Learn New Words
Zynga soft-launches updated version of Scrabble-like game New Words With Friends
New Words With Friends is an apt name
Runaway Success?
Strong IP doesn’t guarantee Super Mario Run will be successful on mobile
Mobile gamers unsure about $9.99 price
Big Deal
Cyber Monday madness: 20% off PG Connects London 2017 tickets
But be quick: only the first 75 orders qualify
Job Losses
Asterix and Friends developer Sproing suffers layoffs after project cancellation
Rising debts result in job losses at Austrian studio
Industry Survey
Take part in our Mobile Games Trends Survey 2016
Tell us what's happening in the games industry
Everybody Loves Pokemon
Pokemon GO is the most played game of all time in Japan
According to a not-very-scientific survey
Black Friday
Black Friday brings big savings to game development tools and assets
Grab yourself a bargain
Power Of Friendship
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links passes four million downloads in first week of Japan launch
100 million duels have taken place in the game
One Time Only
Black Friday deal: Get 30% off Pocket Gamer Connects London 2017 tickets
Save money for one of the biggest mobile games B2B events around
Defold Competition
King opens Defold game engine competition to send devs to GDC 2017
Entries close January 22nd
Dark Horse
Glu seemingly shuts down ailing celebrity-focused game Katy Perry Pop
First game of its kind to be taken off the market
Get Your Vr On
Get hands-on with virtual reality at VR in a Bar in London next month
Spread some virtual festive cheer
Use Their Data
Anonymous data monetisation firm Tutela reopens partnership program
Use your user's data as an extra revenue stream
Monetisation Design Webinar
Join our free online webinar on the seven rules of monetisation design with Oscar Clark
Oscar Clark helps you make sure that your decision on monetisation doesn't come at the cost of making an enjoyable game
Sticker Happy
Glu adds iMessage stickers to already sticker-heavy celebrity game Kendall & Kylie
50 for free, 200 to unlock or buy
Super Mario Done
Don't expect Super Mario Run to compete with Pokemon GO, says Sensor Tower
92% of all games launched in Q3 2016 were free-to-play
Ipad Semi-pro
Report: Apple to launch new 10.5-inch iPad for enterprise and education markets in 2017
Slots neatly between standard iPad and iPad Pro
Pixel Pusher
Google and Verizon spent $27 million in a week advertising the Pixel phone
7.5% of all phone activations over the last month were at Verizon
Highs And Lows
India's mobile games market is growing rapidly, but revenues are still playing catch up
Downloads not an indicator of revenues and engagement
Taking Flight
EA adds ship-based battles to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes to boost already huge retention rates
Also adding Rogue One characters
'ow Much?
Creative England launches £300,000 fund for Yorkshire-based developers
Grants of up to £30,000 offered for prototype development
Go East
Unity’s Xiaomi deal will offer developers “unparalleled access” to China’s mobile games market
Partnership kicks off next year
Slow Burner
FunPlus' King of Avalon surges to the summit of the US App Store top grossing charts
Aggressive marketing the key?
Easy-peasy
China’s NetEase is now the world's top-grossing mobile games company
Onmyoji, Fantasy Westward Journey and Ghost top 10 grossing games
Funding News
Mobile market intelligence firm Apptopia raises $2.7 million in funding round led by Ashton Kutcher's VC firm
US firm aims to make app economy more transparent
Flying The Nest
Will Luton joins Rovio Stockholm as Senior Product Manager
Will lead product management on Angry Birds 2
Mediating India
IronSource opens office in Bangalore to bring ad mediation platform to India
Opens new office in Bangalore
37 + 2
Chinese publisher 37 Interactive snaps up one of China's most recently successful developers Mokun Technology
Pushing mobile after finding success on browser
Looking Forward
Sony's mobile studio ForwardWorks preparing to unveil its first games on December 7th
The Last Guardian could be heading to mobile
Track Your Events
Tenjin launches free self-service mobile marketing tool for small developers to track their data
Prices increase as your needs do
Shared Dream
Motorola the first third-party Android manufacturer to make Google Daydream available on its phones
Android Nougat 7.0 coming some time this week to Moto Z and Moto Z Force
Ar Trumps Vr
Pokemon GO named Mobile Game of the Year 2016 at The Golden Joystick Awards
Also wins Innovation of the Year over Oculus Rift and HTC Vive
Indie Contest
Google set to launch a new Google Play Indie Games Contest for European developers
Winners stand to win a YouTube influencer campaign worth up to €100,000
Casual Esports
Amazon Appstore gets in on eSports with first ever tournament for casual mobile games
Winner stands to win grand prize of $30,000
Simple Funding
Ex-Zynga devs raise $4 million for new Indian studio PlaySimple Games
Mobile studio aims to double number of staff by the end of 2017
Moving On
Bala brothers leave Vicarious Visions after 25 years to form new company Velan Studios
Duo plans to get prototyping games with small teams
Pining For Seapine
Perforce acquires application lifecycle management tool provider Seapine Software
Fruther integrates itself into the games industry with tool used by SCEE, 2K Games, Epic, Motiga and NCSoft
Learning Bonanza
Black Friday: Udemy is offering cut price deals on game development courses starting at £12
Sales end at midnight on Friday, November 25th
Almost There
Netmarble soft-launches new mobile MOBA Star Wars: Force Arena
Chewie get us out of here!
Games For Good
Sea Hero Quest mobile game recruits 2.4 million players in fight against dementia
Dementia forecast to affect 135 million people across the world by 2050
Driving Installs
Meta games yield best ROI for cross-selling promotions in mobile games
Rewarded video also remains a highly effective tactic
Investment Realities
HTC backs $1.5 billion VR investment fund in China
Vive manufacturer will also help set up a new research initiative to grow the local market
Play For Cash
GSN Games' real-money skill gaming platform Sparcade signs up Centipede and Two Dots
Covering the old-school and the contemporary
Unity Certification Partners
Unity gives greenlight to external training providers to offer Unity Certification Exams
11 partners already signed up
Flocks Of Angry Birds
Angry Birds 2 soars to lofty heights with 130 million downloads
Rovio games downloaded 3.5 billion times
App Uninstall Rates
Android users are more likely to uninstall apps than iOS users
AppsFlyer sets the cat among the pigeons
Ea Switches
EA plans to bring one of its "bigger games" to Nintendo Switch but questions broad appeal of device
Probably still hurting from the Wii U
On Target
Hothead Games' Kill Shot franchise achieves 65 million downloads in two years
33 billion minutes spent by players in-game
Tell Me Straight
EA introduces tighter transparency rules on its influencer campaigns
Setting the standard for other developers
Expansion Is Key
Keywords Studios continues acquisition streak by snapping up Enzyme Testings Labs for $3.65 million
Will fit nicely with fellow recent acquisition Player Research