Outlanders Original
Monster Hunter Outlanders opens pre-registrations with Elder Dragon Ruger Aidal unveiled
The reveal confirms original monsters will appear in Outlanders, not just legacy beasts
Leadership Change
Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward steps down
Turqi Alnowaiser will serve as interim acting CEO
Job News
ASGC founder Amir Satvat joins 1Up Ventures as general partner
He will continue his work with ASGC alongside his new role
Supercell To Startup
Lasse Seppänen departs Supercell to form new UK startup
He previously founded Elven Industries and co-founded PlayRaven
Wild Card
Pokémon: Wild Card animated movie unveiled ahead of 2027 release
The feature-length film is in production with Story inc. and CloverWorks, with Katsuhiko Kitada serving as director
Saudi Signing
Saudi Esports Federation signs MoU with BSF to support esports growth
The partnership will explore sponsorship opportunities for major esports initiatives and tournaments
Dsa Designations
Reddit, ChatGPT and Roblox must meet new EU DSA obligations by January 2027
The three have been designated Very Large Online Platforms as they reach at least 45 million monthly average users in the EU
New Partnerships
Savvy Games Group and MCIT sign MoU to support Saudi games talent and startups
The agreement will expand access to Savvy Academy programmes through the Saudi Digital Academy
Gamescom Attendance
Gamescom 2026 draws 368,000 visitors as international presence reaches record high
Attendance reached 368,000, remaining below the 373,000 record set in 2019
Big Change
Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO after 15 years
John Ternus is set to take over as Cook moves into the role of executive chairman
Acquisition
Supercell signs deal to acquire Metacore and Merge Mansion
The transaction is expected to close at the end of September
Settlement Reached
Google settles UK app developers’ class action lawsuit for $353m
The settlement remains subject to approval by London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal
Milestone
Where Winds Meet surpasses 100m players worldwide
Hidden Mountain Chapter 3 will launch on September 16th
Superstar Speaker
Embark Studios' Neil Houari to speak at PGC Nordics
The 3D art lead brings his character and world-building expertise to Helsinki this October
Online Safety
Meta and Roblox agree to strengthen child safety measures in the Philippines
Roblox is aiming to establish a Philippine office as early as October
Job News
Nicholas Le named PeopleFun CEO as Tamara Feiman takes over Lion Studios
Le will remain involved with Lion Studios as studio chair
Marvelous Mena
Dubai brings biggest-ever pavilion to Gamescom 2026 with top 10 gaming hub ambition
The emirate projects around 30,000 gaming jobs and close to $1bn in annual revenue by 2033
New Offerings
Tencent Games showcases AI tools for game development at gamescom
GIGA is developing autonomous AI agents for games and virtual worlds
Pgc Summit Montreal
Cutting edge content in Canada with PGC Summit Montréal
Unmissable seminar schedule and a Big Indie Pitch this November 10th
Milestone
CookieRun: Crumble surpasses $14.3m revenue ahead of first major update
40% of Crumble’s revenue has come from outside Korea, with the US its top-grossing international market
Soft Launch
Overwatch Rush to soft launch in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines
The mobile game will introduce Brigitte as its latest Vanguard hero
Strategic Move
Naphora Games enters soft launch with three mobile titles
A fourth title is planned for soft launch in late September, with two more coming in Q4 2026
Mobile Games Awards 2026
Ustwo Games CEO María Sayans wins Mobile Legend at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026
She became CEO of Ustwo Games in 2019, leading the studio behind Monument Valley
Launch Date
Ananta sets January 2027 launch date as pre-registration passes 17m
The NetEase and Naked Rain-developed open-world RPG will launch on mobile, PC and PS5
New Offerings
Thatgamecompany launches new publishing label
The label will consider games at any stage and from teams of any size
Appstore Changes
Google Play reveals new performance requirements for apps and games
Non-compliant apps may face reduced visibility and publishing capabilities
Albion Online Integrates Ace
Sandbox Interactive Working with Tencent Cloud and Tencent ACE to strengthen Android security for Albion Online
Sandbox Interactive's Albion Online will integrate the ACE Anti-Cheat Standard solution for Android to create a fairer and more secure competitive environment for players
Pgc Nordics
The very finest curated networking at PG Connects Nordics
Fabulous fringe events in Helsinki this October 20th and 21st
Mobile Games Awards 2026
Loom Games CEO Kübra Gündoğan wins Rising Star at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026
Six years on from her computer engineering degree, Kübra Gündoğan has helped build Türkiye's fastest unicorn
Mobile Games Awards
Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026 winners revealed
Every winner and honourable mention across all 23 categories, straight from the Cologne stage
Expansions
Roblox to establish MENA headquarters in Riyadh
The move supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 digital economy objectives
Mobile Games Awards 2026
Scopely wins Best Publisher at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026
Monopoly Go, Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom and more make for one strong portfolio
Mobile Games Awards 2026
Pixel Flow wins Game of the Year at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026
Pixel Flow’s installs and earnings have snowballed since its launch in August 2025, now well into the millions
New Offerings
Ludo.ai adds keyframe animation and 3D tools for game developers
Developers can define up to three keyframes and let Ludo generate the in-between frames
Mobile Games Awards 2026
Loom Games wins Best Developer at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026
From founding to a $1 billion valuation in a single year, Loom Games has shown how fast a lean team can move
Child Safety
Roblox restricts reward-driven media feeds in Kids and Select
Games combining continuous media feeds with rewards for ongoing viewing will be removed unless redesigned
Job News
EGDF re-elects Hendrik Lesser as president
“Let's do our work and push European game development and publishing forward,” said Lesser
Pre-registration
HoYoverse’s Petit Planet launches in winter 2026 with pre-registration open now
Players who pre-register will receive exclusive rewards
Market Report
Only 2,500 of 190,000 mobile games released in 2025 surpassed 500,000 downloads
New Moloco report found that average time to reach $20m in IAP and subscription revenue fell 21% between 2022 and 2025
New Offerings
Discord brings Social Layer to mobile after seeing 31% retention increase on PC
The move comes after Social Layer integration increased player retention on PC
Funding News
W4 Games raises $18m to expand Godot enterprise push
The funding brings W4 Games’ total investment raised to $33m
Web Store Sales
Sensor Tower reveals the hidden impact of D2C revenue in mobile games
SVP for gaming and entertainment Chirag Ambwani offers insights into genre sales, top D2C marketing channels and Monopoly GO web store sales
Financing
AppsFlyer secures $400m credit line from Bank Leumi
The credit line allows AppsFlyer to fund operations without additional equity financing
Funding News
Surge Games raises $3m pre-seed to build AI-native mobile games
The company plans to use the funding to grow its team and scale user acquisition
Pubg Pre Registration
PUBG Mobile Light is now available for pre-registration
The game is scheduled to launch in November
Testing Tools
Roblox launches new analytics and experimentation tools
Creators can now use automated warnings to see if experimental changes are impacting key metrics
Industry Report
Africa and Middle East games market forecast to reach $8.5bn as African gamer base hits 406m
Mobile is forecast to generate 81.8% of Africa’s games revenue in 2026
Brazil Games
Brazil Games to showcase 35 indie titles at Gamescom 2026
The move marks Brazil Games’ first dedicated B2C showcase at Gamescom
India On The Rise
GDAI reveals first cohort of 15 game studios for Supernova
The studios were chosen from more than 260 applications
Slice 2026
SLICE 2026 to expand game demo area and feature Pocket Gamer’s Big Indie Pitch
SLICE 2026: Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo takes place on September 2nd, 2026