In-game Tournament
Once Human: RaidZone to host $50,000 Raid for Glory tournament in July
$40,000 will be awarded through leaderboard placements based on eliminations
New Offerings
nDreams co-founder Patrick O'Luanaigh launches new games and music studio Atmospheric
The studio aims to combine storytelling, music and gameplay into unified creative experiences
Acqusitions
Griffin Gaming Partners acquires 3.24% stake in TinyBuild
The investment backs TinyBuild's strategy of building and growing wholly owned game IP
Milestone
A Webbing Journey hits 5 million mobile downloads alongside major content update
The sandbox game has added a fourth level and 10 new quests
Revenue Racer
Zynga’s CSR 2 celebrates 10th anniversary with 530m cars collected
AppMagic estimates suggest $859.3m has been generated in lifetime player spending
Angry Birds Arriving
The Angry Birds Movie 3 gets full reveal with family dynamic
Protagonist Red’s next mission is saving the world while surviving fatherhood
Podcast | Episode 95
Direct-to-consumer banks $17 billion and Google rolls out fee changes | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 95...
New Partnerships
Savvy Games Group partners with Genvid and Massive Studios to expand AI access for Saudi developers
The agreement includes training, mentorship and educational programmes to develop local talent
Anniversary Arrival
Umamusume: Pretty Derby races to $100m on mobile in one year overseas
Cygames’ racing game has found its biggest international market in the US
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Thatgamecompany head of corporate development Shijie Xue to speak at PGC Summit Shanghai
A games M&A heavyweight joins the Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai lineup on July 29th
Development Details
Former Goddess of Victory: Nikke devs form Control9 with new game on the way
Miresi: Invisible Future is a time travel RPG being developed for PC and mobile
Applovin Advertising
AppLovin opens self-serve advertising platform to all advertisers
The company has renamed platform Axon to AppLovin Ads
New Game Launch
Netflix and Night School Studio to launch immersive horror game Unhinged
The game stars Zoë Kravitz, Sadie Sink and Troy Baker in its voice cast
Funding News
Spill Games raises $3.1m seed round to scale mobile games portfolio
The funding will support portfolio growth, technology development and selective team expansion
New Offerings
Fortnite adds Olivia Rodrigo to Icon Series alongside mobile karaoke launch
The collaboration includes three new jam tracks, themed emotes and back bling items
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai partners with ChinaJoy
Working in partnership with the world’s largest games expo
Price Increase
Apple raises MacBook and iPad prices as AI-driven memory costs climb
iPhone prices remain unchanged for now
Investment News
CVC Capital Partners invests in Chess.com to support global growth
CVC will support Chess.com's continued platform and community growth
Apple Troubles
Chinese developers file antitrust complaint against Apple over App Store fees
The group alleges Apple's App Store commissions in China remain unfairly high
New Office
Almedia opens London office to expand data and machine learning team
The office will focus on expanding the company's data science, engineering and machine learning teams
Real World Crossover
Clash of Clans brings interactive live experience to San Diego
The interactive attraction will run from July to September and overlap with San Diego Comic-Con
New Offerings
Google Play expands billing options and lowers fees for developers
The search giant is separating service fees from billing fees starting June 30th, 2026
Early Earnings
Pokémon Champions makes $3.5m in first week on mobile
Apple users account for $2.6m or 75% of total mobile spend thus far
Milestone
Rush Royale surpasses $500m in lifetime revenue
The mobile title has exceeded 105m downloads since launching in 2020
Web Games
Report: 53% plan to port mobile games to browser in next 12 months
The 2026 State of Web Gaming report surveyed 400 game developers and 2,000 web gamers
Direct Delivery
Tamatem launches first internally developed game with King of Delivery 2
The company has integrated local brand partnerships directly into the game world as part of the player experience
Funding News
