Funding For Games
Blue Ocean Games launches $30m fund to support indie game developers
Funding is tied to objective market-validation milestones
Apple Fined
EU slaps Apple with $570m fine for violating Digital Markets Act
Tech giant must comply with the Commission's decisions within 60 days or face periodic penalty payments
Robux Regions
Roblox introduces regional pricing
The pricing model will be updated periodically to keep in line with market conditions
Layoff News
Report: Intel to cut 20% of its workforce in new restructuring move
The layoffs are a key part of Tan’s efforts to turn around Intel after years of setbacks and leadership missteps
Job Cuts
Devolver Digital cuts 40% of staff at Reigns developer Nerial
The layoffs were due to “issues” with some of the company's recent releases
Mobile Majority
80% of Roblox users are on mobile, contributing 46% of Robux revenue
iOS owners contributed 30% of 2024’s Robux revenue, compared to 16% generated via Google Play
Investment News
Rise of Fearless launches with $700,000 funding goal to empower African gamers
Funding will go towards improving gameplay and expanding into the web3 ecosystem
Mena Games Awards 2025
MENA Games Industry Awards 2025 finalists revealed
Winners to be announced on Thursday, May 8th, as part of the Dubai GameExpo Summit 2025
Guilty Google
Google found guilty of illegal ad tech monopolies
But the tech giant plans to appeal
Pgc Barcelona
Early Bird prices for Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona end this week!
Save up to €185 (£160) if you book before midnight this Thursday, April 24th
Lawsuit
Pocketpair pushes to invalidate Nintendo’s patents in Palworld lawsuit
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are seeking ¥5 million ($32,800) and an injunction against Pocketpair
Expansion Excitement
Netflix Games "in this to win"
But Netflix co-CEO, president and director Gregory Peters admits "frankly, we can improve everything that we're doing"
Pgc Barcelona
Developers: You can't afford to miss Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona
Meet investors, publishers, platform holders – network with decision makers this June 3rd and 4th
Accelerator Program
Saudi Arabia’s NEOM to welcome 10 studios for largest Level Up accelerator cohort
Initiative designed for teams that have developed a minimum viable product or a vertical slice of their game
Valorant Mobile
Riot Games’ Valorant Mobile set for China launch
Hero shooter coming to global markets at a later date
Podcast | Episode 50
AppLovin and Machine Zone layoffs, celebrity marketing, and Supercell's aversion to soft launch | 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 50...
Game Jam
Savvy Games Group and HP launch climate-themed Game Jam in Saudi Arabia
The top three teams will then join the Savvy Incubator program in September
Minecraft Movie
A Minecraft movie soars past $550m at the box office
The film initially made $301m globally in its first two days
Finding Funds
UK Games Fund re-opens applications for two funds, offering grants of up to £150,000
The Content Fund offers a maximum £150,000 while the Prototype Fund peaks at £30,000
Upcoming Release
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile could be launching August 29th
The mobile adaptation is listed on the Chinese App Store for a launch this summer
Board Game Branding
Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid board game to launch on Kickstarter with early pledge reward
Supercell has teamed up with Maestro Media to launch the project on Kickstarter this month
Mena Month
Investment opportunities in MENA: "From an investor perspective this is the best time to be deploying by far"
Panellists took to the stage at the Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects in 2024 to discuss mobile, web3, AI and investments in the MENA region
App Acceleration
Nintendo app installs surge after Switch 2 Direct while its mobile games go unnoticed
Mario Kart Tour missed out on a download spike despite Mario Kart Word’s full reveal
Unity China
Unity 6 pulled from China in favour of localised engine
Change aligns with Unity's strategy to comply with local regulations
Job Losses
Machine Zone CEO out as AppLovin lays off 97 staff
Machine Zone CEO and design director out as ad tech firm makes another round of job cuts
Mo.co Milestone
Supercell’s Mo.co surpasses $2.5m in under a month
The Clash of Clans maker’s latest title launched globally on March 18th
Indian Iphones
Apple airlifted $2bn worth of iPhones from India in March to evade Trump tariffs
The imports marked a substantial increase from January and February
Funding News
Boby.ai lands $1.25m to build AI-powered mobile apps
Company co-founded and led by former Playable Factory CEO Gökçe Nur Oğuz
Layoff News
Niantic Spatial lays off 68 staff after $3.5bn games business sale to Scopely
The redundancies affect the newly formed company which launched with $250m in funding
Marketing Strategies
Dream Games taps LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon, Shakira and more for Royal Kingdom marketing campaigns
Actors from The Big Bang Theory also brought in for celebrating marketing campaigns
Pgc Summit Shanghai
Connect with the world's biggest games market at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai
West meets East through a little PGC magic before the wonderful madness of ChinaJoy
Market Report
Gaming VC deals rose 35% in Q1 2025 to $373m
But deal value was down 41% year-over-year
Done Deal
SayGames’ idle arcade games portfolio surpasses $300m
SayGames is publishing LoadComplete’s Chainsaw Juice King as the "first of many partnerships" with South Korean studios
Job News
Goodville promotes Katerina Dudinskaya to CEO
She will take over from co-founder Alexey Meleshkevich on May 1st
Minecraft Mobile
Minecraft’s daily mobile revenue hits three-year high at $969,000 after A Minecraft Movie’s release
The mobile version has its most lucrative day since Christmas 2021 on April 12th, 2025
Developers Contest
Neowiz launches indie game dev program with a $115,000 prize pool
The contest is open to all indie game developers, teams, and entrepreneurs at no cost
Expansions
KGeN opens MENA HQ in Bahrain
The new office will serve as a bridge between gaming, communities and global publishers
New Partnerships
Rise Worldwide and Blast partner to boost India’s esports scene
The joint venture will lead to new games, teams, sponsors, and investments
Major Milestone
Bleach: Brave Souls hits 100m installs ahead of 10th anniversary
KLab’s action gacha title first released in Japan in July 2015
Triple Crossover
Sonic Rumble's IP collab Crossover Event 0: Sega Stars is for soft launch players only
The event, which stars characters from Super Monkey Ball, ends one day before the global launch date of May 8th
Pgc Barcelona
First speakers revealed for Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona 2025!
100+ experts will deliver a 19-track conference schedule this June 3rd to 4th
New Offerings
Wuhan opens first mini-game incubation base in China
Tencent, AWS and others have reportedly signed on to launch operations at the new base
China Launch
Supercell’s Squad Busters is heading to China
App Store sets April 22nd release date with Tencent set to publish title
Esports In Mena
Savvy Games Group and Saudi Esports Federation Sign MoU to boost Saudi Arabia esports sector
The MoU will create internship opportunities for graduates of the Saudi Esports Academy
M&a
Supercell actively evaluating M&A opportunities
Developer backing early-stage companies while looking at deals for more mature studios
Trade Wars
Confusion as Trump tariffs temporarily exempt smartphones
US administration plans to open investigations into the electronics supply chain, claims the US President
Podcast | Episode 49
Trump tariffs chaos and Supercell doubles down on celebrity marketing and investments | 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 49...
Investment News
Argentina studio Agonalea Games raises $2m to shake up tower defence genre
Investor Mika Games backs studio and its hybridcasual title Punko.io
Major M&a
Games industry M&A hit $6.6bn in Q1 2025 with mobile domination led by Scopely
The figure was a two-year high and more than doubled Q1 2024’s result, according to Aream & Co.’s first quarterly Video Game Market Update report
Content Check
Roblox launches new parental controls to block specific friends and experiences
The update builds upon Roblox allowing parents to view friends lists