Funding News
PvX Partners secures $3.8m seed funding to scale games and consumer apps
Founding team include NetEase, Mobile Premier League and Morgan Stanley veterans
Platinum Sponsor
GeeMee joins Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025 as platinum sponsor
GeeMee is the platinum sponsor of Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025, bringing revolutionary advertising technology to the event.
Funding News
Monopoly World developer Reality Games raises $4.7m
Studio plans to expand title into new markets after launching in Poland and the Philippines
Investment News
App distribution platform Applivery secures strategic investment from Supercell
Investment will go towards growth in device and software management worldwide
Funding News
Liminal raises $5.8 million to empower player creativity using AI
“A positive vision of the future should recognise the power of AI to ignite the imaginations of players of all ages,” said Liminal founder and CEO Brendan Mulligan
Funding For Games
Tilting Point launches $150m UA fund to support game developers
Developers retain “full autonomy" over their marketing strategies
Pgc San Francisco
It's next week: PG Connects San Francisco 2025!
Two days, 10 tracks, 90 speakers… Connect with the global mobile games industry on March 17th to 18th
Raining With Revenue
Wuthering Waves rides the wave to $250m after Version 2.0’s major comeback
Version 2.0 triggered a 178% spending surge on release day, followed by a 169% boost with Version 2.1
Rollback Discount
Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025 offers limited-time rollback discount on tickets
Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco will host over 750 attendees next week. To ensure everyone can attend, a limited-time rollback discount is now available.
Balatro Timeline
“I don’t think I would have rated Balatro higher than an eight and I made the damn thing”
LocalThunk said the timeline series will serve as both a story for players and a personal reference
Shares Synchrony
Trump tariffs hit Japanese games companies as shares in Nintendo, Sony, DeNA and Capcom fall
US president Donald Trump’s latest 20% tariff on Chinese imports to the US appear to be having a knock-on effect on shareholders’ confidence in Japanese game makers
App Stores
Brazil orders Apple to allow alternative app stores on iOS within 90 days
Ruling judge extended Apple’s compliance deadline from 20 to 90 days
Age Verification
Utah becomes first state to require app store age verification for minors
Social media giants Meta, Snap, and X (formerly Twitter) have praised the law
Expansions
Appcharge expands into North America and Korea with new leadership hires
Sean Megaw will drive North American growth while Jin Woo Hong is set to lead its South Korea operations
Community Funding
Military history animation studio Yarnhub plots games expansion with community-led investment
YouTube content creator wants to build a military shooter for its 2.1m subscribers
Gameexpo Summit
Ramadan special offer for Dubai GameExpo Summit
Claim your 10% discount today
Podcast | Episode 45
Tripledot’s surprise acquisition of AppLovin's games business | 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 and what's inside this week's episode 45...
New Deal
Blizzard grants NetEase greater decision-making power over its games in China
Renewed partnership could lead to China-exclusive content like culturally inspired skins
French Fine
France readies Apple ATT antitrust fine and ban
A decision is expected to be reached this month, potentially leading to the privacy policy's first regulatory veto
Supersonic Growth
Supersonic surpasses 6.2 billion global downloads in five years
The firm was ranked as the fifth largest mobile games publisher in the world by downloads just behind Tencent, Azur, Onesoft, and SayGames.
New Partnerships
Women in Games and UKIE partner to support greater representation in the UK games industry
Partnership will provide networking, mentoring, and skills-building opportunities
Purchasing Power
Xsolla launches direct-to-consumer publishing suite
The toolkit brings Xsolla's services into one place to drive web store sales
Achievement
Rewarded play platform Almedia ranks as Europe’s third fastest-growing company in FT1000 listing
Rewarded play firm’s inclusion highlights its impressive 18,773.2% growth between 2020 and 2023
Network Away
See who YOU could Connect with at this month's PG Connects San Francisco
From the most talented indie developers to the biggest brands attending the global games industry event, March 17th to 18th
Developer Tools
Universal Foundry launches Compute Grant to support small Unreal Engine 5 studios
Grant covers the cost of the company’s services which starts at $950 per month
Milestone
RuneScape surpasses $2 billion in lifetime revenue
Titles have garnered over 300 million players worldwide
New Offerings
Plarium expands RAID: Shadow Legends to alternative app store Aptoide
The title's launch on Aptoide coincides with its 6-year anniversary event
Axie Alpha
Axie Infinity returns on mobile with web3 MMO Atia’s Legacy alpha incoming
Pre-registration referrals are already securing fans AXS tokens
Funding News
Saudi Arabia's Lobah Game Studio secures $12 million investment
Company will use the funds to accelerate development of its upcoming games
New Offerings
Konami resurrects 30-year-old IP with mobile RPG Suikoden: Star Leap
The title will be free-to-play and feature in-app purchases
Investment News
Tencent increases stake in From Software parent company Kadokawa
Publishing giant and Sony open approximately 18% of the company
Tax Relief
British Columbia increases Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit to 25%
The incentives will be effective from September 2025
M&a
Report: Tripledot to buy AppLovin’s games business
PocketGamer.biz has also heard the buyer is a London-based company
Pgc San Francisco
Save up to $130 with PG Connects San Francisco Mid Term rate!
Grab a ticket to start business-boosting networking before midnight March 6th!
Tour For More
Pokémon Go Tour Unova – Global weekend made $19.8m in two days
The free event with optional paid extras saw in-game spending at its highest since the eighth anniversary last July
Ai-powered Games
Activision promoting Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and Crash Bandicoot mobile games that don't exist
The publisher’s survey stated the titles are not real “but could be some day!’’
Kid Cosmo
Netflix’s The Electric State: Kid Cosmo game will serve as a prequel to upcoming film
The 80s-style puzzle adventure is set for release on March 18th, four days after the new film
Leadership Change
Stillfront names Alexis Bonte as new president and group CEO
Bonte joined Stillfront in 2017 after its acquisition of eRepublik Labs, which he co-founded
Leadership Change
Jagex CEO Phil Mansell steps down
Former Huuuge Games CCO and CVC advisor Jon Bellamy takes over the top job at the RuneScape developer
Valiant Victory
Goddess of Victory: Nikke hits $1bn on mobile during Romantic Valentine event
More than half of that player spending has come from the game’s Japanese players
New Approvals
China approves 110 new games including Plants vs. Zombies 3
The latest game approvals include 107 domestic titles and three foreign games
Company Shakeup
Room 8 Group expands leadership with new focus
Former Ubisoft veterans take key roles
Pgc San Francisco
Meet our awesome speakers at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025
More than 70 world class expert speakers share the latest industry insights and future forecasts this March 17th and 18th
Branding News
Longstanding games services firm PTW rebrands as Side
"I’m proud that all our employees are now united under one banner"
New Offerings
Sandsoft plots hybridcasual expansion with three new game deals
Publisher said that it has “several more" games in testing and are scheduled to release in the coming months
Opportunities Galore
Three no-cost ways to benefit from Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025
Discover three great ways to make the most of your time in San Francisco without spending a dime...
Founder Fund
Ex-Tripledot president forms Arcadia Gaming Advisors with $100m fund for mobile game companies
The Tripledot founder has already invested in Dream Games, Layer AI, Spyke Games and more
Movers And Shakers
Lasse Seppänen named Supercell London GM
The new general manager will define the overall vision for the office
New Mode
Secret Mode breaks away from Sumo with buyout
Current leadership to remain at the helm
Pgc San Francisco
Full schedule revealed for PG Connects San Francisco 2025!
70+ experts lead the two-day games industry conference, March 17 to 18th