Sharp
Razer is taking a second shot at developing a gaming phone
Earnings report confirms the development of a second-generation Razer Phone is underway
Summoned
Summoners War draws in revenues of over $1.3 billion
The turn-based strategy MMO title initially launched back in June 2014
Pressing On
Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo will push on with fixed price model for mobile games
The Nintendo developer also believes companies should “deliver games at reasonable prices"
On Tour
Critical Force partners up with ElisaViihde and OnePlus for Critical Ops esports push
The OnePlus Masters tour will be held in eight different locations throughout Finland
Influenced
From YouTubable games to marketing myths: Inside the Influencer Insight track at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki commences on September 11th and runs to the 12th
Revenue
King of Avalon ventures abroad to bring in $380 million outside of China in two years
Online strategy is the third-highest grossing Chinese game in the USA
Riding No More
Apple orders Coinbase to remove War Riders
Tech giant continues tough stance on blockchain games
Mighty Recruits
Singapore’s Mighty Bear Games lands senior ex-Bigpoint and Bandai Namco devs
Jan Richter and Pauline Pun join the team
Apple
Apple set to show off new iPhones on September 12th
Three new iPhone X devices are scheduled to headline the Cupertino event this month
Top Talks
Editor's Picks: 5 top sessions at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
PocketGamer.biz senior editor Craig Chapple looks at a selection of the must-attend talks at this year's show on September 11th to 12th
Jesus
Tencent's value plummets by $20bn after China dishes out new regulations on games
Company has lost $164bn in value since January
Jump Start
Make the most of Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki before you even get there
Put your name down now for a workshop, SpeedMatch, Mentor Cafe, game jam and free online meeting scheduler
Company Shake-up
Service provider Pole To Win drafts up new regional structure after strong growth
Services provider divides itself into three new regions with three new presidents
Another Partnership
Tencent and Square Enix team up to form new company and develop triple-A franchise
Chinese tech giant providing internet capabilities; Japanese game developer providing the creativity
Cloud
Candy Crush dev King moves core data infrastructure and AI platform to Google Cloud
Partnership could also see collaboration on machine learning efforts
Revenue
Candy Crush games bringing in almost $4 million a day
The original Candy Crush Saga is still doing the bulk of the legwork at 62 per cent of total revenue
Direct
Dragalia Lost set for launch on September 27th in US, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau
The company's first original mobile IP is launching in Japan, The US and various territories next month
Partners
Dreamloop and Big Blue Studios join Remote Control Productions' developer network
Development and mediation outfit picks up minority stake in studios
Growth
From user acquisition and retention to games growth: Inside the Growth Track at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki will touch down in Finland from September 11th to 12th
Igda
One-to-one mentoring at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
The IGDA Mentor Cafe connects developers with expert mentors
Monumental
Monument Valley worldwide revenue climbs to over $25 million
Non-euclidean puzzler has made almost 18x its reported budget back in revenue
I Choose You
Niantic contributes tech to community improvement through new fellowship programme
The Niantic/ Knights Fellows Program will be a six-month initiative that will allow US communities to use the developer’s tech
Igdc
NGDC rebrands to The India Game Developer Conference
Event returns to Hyderabad on December 4th and 5th 2018
Restrictive Policies
China’s block on new game licenses could be coming to an end - but fresh regulations are incoming
Calls to restrict the number of new game releases
Nice
500,000 people fly into Cologne for Gamescom 2018
Devcom, meanwhile, snagged 200,00 for its second annual conference
Job News
Spil Games appoints Patrik Wilkens as new VP of mobile
Publisher makes its third internal promotion, completing the formation of a new senior management team
Labo
Nintendo launches Interactive Labo Workshops across America
DIY sessions for kids will run in ten cities across the country
Gdc
Supercell: It takes more than one great idea to make a successful game
Studio veteran Touko Tahkokallio shared his granular approach to development at this year’s GDC
Get Hyper
From hyper-casual to instant messenger: What’s going on with Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki’s Game Changers track
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki will touch down in Finland from September 11th to 12th
High Above The Sky
Airheart crowned champion at the 2018 Gamescom Big Indie Pitch
Horizon Chase Turbo races into second and Pic-It-Up snaps third
Mistakes
Miyamoto: Regrettable choices were made during the development of Super Mario Run
Difficulty curve and fixed-price model could’ve been improved, claims the legendary designer
Report
Report: 34 per cent of American gamers are playing on mobile alone
EEDAR report also shows over a quarter of players are considered “incidental players”
Best Of 2018
Fortnite developer Epic Games named the world’s top mobile games company in the PocketGamer.biz Top 50 Developer list
The full list of the 50 hottest mobile game developers! [UPDATE: exclusive video]
Making A Splash
Paint Hit scores over 15 million downloads in two months
The hyper-casual paint-based shooter originally launched on June 11th
Events
G-STAR Games Mixer presented by Pocket Gamer at Gamescom 2018 attracted more than 600 industry professionals
Event sees huge success in Koln!
South Africa
Emerge counts Arcade X platform a success in South Africa with over 500,000 games played
Esports company’s hybrid platform has served over 60,000 users in the country since launch
Catch Em All
Pokemon Go sees daily revenue increase grow 39 per cent following trading update
Pokemon trainers are now spending an average of $2.5 million per day
Optimised
Lab Cave’s Fernando Garcia: “Our goal is to become the best ASO agency in the world"
App Store Optimisation agency celebrates 200 million organic downloads
Job News
Ex-Rovio EVP Wilhelm Taht joins Dodreams board of directors
Drive Ahead! Developer appoints Taht as a member of the board and investor
Oh No
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney dubs Google ‘irresponsible’ over Android bug row on Fortnite
Google had made it public knowledge that hackers could hijack the game's installation software and load it with malware
Building A Blockchain Strategy
Animoca Brands acquires The Sandbox dev Pixowl for $5 million
Betting on blockchain user generated content
Gone In An Instant
“The goal really is for developers to be able to build and scale games profitably”
Facebook director of games partnerships in Europe, the Middle East and Africa Bob Slinn on ditching the revenue split on Android
Traffic
Crossy Road celebrates over 200 million downloads
Hipster Whale’s classic continues to break records five years post-launch
Movie
Monument Valley has landed a film adaptation
Paramount Pictures and Weed Road Pictures will be producing a movie tie-in to the mobile puzzler
Expansion
Jam City to set up shop in a new studio in Culver City
The new location is double the size of Jam City’s existing space, setting it up for expansion
Speak Up!
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki conference schedule revealed
Amazing roster of talent on show as Europe’s biggest B2B mobile games industry event unveils its full speaker schedule for September
Jobs Jobs Jobs
Hutch bolsters work force with new senior designer and client engineer
Mark Bridle and Martin Pane join from Marmalade Games and ALPixel Games respectively
Tindered
HBO and Nerial partner for Games of Thrones Reigns spin-off
Reigns: Game of Thrones will land in October for mobile and PC
Star Wars
Zynga stock soars 11 per cent after securing a deal to create licensed Star Wars titles
Farmville creator partners with Disney for a mobile title, with potential for a second in future.
Revenue
Game of War’s spoils surpass $2.8 billion revenue worldwide
MZ’s flagship hits the milestone just after its fifth anniversary