Title Trademark
HoYoverse’s Petit Planet: Another trademark, another game?
This could be a brand-new title or a rebranding of Astaweave Haven, which was trademarked in June
The Battle Endures
Google accuses Microsoft of wanting to "free-ride" on Play Store’s success amid Epic Games legal battle
Microsoft came out in support of Epic Games last week - now Google has responded
Acqusition Rumours
Take-Two in talks to sell adtech division Chartboost
AppLovin and LoopMe are potential buyers
Bloom Boom
Pikmin Bloom celebrates record-breaking third year budding $63 million in lifetime earnings
53% of all in-game revenue was earned over the past year
Esports In Mena
YaLLa Esports invests $12.5 million to accelerate growth in the MENA region over the next two years
YaLLa Esports will host five major esports tournaments in Qatar and UAE by 2026
Revenue Result
Microsoft makes $24.7bn profit in Q1 after video game cutbacks
Microsoft’s games business increased its revenue to $5.6bn for the quarter, but that didn’t spare Xbox from job cuts
Podcast | Episode 35
Facebook Instant Games is back! And Games First 2024 takeaways | 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 35...
Nikke Numbers
Goddess of Victory: Nikke celebrates second anniversary and nearly $900m on mobile
Shift Up’s popular gacha game is celebrating its second anniversary from a past antagonist’s perspective
New Offerings
Kakao Games partners with Lionheart Studio for triple-A MMORPG game codenamed Project Q
The upcoming game will launch for PC and mobile next year
Super Space Ape
Supercell establishes London studio with 100% acquisition of Space Ape
Clash of Clans developer aims to tap UK talent with full purchase Beatstar maker
Earnings Report
Roblox hits $1.1 billion bookings in Q3 as it cuts losses
Daily active users grew 27% year-over-year to 88.9 million
Pocket Power
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket surpasses 10 million downloads and $23m revenue
Japan makes up 45% of player spending during the game's opening five days, followed by the US
Funding News
Levellr raises $1.75 million for Discord management tools
Company appoints SuperAwesome co-founder Dylan Collins as chairman; aims to add Reddit integration in 2025
Netflix Ai
Netflix appoints Mike Verdu as VP of GenAI for games
Streaming giant eyes potential for AI to power its games business
Earnings Report
Meta's VR/AR division struggles with $4.4 billion loss as expenses rise to $4.7 billion in Q3
Revenue for Reality Labs was $270 million, driven by hardware sales
Vote For Pocket Gamer Awards
Voting now open for the Pocket Gamer Awards 2024
Cast your vote and celebrate the best in mobile games
Mario Music
Nintendo Music brings classic game soundtracks to mobile devices
App features music from hit IPs like Mario and The Legend of Zelda, but fails to credit artists
New Studio
Supercell invests in Barcelona-based studio Penguin Armada
PC-first developer working on top-down PvP title
Union Support
Sony faces backlash from CWA over studio closures amid layoffs
The union says it plans "to raise the anti-competitive impacts of Sony's increasing monopoly with the appropriate antitrust regulators"
Trick Or Treat
Pokémon Sleep turns spooky with 107% revenue spike as Halloween event gets underway
Popular Alolan Pokémon Mimikyu has debuted in-game for Halloween alongside bundles and an event
Apple Ai
Apple to introduce AI-generated app review summaries with iOS 18.1
These summaries aim to help users better assess apps before downloading or purchasing
Job News
Unity appoints Alex Blum as new COO as executive shakeup continues
He previously served as senior vice president of corporate development at Unity
Halloween Sale
Ghoulish networking tips to make connections at PG Connects London 2025 without getting spooked
Pay To Play
Monster Hunter Now tests Pokémon Go event formula with Carnival Global
Now’s first in-person event is getting an online follow-up for players who couldn’t attend in Shibuya
Jobs Roundup
October’s Mobile Movers and Shakers: New Unity CTO, Stillfront CEO and Supercell CMO exit, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Earnings Report
EA Mobile net bookings decline by 3% amid game closures
While PC and other segments continue to grow, console remains EA's largest contributor to net bookings
Managing Millions
Trophy Games revenue rises by 56% in Q3 as Airline Manager and Energy Manager drive new installs
Developer recorded a 108% year-on-year increase in paying users during Q3 2024
Emerging Markets
Supercell’s Games First 2024 explores emerging markets in LATAM, India and Africa
Emerging markets are presenting opportunities to grow audiences and new studios
Games First Helsinki
Trip Hawkins: Broken business models, the importance of social, and industry forecasts
The former EA CEO and founder offers his insights on the state of the market
Pgc Jordan
Game industry leaders to gather at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan 2024 next week
Combining the very best of the MENA region to meet, network, and innovate with top games professionals...
