Job Losses
Reports: One Punch Man: World developer Perfect World lays off as many as 1,000 staff
The Chinese media firm is is also said to have halted worked on One Punch Man: World and Perfect New World
Gambling Crackdown
Northern Ireland’s APG wants "stringent, legally mandated regulations" imposed on loot boxes
The group has called for gambling mechanics in games to be "severely limited" now that the results of a public health inquiry are in
China Regulations
China approves 104 new games including titles from Tencent and Alibaba
Industry giants including miHoYo and SenseTime have also established the Shanghai Yuanchuang Future Private Equity Fund
Mobile Games Awards
Gamelight named as headline sponsor for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2024
Event returns on August 20th to celebrate the industry's finest
Safety Startup
Tencent, Google and Meta vets raise $45 million in Series A towards online safety startup k-ID
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners
Classic Celebration
Garena Free Fire celebrates seventh anniversary with $4 billion in lifetime revenue
The celebration includes "classic features" with a focus on nostalgia
Podcast
Metaplay’s Teemu Haila on scaling and saving smaller studios $1 million per year with one SDK | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode…
Mobile Manoeuvre
Pokémon developer Game Freak’s first mobile exclusive is new IP, Pand Land
Game Freak and WonderPlanet "sometimes clashed" during development but ultimately "achieved balance" with this seafaring RPG
Jobs In Games
Games veteran Mike Seavers joins Scopely as their new SVP of technology
The ex-Riot Games, Epic Games and Yuga Labs veteran is “excited about the many Scopely projects underway that I can’t yet share!”
China Cha-ching
Dungeon & Fighter Mobile’s first month of iOS revenue was twice that of Honor of Kings
Nexon and Tencent's RPG generated $270 million on iOS in its first month, becoming China’s most-downloaded game
Pgc Helsinki
Fingersoft CEO Jaakko Kylmäoja on how "the best game required the best environment"
Speaking a Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2023, Kylmäoja highlighted Fingersoft’s office culture as one of its most important strengths
Ai Approach
Square Enix still sees "tremendous potential" in AI but is wary of the "many risks involved"
CEO Takashi Kiryu has spelled out a more risk-averse approach to AI in the latest shareholders' meeting
New Game
Clash Heroes lives!… As new Supercell game Project R.I.S.E
RISING from the ashes of Clash Heroes and borrowing its assets comes a new "multiplayer, action-focused, social, RPG roguelite”
To The Races
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby gets an English version - is a Western release imminent?
Cygames’ racer has seen huge success in Japan with over 21 million downloads and $2 billion in revenue
Promotional Power
Monster Hunter Now on mobile cross promotes spin-off on PC and console
A new story and limited-time quests in the mobile hit promote the Monster Hunter Stories re-release
Hybrid Hire
Cat Escape maker Sunday appoints ex-SYBO Christian Balazs in shift away from hypercasual
Sunday has made a "pivotal" hire in a move to broaden into hybridcasual games
Apple In The Dock
Game over for Apple as the European Commission wades in against their DMA dodge
It's official. The European Commission is going to take apart Apple's half-hearted adherence to the Digital Markets Act
Podcast | Episode 17
The history and future of the mobile games industry | 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 17...
Week That Was
Week in Views - Olympic esports, Gameloft's cross-play move, and what mobile gaming's history tell us about its future
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Jobs News
Unity restructure continues as CMO set to exit firm
Carpenter joins IronSource co-founders and Marc Whitten out the door this year
New Offerings
Asphalt Legends: Unite takes the racing favourite cross platform for the first time
A new trailer showcases the game's cross-platform capabilities starring actor-turned-NASCAR driver Frankie Muniz
Pgc Helsinki
Who will YOU meet at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki?
