On The Move
Farming Simulator dev Giants Software opens new studio in the Czech Republic
Swiss company also set to move offices as part of the shakeup
Acquisition News
Dutch firm OrangeGames acquires majority stake in Habbo Hotel dev Sulake
Former owner Elisa retains minority stake
Take Profit
WWE Supercard and Dragon City help launch Take-Two's yearly profits to $173.5 million
The usual suspects at play again
One V One Me Bro
Street Fighter characters touch down in Power Rangers: Legacy Wars
Cammy, M. Bison, Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile and Akuma set to join the fray
Switching It Up
LA-based start-up Wonder working on Android Nintendo Switch-like hybrid device
Wonder is hoping to release the device next year
Dau Royale
PUBG Mobile amasses 10 million daily active users
Most downloaded game in over 100 countries and areas
Zoom
PacketZoom launches new mobile networking tools for real-time multiplayer games
Mobile Connect aims to eliminate a game developer’s need to deploy resources in-house
Netease Financials
NetEase profits tumble 20% in Q1 as Onmyoji and New Ghost lose traction
Battle royale hits Knives Out and Terminator 2: Judgement Day offset lost revenue
God Like
How NadiaSoft plans to mix Eastern and Western influencers for global appeal
The new IP will feature an array of gods and heroes from Greece, China and more
Rovio Financials
Record revenues for Angry Birds 2 boost Rovio profits
But overall company sales dip year-on-year
What's Next?
Monster Strike publisher Mixi plots $900m investment in biz dev and M&A over next five years
$100 million earmarked for Monster Strike and new IP development
Tencent Financials
Tencent’s mobile games revenue up 68% to $3.4 billion in Q1 2018
But investors concerned by historically low operating margin
Uninstall Rates
Three out of 10 apps uninstalled after 30 days
But games one of the least likely to be deleted, according to Appsflyer report
Free-to-manage
Project management tool Hansoft goes free for small indies
Available for teams of up to five
Gladiators, Ready
Nintendo and Cygames' Dragalia Lost picks up 200,000 pre-registrations
Game set for summer launch in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau
Racing To Mobile
Slightly Mad partners with Gamevil for new Project Cars mobile game
But no release date announced
Struck A Chord
Discord triples userbase to 130 million in just a year
Chat app has added 85m users in the last twelve months
Going Global
Ex-Apple GM leads Roblox international expansion
Popular game gets Spanish localisation, other languages coming soon
New Studio
QuizUp creators secure $9m funding for new studio to develop real-time social gaming platform
Teatime Games set to expand team in Iceland
Power Of Ip
Lineage M spikes NCSoft profits up 570% year-on-year to $189m
But revenues are down quarter-on-quarter as Lineage sales stabilise
Still Going Strong
GungHo’s sales and profits continue to fall amidst Puzzle & Dragons decline
But still hugely profitable
On The Rise
Mobile games drove $589 million in revenue in Germany last year
Total games market valued at €3.3 billion
Blimey Guv
Zynga celebrates Royal Wedding with Words With Friends 2 Royal Social Dictionary
Blimey I'm gobsmacked
Acquisition From The Deep
G5 Entertainment picks up hidden object IPs Nightmares from the Deep and Kate Malone for $600,000
Performance payouts could add further $500k to deal
Star Deal
Nordisk Film invests $18 million in Star Stable Online dev
Game has more than 14 million registered users
Publishing Partnership
India's Nazara partners with Indonesia's Touchten to publish mobile games in the Middle East
"Emerging markets are not a mere afterthought for us," says Touchten founder
A Good Cause
Jagex raises £225,000 for mental health charities
Beats goal of £150k for the year
East To West
Chinese livestreaming platform Huya raises $180 million in US IPO
15 million shares sold at $12 each
Going Public
Kakao Games applies for IPO in South Korea
Publisher set to go public on South Korea's second-tier stock exchange Kosdaq
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery surges up iPad and iPhone top grossing charts
Rankings from April 30th to May 6th
Financial Fantasy
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Hoshi no Dragon Quest help bump Square Enix to profits of $348 million
Dragon Quest Monsters Super Light and Kingdom Hearts Union X also given nods
Don’t You Mean Football
Badland developer Frogmind soft launches new IP Rumble Stars Soccer
Currently playable in Finland, Sweden, Vietnam, Philippines and more
Take To The Seas
Overseas sales push Com2us to $100m revenues for Q1 FY18
85 per cent of revenues came from abroad as Summoners War continues to draw players
Ouch
Tencent up against worst margins ever as value drops $78 billion
Rising costs and continued investments will strain profits
Financials
Netmarble revenue and profits tumble year-on-year as sales slow
Lineage 2: Revolution takes 35 per cent of revenue share of game sales
Rapid Growth
Chinese mobile games sector set to double to over $24 billion by 2022
Set to surpass PC this year
Down
Revenues and profits down for DENA’s games segment over the past year
Virtual currency consumption for browser titles declined
Pocket Gamer Connects
17 reasons why you need to be at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco next week
From the 10 conference tracks by 100 world-class speakers to networking, pitching and the Global Connects Party
Excite
Steel Media is looking for a business development executive to drive sales on our B2B websites and events
Join us as we continue to grow our operations
Oh
Mobile games Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links and Pro Evo 2018 power Konami to record profits of $413m
Revenues also grew 4.2 per cent year-on-year to $2.19 billion
Juicy News
YouTuber Guava Juice partners with developer PopReach on Tub Tapper
Partners with developer PopReach on title
Rip
Nintendo’s social app Miitomo goes offline two years after launching
The decision to take the app was revealed earlier this year
Going Global
Pokemon Go developer Niantic to call upon players to help build AR maps
Efforts would involve supplementing Pokemon Go data with new information gathered through smartphones cameras
International Expansion
Kongregate gets first international expansion with Montreal office
“Expanding our resources and time zones allows us as a company to be closer to our Canadian and European partners," says CEO Emily Greer
Witness The Fitness
Animoca Brands nabs investment to create AI-based exercise app
Animoca Brands’ subsidiary OliveX to lead the development
Downloads Assemble
Avengers Infinity War boosts related mobile game downloads by 120%
IAP revenue was also boosted by 50% along with a 16% increase in DAU
Not Bad
Top 25 public games companies captured 77% of global games revenues in 2017
Tencent, Sony, Apple, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard took the top five spots
Playtime
Bidalgo launches support for playable ads on Facebook
San Francisco-based company also offering free ad production for its fully managed clients
Supply And Demand
Fluffy Fairy’s Idle Factory Tycoon surpasses four million downloads in two weeks
Follow-up to Idle Miner Tycoon finds early success
Linked In
Steam Link app lets you play your PC games on your mobile
Launches week of May 21st