Reactional Music secures €2.5m EIC grant to scale music monetisation in games
The EIC has also earmarked up to €6.5m ($7.3m) in future equity funding
New Tools
MobyGames launches beta careers platform for games industry workers
The new platform aims to help developers build professional networks and navigate the jobs market
Pgc Summit Bangkok
Save the date: PGC Summit Bangkok launches this October 28th
Pocket Gamer Connects Expands its Asia Pacific footprint
Market Report
Report: Mobile game D2C revenues reach $17bn as publishers push beyond app stores
New report from Appcharge shows 92% of publishers expect D2C revenues to grow in 2026, with many forecasting double-digit gains
Funding News
Playtika veterans secure $10m for AI-powered mobile app operations platform
The funding will support the development of new predictive models and AI-driven automation tools
Going Global
Nigeria to bring first-ever developer delegation and booth to Gamescom 2026
The delegation is led by Maliyo Games founder Hugo Obi
Corporate Strategy
Tencent explores exits from Japanese game studio investments amid portfolio review
The company may sell some holdings back to management teams, even at a loss
Anima Arriving
HoYoverse’s new game Honkai: Nexus Anima gets closed beta test in July
The Evolution Test will begin on July 9th for iOS, Android and PC
Pgc Nordics
Save up to €138 on PGC Nordics before Super Early Bird ends on Thursday 25th
Essential conference set to host 800 of the world's leading games companies this October 20th and 21st
Pgc Summit Shanghai
SocialPeta CMO Summer Liu to speak at PGC Shanghai
Liu joins the star speaker lineup for Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai on July 19th
Pgc Nordics
The 23 conference tracks that will be at PG Connects Nordics this October 20th and 21st
Everything from AI to web3 - and where you'll find the hottest opportunities
$1bn In D2c On Pc
Xsolla data reveals direct-to-consumer PC game transactions surpassed $1 billion in 2025
Transaction data across Xsolla's publisher network shows D2C on PC operating at scale across more than 1,000 games, an opportunity the market has historically overlooked
Leadership Change
Newzoo CEO Michelle Van der Wilk-Rouhof steps down after six years
Current CRO Joris Goossens will step into the CEO role as of July 1st
Lagos Games Week
“The studios that thrive will not be those that resist AI. They will be those that learn how to use it effectively"
Maliyo Games CEO Hugo Obi told Lagos Games Week the studios that thrive will use AI rather than resist it
Early Everness
Neverness to Everness steers towards $50m in two months on mobile
The gacha RPG released in China on April 23rd with a worldwide rollout soon after
Awards Ahead
BAFTA reveals 15 finalists for student awards
The finalists were selected from entries submitted by more than 600 universities worldwide
New Partnerships
Brawl Stars teams up with Adidas for first apparel collaboration
A second Adidas x Brawl Stars collection is planned for 2027
Expansions
Hill Climb Racing 3 expands soft launch to Germany
Fingersoft cites promising engagement and retention in early soft launch markets
New Offerings
CityDays and All3Media team up to launch The Traitors game on WhatsApp
Players participate in missions, banishments and secret traitor activity over approximately one week
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Kingsoft's Claire Yang joins PGC Shanghai to talk mid-sized studio survival
Kingsoft's overseas business development lead Claire Yang will tackle how smaller studios compete with the giants at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai on July 29th
Layoffs
Electronic Arts reportedly hit by further layoffs across support and operations teams
Reports suggest that the cuts have affected customer support, recruitment, trust and safety, and IT roles
Investment News
AppsFlyer secures over $1bn investment from Moloco, Google, Meta and Unity
Firm stresses neutrality and independence as major tech and ad firms become backers
Fortnite Flurry
Fortnite surpasses 1m daily App Store installs for first time ever after global comeback
During Fortnite’s first month back, the game generated 11.5m downloads on the App Store
Consolidation
Kabam to consolidate Los Angeles office amid reported layoffs
The Marvel Contest of Champions developer says it remains committed to partners and ongoing development