Connect with investors, publishers, indies, platform holders and more this October 1st and 2nd
Clearing Up
Embracer Group pays up $300m to clear $1.5bn debts
Nearly $1bn of its debts will be moved to Asmodee Group when the company breaks up into three separate public entities
Busting Out
Squad Busters generates $28 million in first three weeks
The latest numbers on Supercell's big new game launch
Podcast
Gazeus Games' Estela Rocha and Aarki's Aman Sareen on savvy strategies for leaner teams | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode…
Golden Genre
RPGs dominated Japan's Golden Week thanks to Fate Grand/Order, Monster Strike, Genshin Impact and more
Golden Week 2024 generated less mobile revenue than in 2023, but RPGs continued to excel with 9 out of 10 top ten placings
Browser Boost
CrazyGames launches new social features for instant multiplayer gaming
The features are aimed at boosting web gaming growth and simplifying the experience for users and developers
Virtual Sanity
Apple's Vision Pro failures are only setting the scene for their real AR/VR moves
While dwindling Vision Pro sales might seem like bad news, it's likely that they're hardly a surprise and all part of a bigger plan
Platform Party
Eggy Party to expand onto console with crossplay Nintendo Switch release
NetEase’s hit party game is releasing on Nintendo Switch on July 19th
Web3 Gaming
SKALE Labs joins Unity's publisher support program to boost web3 game development
SKALE developers can now utilise Unity's creator tools to build real-time games and apps
Pokemon Power
Niantic’s going back to basics for Pokémon Go’s eighth anniversary
July 6th will mark eight years since Pokémon Go first rocked the world
M&a
Tripledot Studios acquires Get Color developer Zephyr Mobile
UK firm picks up 55-person team responsible for Get Colour, Hey Colour and Math Crossword
Jumping Into Jojo
KLab resumes development of 2020 mobile game based on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Klab has formed a new partnership with Wanda Cinemas Games to get this project completed
Finding Funds
Brainspark Games raises £1.4 million towards building educational AI mobile games
The funding comes from its seventh Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant and a match-funded angel investment
Legal Upset
Apple on track to fall foul of DMA legislation with a potential penalty of $50M per day
Leaks suggest that Apple has failed to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, costing the firm 5% of its daily global revenue
Platform Plans
Hello Kitty Island Adventure journeys beyond Apple Arcade as PC and Switch versions announced
During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct event, Hello Kitty Island Adventure made an appearance confirming an upcoming expansion to the Switch
Jumping In Japan
Wuthering Waves, Gakuen Idolmaster, Squad Busters: Which new mobile games won Japan over this May?
Plenty of new mobile hits launched last month, from Supercell, Kuro Games, Bandai Namco and others
Almighty Earnings
EA's CEO Andrew Wilson earns $25 million despite company layoffs
Wilson's compenstation was revealed in a financial report and comes not long after the publisher laid off 5% of its global workforce, closed studios and cancelled projects
Summoner Celebration
Summoners War celebrates 10th anniversary with $3 billion in lifetime revenue
Summoners War first launched in 2014 and has been downloaded over 200 million times since
Esports Growth
The International Olympic Committee's executive board endorses esports at the Olympics
Discussions are ongoing as to a potential host, with an official announcement to be made soon
A New Challenge
Unity pulls out the big guns, appointing 'Major Nelson' Larry Hryb to new Director of Community role
Hryb previously spent years guiding Microsoft’s gaming efforts and the Xbox brand to power
Steering Strategy
Savvy's Steer Studios expands into console development
The company began building up its new division at the start of the year
Everything Everything
ByteBrew launches support for web games in their all-in-one platform
ByteBrew, the all-in-one analytics platform, has expanded their product to support web games and developers.
Pgc Jordan
Discover the MENA opportunity: Visit the fastest-growing games market this November
Make the most of our Super Early Bird offers for the two-day Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan conference and save up to £300
United Unity
Unity is "undoing so many of the missteps" made as new CEO Matthew Bromberg changes company culture
He has stepped into the CEO role as interim CEO Jim Whitehurst moved to executive chair of the board
Matriarch Of Mischief
Clash Royale launches a brand-new mode Goblin Queen’s Journey with three exclusive cards
New cards unlocked in the Goblin Queen’s Journey will be playable in other game modes too
New Pc Event
Big Screen Gaming Summit: Two-day PC and console event arrives in Helsinki this October
Join us on October 1-2, 2024 to discover the latest trends and future innovations for PC, console, web3, VR and AR
Partnership Power
Anzu and dentsu partner to advance intrinsic in-game advertising with "contextually relevant campaigns"
Ads will be deliverable to specific audiences based on behaviour and interests
Racing Ahead
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby trots to 21 million downloads from limited Asia release
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby first launched in Japan in 2021 and has remained in Asia ever since
Legislation Looming
Fortnite and The Epic Games Store will be arriving on iOS in Japan in 2025
The Epic Games Store will be available as an alternative to Apple’s App Store in Japan next year, based on new legislation