Fortnite Android
Battle royale hit Fortnite may bypass Google Play for Android release
Rumours suggest there will be timed exclusivity for Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Milestone
Vainglory brings in over $50m in lifetime revenue
Super Evil Megacorp’s 2014 MOBA secures a spot as the third most popular genre entry on mobile
Financials
Capcom delivers record $35m profits despite mobile decline
Revenue jumps to $155 million for the three months ending June 30th 2018
Code Kids
Microsoft puts $500k behind tech training for students of colour
Publisher enters partnership with Black Girls Code to improve STEM education
Takeover
FoxNext among assets purchased in Disney’s $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox
Games division one of the “key assets” acquired by the big mouse
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Gardenscapes returns as a top 10 grosser
Rankings from July 16th to 22nd
Funding Round
Japanese studio Bank of Innovation floats on Tokyo Stock Exchange
Mobile RPG developer ends first day with $77 million market cap
Event
Top 20 reasons why you need to be at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki this September
From the 16 conference tracks by 160 world-class speakers to networking, pitching and the Global Connects Party. This is one event you cannot afford to miss!
Super Publishing
Flaregames partners with Hamburg dev Sviper to publish Super Spell Heroes
Real-time puzzle duel game
Report
FIFA success dominates EA’s financial report for Q1 FY2019
Publishing giant brings in a net revenue of $1.14 billion this quarter
Not So Improbable
NetEase invests $50m in UK tech company Improbable
Ties between Chinese publisher and SpatialOS developer deepen following partnership announced back in February
Hustle And Bustle
War Robots and Hustle Castle spur Mail.Ru’s game revenue to $89m
Mobile on the march at publisher
Report
Revenue at hidden object specialist G5 Games jumps to $44.7m in Q2 2018
Swedish publisher is placing a priority on building up development teams for future success
Deal
Beijing Bosi Interactive secures exclusive $740k deal with Animoca Brands to distribute Crazy Kings in China
BBI wins rights to distribute Android and HTML5 ports of the iOS strategy title, due next year
Come Say Hello
Meet the PocketGamer.biz team at ChinaJoy 2018
We'll also discuss opportunities on PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockchainGamer.biz
Swift Action
SwiftLife swiftly sues Taylor Swift over Taylor Swift: The Swift Life
New York computer consulting service isn't happy with a new app from the singer holding the same name as its business
Glorious
Apple flaunts iPhone X gaming capabilities with Vainglory demonstration
Bionic chip commercial provides a marketing platform for Super Evil Megacorp’s MOBA
Punch Up
Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle amasses over $1 billion in revenue over two years
Bandai Namco continue to find success with the Dragon Ball license
Downloads
Swedish publisher MAG Interactive has passed 250 million downloads
Milestone follows a successful IPO for the Ruzzle and Paint Hit creator
Event
Second wave of speakers announced for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
The latest additions to September’s speaker roster include Ketchapp, Vlambeer, Square Enix, Nevaly and Hatch
Drop Together
PUBG Mobile introduces a new 'Clans' community feature
Update also brings achievements and deathmatch-inspired War Mode to the mobile port
Tree Time
Side-scrolling MMORPG MapleStory M launches worldwide
Nexon celebrates the mobile edition’s launch with a fortnight of in-game rewards
Lights, Camera
Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds partners with Peak Games for Toon Blast performance marketing campaign
Deadpool actor recorded 30 versions of a commercial for the iterative advertising project
Chicken Fund
PUBG Mobile hits $30m in revenue in four months
The battle royale title saw revenues trip upon the introduction of the royale pass
Who's There?
Ex-Zynga and TinyCo devs raise $2m for chat app games start-up Knock Knock
The chat gaming network will combine chat-native play experiences with unique intellectual properties
Two Sweet
Fortnite Mobile bagging up to $2m a day
Revenues have received a shot in the arm following the launch of season five
Epic
Fortnite boom propels Epic Games to $8.5bn valuation
The battle royales success has also made Epic Games’ founder Tim Sweeney a billionaire
Slow And Steady
Next Games revenue nearly halves in H1 2018 as The Walking Dead: Our World dev buckles down on game launches
Development costs and fall in DAUS hurts sales
Special Offer
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Early Bird prices end next week
Book now and save up to $400
Back Of The Net
HQ Trivia dev expands popular app with HQ Sports
Mobile game already bringing in as many as 2.4 million concurrent players with its daily shows
It's Coming Home
Over 1.2 million people played Football Manager games in the last month
Concurrent player count of over 67k, too, on PC
Right Track
Public transport puzzler Mini Metro has sold over a million units
Minimalist metro manager will also be added to Boston Children’s Hospital’s Mightier program
Going Public
Jam City reportedly back on the IPO trail and could float in the autumn
$1 billion valuation speculated
Events
Play NYC enters its second year with a four-floor showcase of New York City’s hottest games
Playcrafting expect numbers to double up to 10,000 attendees at new Manhattan Centre venue
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Fortnite a top grosser on iPhone and iPad
Rankings from July 9th to 15th
Like Tears In The Rain
Next Games’ mobile RPG Blade Runner 2049 hits open beta
Partnership with Alcon Entertainment was revealed in June of last year
Event
Blockchain Gamer Connects Helsinki 2018 reveals first waves of speakers
Hear from some of the foremost practitioners in the sector, including Alto.io, Gamertoken, Gumi and Reality Clash
Crushing It
Candy Crush Saga the highest grossing Western-developed mobile game in Q2 2018
Generated $213 million during the quarter across the App Store and Google Play
Yet More Pop Vinyls
Prepare for wave of Fortnite toys as Epic signs deals with Funko and Jazwares
Array of Fortnite toys and collectibles to launch in holiday 2018
Ka-ching
Social casino dev KamaGames claims 53% revenue growth in H1 2018
Number of daily active users up two-fold
Ticket To Buy
PAI Partners in talks to buy Catan maker Asmodee for $1.4 billion
Company set for international expansion if sale goes through
Machine Learning
Keywords snaps up predictive analytics outfit Yokozuna Data from Silicon Studio in $1.5m deal
Draws on AI and machine learning tech
On Strike
Player fury as YouTuber goes top of Marvel Strike Force leaderboards as part of marketing campaign
YouTuber KnightlyGaming was contracted to make guides for the title
Snowed Under
Keywords snaps up Canada's Snowed In Studios
Part of the services giant's new engineering line
Not Bad
The Walking Dead: Our World hits top 10 download charts in 40 countries
The location-based augmented reality game launched July 12th
Competition
Q&A: How you could win expo space at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2018
Be part of the Indie Showcase in the Big Indie Zone at Europe’s biggest B2B mobile games industry event
Legendary
Moonton’s popular MOBA Mobile Legends plunders $200m in global revenues
$25 million of that comes from the US
Caught In The Act
Alleged stalker arrested by police claims he was just playing Pokemon Go
Report suggests man has a history of stalking the same woman
All Aboard
Chinese publisher NetEase picks up minority stake in UK studio Jumpship
Developer plans to double team of six over the next year
Steady Hands
Mobile sales stable for Ubisoft as total revenue doubles to $464m for Q1 2018
Mobile sales contributed eight per cent of net booking which is flat from the year prior