Instant Games
Facebook Instant Games finally gets in-app purchases on iOS
IAPs now supported across web, iOS and Android devices
Closing Koi
Sony closes mobile studio Neon Koi
Neon Koi and Firewalk are both closing down as Sony prioritises games on a "pedigree" level
Layoffs
Fingersoft lays off 14 staff after “substantial decline” in ad revenue
"With this year’s substantial decline in ad revenue, adjustments to our cost structure became essential," says CEO
The Web Way
Nitro Games’ Autogun Heroes launches on CrazyGames web portal
Cross-progression and cross-play are both available between mobile and web versions
Revenue Result
Reverse: 1999 celebrates first anniversary in the West with $100m on the horizon
The time travel title celebrated one year since global launch on October 26th
New Game Launch
Monument Valley 2 is now available on Netflix
Subscribers can now play the first two games of the Monument Valley series for free
Investment News
Maintain Altitude secures $500,000 in pre-seed round to accelerate game development
The studio will use its newly secured funds to accelerate game development and collaborate with music rights holders
Pokemon Power
Pokémon TCG Pocket launches tomorrow, but will it be the very best like Pokémon Go...?
The digitalised card game is debuting with plenty of nostalgia-infused Kanto classics, much like the geolocation giant before it
Mobile Marketing
71% of marketing spend is focused on just 10 countries
A new study from Moloco suggests potential high-value users in many regions are being overlooked
Empowering Start-ups
Germany is supporting game studios with new funding program
Start-up founders can now apply for the Press Start: Games Founding Grant
Save The Date
The Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by PG Connects, a key event in the MENA games industry, returns May 7 - 8, 2025 as Part of Dubai Esports and Games Festival
New Partnerships
SAG-AFTRA and Ethovox partner to build AI voice replicas and empower actors
The Ethovox model creates digital voice replicas based on extensive voice data
Mega Money
Microsoft CEO's compensation grows to $79m despite job cuts
Satya Nadella had requested a reduction in his pay package, which could otherwise have approached $85m
Podcast | Episode 34
Subscription without upsell is death! And IDFA changes are good now? | 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 34...
Web Shop Waves
100% of top social casino games have a web shop, while casual’s only reached 30%
Across the 20 highest-grossing mobile games, Appcharge finds 72% have a web shop
Pocket Premium
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete goes premium on December 3rd
The premium replacement will allow players to transfer their data up until June 2nd, 2025
Negotiations On Pause
SAG-AFTRA extends interactive media agreement negotiations after three days of talks
There is no official resumption date for negotiations at this time
Rumour Rebuttal
Tencent denies layoffs despite restructuring, leadership changes and VP’s departure
VP Zeng Yu is retiring as 10 individuals are impacted in management overhaul
New Approvals
China approves 128 new games including Supercell's Squad Busters
China has consistently approved over 100 domestic video games each month, while foreign game approvals occur approximately every two months
New Studio
Mobile games company Digital Dunes launches in Media City Qatar
The company says it will bring Arabic content and culture to the world through its projects