Industry Decline
TIGA clamours for government support as UK game dev jobs fall at record rate and startup activity collapses
CEO Richard Wilson calls for better tax incentives and support initiatives to compete on the global stage
Industry Outlook
Australia’s game development industry generated $425m in revenue during FY25
Nearly half of Australian studios have been operating for more than six years, pointing to a more durable industry base
New Offerings
Minecraft World to open at Chessington theme park in 2027 with $67m investment
The project marks Minecraft’s largest step yet into location-based entertainment
New Offerings
Ex-Supercell devs at Bit Odd soft launch debut game after $18m raise
The Canada launch is intended to generate early player feedback before a broader global rollout
New Offerings
Roblox to take cut of in-game brand deals from 2027 under new advertising rules
The company is restructuring its ad ecosystem to position Roblox as a full-scale media and commerce channel, not just a games platform
Podcast | Episode 86
The final word on GDC | 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 86...
Milestone
Devsisters outlines multi-game expansion for CookieRun as franchise surpasses $1 billion
Series has crossed 300m players and $1bn in revenue to become a global IP
New Offerings
Amazon plans smartphone comeback years after Fire Phone failure
The new device is less about hardware competition and more about controlling daily customer interactions
New Partnerships
Supercell partners with Taika Waititi to launch new character in Brawl Stars
The collaboration signals a shift from traditional marketing toward story-driven promotion for live service games.
Pgc Barcelona 2026
Speakers from Zynga, Rovio and Layer AI set for Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona 2026
First speakers among 100+ revealed for returning games industry event on June 15th-16th
New Offerings
Epic Games opens Star Wars tools to creators as branded content push expands inside Fortnite
The release represents one of the largest IP integrations on the platform to date
Acquisitions
ByteDance to sell Moonton to Savvy Games Group in $6bn deal
The move marks another major expansion for Savvy Games Group
Developing Next-gen Mobile Titles
Supercent and Sumo Digital sign strategic MOU to co-develop next-generation mobile titles
The MOU brings Supercent’s mobile-first innovation and data-driven publishing ecosystem together with Sumo Digital’s deep development expertise and cross-platform capabilities
Pgc Summit Shanghai
How Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai is your gateway to the world’s largest games market
Games industry summit returns on July 29th to connect East and West
Pgc Summit MalmÖ
How MeetToMatch will maximise deal-making at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Malmö
Two-day networking event coming to the Nordic games industry on May 27th to 28th
New Offerings
LinkedIn launches new logic puzzle game Patches
New title challenges players to complete grids with no gaps or overlaps
Environmental Impact
PlanetPlay rallies games industry for global “Battle for the Habitats” campaign
Industry-wide initiative aims to raise $1m for environmental conservation
Finding Fortnite
Fortnite is back on the Google Play Store today
Epic’s flagship returns after more than 5.5 years
New Offerings
Values Value and InGame Job launch 10th annual survey tracking global games industry employment
Study draws on thousands of developers to map labour market trends worldwide
Major Milestone
King’s Farm Heroes Saga officially hits $2 billion
PocketGamer.biz has learned that Farm Heroes Saga reached the $2 billion lifetime revenue mark
Funding News
Afrime Studios enters seed round after raising $400,000 to build afrofuturistic RPG Unyverse
The studio is targeting an estimated 670m gamers of African descent globally
Company Growth
Playstack profit jumps 59% as Balatro and Abiotic Factor drive record sales
Balatro gains momentum through 25 IP collaborations and a top-performing premium mobile version
New Offerings
Sustainable Games Alliance rolls out energy-saving tools across major engines
New plugins target Unreal, Unity and Godot to reduce power usage at scale
Acqusitions
Nazara to acquire a 50% controlling stake in Bluetile and BestPlay in $100m deal
The company has an option to acquire the remaining stake by 2028
Milestone
