Black
Pearl’s Peril studio Wooga profitable again after 'two tough years'
Appoints former Miniclip chief financial officer Ross Logan as new CFO
Big Indie Pitch
The Big Indie Pitch arrives in Russia for the first time ever as a part of White Nights St. Petersburg 2018
Conference takes place on June 29th and 30th
E3 2018
Fire Emblem: Three Houses for Nintendo Switch gets spring 2019 release date
Fully-fledged strategy RPG on its way
Critical Hit
Super Smash Bros Ultimate lands on Nintendo Switch in December
Features up to eight-player battles
Dive In
Fortnite Battle Royale launches on Nintendo Switch today
Epic Games’ battle royale hit was revealed during Nintendo’s E3 Direct
Party Time
Super Mario Party heading to Nintendo Switch in October
Utilises unique Switch features.
Change The Game
Google Play reveals winners of Change the Game Design Challenge
Winners snagged an expenses free trip to E3 and a scholarship to a Girls Make Games
Summer Camp
Campaign Boost
Ad tech start-up WeQ wants to power burst campaigns for apps with Boost
Tool supports campaign management and optimisation
We Are
ESA Foundation’s ‘We Are’ diversity initiative aims to inspire women in games
Scheme plans to connect women by highlighting individuals
Wired
Killing Floor dev Tripwire launches new publishing division at E3 2018
Reveals inaugural titles Maneater and Road Redemption
Moving Day
InnoGames closes Dusseldorf studio and shifts production to Hamburg HQ
The decision to shift production focus from Duesseldorf came in in late 2017
Nintendo
Nintendo Direct E3 2018 Conference: Where to watch and what to expect
Details on Fortnite, Super Smash Brothers and Splatoon 2’s Octo expansion expected
Indie Event
Big Indie Fest @ ReVersed speakers revealed, keynote by Rami Ismail
Day two of the four-day event features four seminar tracks covering everything from indie studio survival tips to successful international development strategies
Do A Barrel Roll
Ubisoft deepens ties with Nintendo as Star Fox comes to Starlink: Battle for Atlas
Toys-to-life game gets October 16th 2018 release date
Critical Hit
Games Workshop staff to all benefit from $6.7 million bonus
Tabletop gaming institution expects profits to nearly double this year
Ipo Go
Flexion Mobile set for IPO listing on June 13th
Nasdaq First North has approved the listing of its shares in Stockholm
Talent Scout
Keywords Studios acquires the Hollywood talent outfit Blindlight
Sunset strip studio specialises in getting game publishers in touch with Hollywood creatives
World Tour
Platinum Games and DENA soft-launch World of Demons in Southeast Asia
The RPG is seen as a spiritual successor to Clover Studio’s Okami
Valued Valleys
Wales Interactive co-founder David Banner set to receive MBE
Developer has become a pillar of the Welsh games industry over the last 23 years
Jobs News
Finnish publisher Full XP names Eliza Ralph as CTO
Will be responsible for leading the company’s technical direction and strategy
New Milestone
Fallout Shelter racks up 120 million downloads as it heads to Nintendo Switch
Title celebrates third anniversary
Elder Scrolls Mobile
The Elder Scrolls: Blades brings the classic RPG series' gameplay to mobile
Release date set for autumn 2018
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Is Super Tapx the next Voodoo?
Rankings from May 28th to June 3rd 2018
Xbox Mobile
Microsoft building Xbox streaming service to bring console games to any device
Looks like Xbox games could be coming to mobile
Popping Up
Gears Pop blends Gears of War with Funko Pop for mobile
Gears Pop release date set for 2019 on Google Play and App Store
E3 2018
EA reveals Command and Conquer Rivals for iOS and Android
First brand new entry in the franchise to come to mobile
Big Indie Pitch
Defend The Cake takes the crown at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2018’s Very Big Indie Pitch
The best of the best from Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2018's Very Big Indie Pitch
Galactic
CCP Games teams up with NetEase for new Eve Online mobile game
Project Galaxy will drop in 2019 for iOS with Android to come thereafter
Funding News
Australian developer iCandy receives $1 million investment from esports.com
Blockchain and esports firm to take 19.5 per cent stake in studio
Level Up
Facebook's Level Up program gives game streamers new ways to build their brand
A new program from Facebook can help up and coming creators
Switching It Up
Square Enix sets up new Nintendo Switch games division
More Switch focused titles are on the way from Square Enix
Bad Robot Good Deal
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot launches new games division with backing from Tencent
Warner Bros is also a minority investor in the new venture
Event News
Developers have until next Friday to be involved in the Big Indie Fest
Come show your game off in front of an audience of thousands
Tekkerz
Rovio and Everton kick off new YouTube series with social influencer Tekkerz Kid for World Cup
New animated series will also feature Wayne Rooney and Cenk Tosun
Killing It
Nintendo Switch takes lion’s share of Bloodstained: Cure of the Moon’s 100,000 downloads
Console/tablet hybrid takes 56 per cent of sales