Monetisation Blow
China's regulatory roadblocks stop most downloaded game PUBG Mobile from making money
Despite 100 million downloads and 50 million active users, there are no IAPs
Switch Up
Players will need to sign up to Nintendo Switch Online for cloud saves
Service will go live September 18th and will cost $3.99 a month, $7.99 for three months or $19.99 for 12
Pocketed
Miniclip pockets over $400 million from 8 Ball Pool on mobile
Lifetime installs more than 80 million
London Calling
Super Early Bird prices for Pocket Gamer Connects London end next week
Ticket prices now lowest they'll ever be for January event, to rise after next Friday
Off The Blockchain
Cocos-BCX raises $40m in funding to accelerate development of blockchain games platform
Funding led by Binance Labs, NEO Global Capital, 500 Startups, among others
Co-op
Skybound teams up with Sky to create narrative focused mobile games
Skybound Stories will create games based on new and existing IPs
Scrollin
Bethesda's Todd Howard shows off Elder Scrolls: Blades gameplay at Apple’s iPhone event
Elder Scrolls game set for a fall release this year
All The Range
iPhone XS, XS Max and XR unveiled at Apple keynote event
Previous ranges also discounted or discontinued
Direct
Delayed Nintendo Direct set to go ahead September 13th at 11pm UK time
Last weeks direct was delayed due to natural disasters
Pokemon Go
Pokemon Go saw a 35 per cent increase in activity over the last 4 months
Niantic also announced a scheme to tie Pokemon Go to civic engagement events
Super Cells
Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen explains why its cell structure puts developers before management
“The less the management had to do with their games, the better their chances of success”
Big Indie Pitch
Boom Slingers dazzles judges to clinch top spot at the Very Big Indie Pitch at PGC Helsinki 2018
Top five revealed
Super
The first mobile Spider-man game almost made its creator bankrupt on day one of development
Indiagames reflects on creating the web-slinging mobile title on a low budget with four developers
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