Discover And Play
Google Play improves discovery to focus on engagement over downloads
Also lets developers run their own sales
Vungle V5
Vungle adds ten new Dynamic Templates alongside SDK v5
More choices for showing mobile video ads
King Clash
Clash Royale tops global mobile digital sales market in January 2017
SuperData Research breaks out the top ten
Next To Ipo
Next Games looking to $30 million IPO to boost development and global competitiveness
The Walking Dead: No Man's Land also hits 16 million downloads
Wield Control
Samsung unveils new Gear VR controller at Mobile World Congress
Catching up with Daydream
Nexon Investment
Nexon Korea makes strategic investment in Tree of Savior developer IMC Games
Helping developer on mobile adaptation of MMORPG
More Gaming Summit
Free to attend Mobile Retention and Engagement Gaming Summit kicks off March 1st in San Francisco
Event is free to attend
Office Closure
Report: King closes South Korea office
Publisher shuts down local operations after struggling to make a significant impact
Job Losses
Dash Galactic developer Kiz Studios struck by layoffs
Number of job losses not specified
A New Challenger
Silicon Studio to release new mobile and VR game engine Xenko in April
Free Beta version already available for download
Still For Sale
Remaining Kabam studios spun-off into new company Aftershock following Netmarble sale
Discussions already underway with prospective buyers to sell new company
Netmarble Acquires Kabam
Netmarble closes acquisition of Kabam Vancouver and Marvel: Contest of Champions
Will run Kabam as a wholly-owned subsidiary
Playable Boost
Chartboost sees 123% better conversion rates with new interactive 'Playables' ad campaigns
D7 retention for games using the ads is up 26.7%
Appsflyer Performance Index
Facebook remains the top driver of game installs on Android and iOS
AppsFlyer digs into the best advertisers of H2 2016
Goats To Games
Goat Simulator developer Coffee Stain Studios opens publishing arm
Wants to be a partner more than a publisher
Lift Your Game
Amazon GameLift now works with all C++ and C#-based game engines
Amazon Lumberyard updated to 1.8 too
Back To Skull
LINE Corporation signs up to distribute mobile Skullgirls adaptation globally
Expected Spring 2017
Join The Corps
Swedish developer Gaming Corps pivots to acquisition strategy following $10 million investment
Bought one studio, now wants to buy more
Join The Armada
Armada Interactive secures $10 million from two seed funding rounds
Looking to revolutionise core mobile gaming
Flaring Up
Flaregames unveils €20 million incubator program Flare Accelerator
Looking to work with emerging F2P developers
Ruzzle Up Some Downloads
MAG Interactive's Ruzzle franchise surpasses 70 million downloads
Another download milestone for the Stockholm studio
Raise Your Dragon
Pocket Gems to reward top War Dragons players with limited-edition 3D figurines
Play well, get a figurine
Good News Everyone
TinyCo reveals second Fox Interactive partnership with Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow
Could be a nice money-spinner for Jam City
Sparks Flying
GameSparks surpasses 35 million MAUs for its backend-as-a-service platform
Over 250 million players served
Managed By Maple
Mobile acquisition and management firm Maple Media raises $30 million
Shamrock Capital gives a healthy cash injection
Creative Leeds
Creative England grants £150,000 to Leeds-based developers
GamesLab Leeds initiative off to a great start
Pokemon Back
Pokemon GO shoots back to the top of the grossing charts following major update
New Pokemon and customisation options helping boost revenue
Rising Spending
US iPhone gamers spent an average of $27 on games in 2016
Sensor Tower breaks out some estimates
Tenjin Partnership
Tenjin partners with Looker and Chartio to make marketing data more efficient
Visualising marketing data for better growth
Something's Bugging Me
App Store bug causes top grossing ranks to drop Candy Crush Saga for driving theory test app
Or was Apple testing a new algorithm?
Ipad You Pad
Report: Apple to refresh entire iPad line with four new devices in March 2017
A new red iPhone 7 is also expected
Several Men No Dog
Everywear Games co-founder Markus Tuppurainen joins Two Men and a Dog as Executive Producer
From wearables back to mobile
Tap Into London
Mobile ads firm Taptica strengthens European business with new office in London
Hoping to use established relationships in the city to grow
Bafta Gardner
Ex-Atari CEO David Gardner joins BAFTA as VP for Games
Will be boosting the Global Games Strategy
Gram London
Gram Games to invest $5 million in its London HQ and create 30 new jobs
Developer doubles down on new home
Accelerating Scotland
New £50,000 after-hours games accelerator launches in Scotland
Beer, pizza, and lessons on international growth
Money For Something
E-commerce platform Xsolla launches $30 million royalty investment arm for indie game developers
Get some much needed funding for a cut of your revenues
Main Event
New date for PG Connects London 2018 confirmed
We'll be back on January 22nd to 23rd, people
Up In The Air
Com2uS enters deal with Activision to develop Skylanders mobile game for 2018
Activision provides the license, Com2uS does everything else
Nexus Deathmatch
Chillingo pulls Nexus Heroes and Sniper Deathmatch from App Store after three months of soft launch
Probably to focus on WarFriends
Studio Closure
100 jobs go as Taiwan developer Gamemag Interactive closes
Unable to pay staff as shareholder urges staff to seek new employment
Marketing's Millions
Mobile marketing firm Mobvista agrees $100 million loan deal with Bank of China
Chinese firm wants to expand accelerate overseas expansion plans
Amazon Spotlight
Get your game in the spotlight... the Amazon Appstore UK Developer Spotlight!
How getting yourself in the spotlight can lead to more downloads
Job Losses
Rovio may cut as many as 35 jobs as it restructures animation division
Games thought to be unaffected
Expansion Warchest
Chinese mobile games developer ShineZone raises $58 million
May acquire new studios overseas
Right Partner Right Time
Take-Two CEO says Social Point "addresses all of our concerns" about mobile market
Strauss Zelnick on why the publisher made its push into free-to-play on mobile
Supercell Acquisitions
Supercell's Ilkka Paananen says "it's no secret" that the studio is looking at further acquisitions
Also talks about how Pokemon affected sales
Bearing Fruit
Crowdfunding platform Fig establishes $500,000 fund to help developers finish their games
Fig Finishing Fund to offer $20,000 to campaigns with 1,000 backers or more
Another Keywords Acquisition
Keywords continues acquisition spree with $1.5 million purchase of animation studio Spov
London-based animation studio joins the ranks
Reign Over Me
Indie hit Reigns wins big at European edition of Google Play Indie Games Contest
Takes home first place and the Unity award