Deluxe Creation’s Stickman Fight: Magic Brawl surpasses 300,000 downloads
International audiences drive the game’s strongest revenue performance
New Partnerships
Krafton signs strategic alliance with Hanwha Aerospace to develop real-world AI systems
The company will back a $1bn fund targeting AI, robotics and defence startups
Developer Support
Malmö boosts games industry with new funding push for startups
Nearly $400,000 annually will back new studios and early-stage developers
Service Disruption
Meta pulls Horizon Worlds from VR as platform shifts to mobile
Horizon Worlds will disappear from the Quest Store by March 31st 2026, with full shutdown on headsets by June 15th
Pgc Barcelona
Save up to €290 on PGC Barcelona before Super Early Bird offer ends
Last chance to save - tickets start from just €98 until Thursday, March 19th
Jobs News
Ubisoft names Julien Bares as GM of mobile and casual-focused Creative House 5
Former Tencent Games and 2K veteran will head up division home to Ketchapp, Kolibri and others
M&a
Smartly signs letter of intent to acquire measurement platform Incrmntal
Terms of the deal were not disclosed
Alternative Marketplace
Epic Games Store opens up to mobile self-publishing in August
GM Steve Allison teases major publishers could release on the marketplace later this year
Fortnite Comeback
Fortnite set to return to Google Play on March 19th
The return follows a long legal battle with Google that saw the title originally removed from the Google Play Store in 2020
Payout
Melon Sandbox surpasses $1m payouts in 2025
Melon Sandbox has accumulated 150m downloads across platforms
Milestone
Ludus hits $3m monthly revenue as installs surpass 8m
Vietnam launch marks a strategic push into Southeast
Strategic Move
Saudi Arabia acquires a fresh 5.03% stake in Capcom through EGDC
The investment is positioned as a financial play targeting capital gains and dividends
New Offerings
Apple cuts App Store fees in China after regulator talks
Developers in the Small Business Program and Mini Apps Partner Program will see fees drop from 15% to 12%
Layoff News
Meta planning layoffs that could affect 20% of workforce
The potential cuts would be the company’s largest since its 2022–2023 “year of efficiency” restructuring
Gdc 2026
GDC Festival of Gaming draws 20,000 attendees as industry gathers in San Francisco
GDC took place in San Francisco from March 9th to March 13th, 2026
Nominations Named
No mobile games nominated for Best Game at BAFTA Games Awards 2026
Nominations are now public, and mobile’s appearance is sparse
Funding News
Quicksave Interactive secures HyperScope Ventures investment for Playables.ai
Playables.ai enables advertisers to create playable ads using simple prompts rather than traditional development workflows
Strategic Move
Nodwin Gaming appoints MTG gaming executive Arnd Benninghoff as board member
The company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round to support global expansion and strategic acquisitions
Tencent Tech
Tencent showcases AI lighting tech MagicDawn at GDC
Open-world MMO Roco Kingdom: World was used as a demonstration of new capabilities
New Offerings
Google Play rolls out Game Trials so players can try full paid games before purchasing
New “buy once, play anywhere” model lets players access supported games on both mobile and PC
Company Growth
Mobvista reports $2.05bn revenue for 2025 as Mintegral drives growth
Mintegral generated $1.96bn in revenue, remaining Mobvista’s primary growth driver
Market Report
Study shows 77% of mobile gamers spend $100 or more per month on online purchases
92% of gamers who bought a product after seeing an ad said they were satisfied with the purchase
New Offerings
Razer reveals AI tools to speed up game development pipelines
The company’s “Future of Play” showcase introduced tools designed to accelerate game development pipelines
Leadership Change
Stillfront announces change to Nomination Committee ahead of AGM
Roger Storm of Handelsbanken Fonder has stepped down from the Nomination Committee with immediate effect
Expansions
Sega Sammy plans to expand transmedia strategy as mobile and live service titles take centre stage
The company is using games as the starting point for broader entertainment expansions across multiple platforms
New Offerings
Google Cloud unveils autonomous AI agents as next phase of game development
The company said the games industry is entering its biggest shift since the move from 2D to 3D graphics