Major Milestone
NetEase’s Blood Strike rockets to 50 million installs in less than a year
The milestone was reached within nine months of official release in Southeast Asia
The Law Won
TikTok kills its Lite Rewards program following EU Digital Services Act pressure
The social network's system for paying users for watching ads, liking content, following creators, and inviting friends on board is no more
Masterclass
Last chance to buy tickets for PocketGamer.biz MasterClass: Game Monetisation Design Interactive Workshop
Develop your existing skills and learn new ones from the finest games industry experts in an in-depth learning environment
Tough Times
2024's games industry lay-offs: The stories so far - all in one place
The second half of the year is still providing tough times. Here are all the companies that have resized, restructured and shed staff so far this year
New Partnerships
RallyHere partners with ProbablyMonsters to launch two new titles
ProbablyMonsters will utilise RallyHere's services for its two debut titles Battle Barge and Hidden Grove.
Proof Is In The Profit
Web3 tech firm Improbable makes its first profit after metaverse pivot
The company shifted focus to the metaverse in 2022, and achieved its first ever annual profit in 2023
Rallying Revenue
Game of Thrones: Legends fires past $1 million with daily earnings rising fast
Zynga’s latest match-3 launch raked in $109,627 on August 4th
Layoff News
Jam City has laid off 10% of its workforce
"The overall upward trend has not materialised as expected," said Jam City CEO Josh Yguado
Bungie Breakdown
Is Destiny Mobile to blame for Bungie’s fall from grace?
Insiders are coming out of the woodwork to portion blame within the troubled giant
Top 50
Final weeks to nominate developers for PocketGamer.biz's Top 50 Mobile Game Makers 2024
Don't miss out - Nominations close on Friday, August 16th, 2024
Aquisitions
Amber snaps up co-development studio Madbricks
Deal sees developer’s 40 staff join Amber’s global workforce of more than 850 employees
Podcast | Episode 23
Market intelligence challenges, and performers strike against AI | 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 23...
Executive Exit
Roblox CFO steps down
Michael Guthrie first joined the firm in 2018 and was part of the team that took it public in March 2021
Platform Growth
Roblox bumps up daily active users by 21% Y/Y as revenue grows to $894m in Q2
UGC platform racked up 17.4 billion hours of play during the last quarter
Week That Was
Scrapped games, big names, and the humans Vs AI war gets real | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Mass Redundancies
Intel to lay off 15,000 staff as part of $10 billion cost savings plan
Plans will impact 15% of the company's workforce
New Offerings
Ubisoft teams up with NFL to launch new fantasy football game
The game allows players to collect cards and make decisions during the NFL regular season and playoff games
Last Chance
Just 22 places left for the PG Mobile Games Awards 2024 in association with Gamelight
The swanky sit-down dinner ceremony in Cologne on August 20th is about to sell out
New Leadership
Jan Richter succeeds Ralph Stock as CEO of Sixteen Tons Entertainment
Richter has played a key role in developing successful titles at EA, Bigpoint, Mighty Bear Games, and ZeptoLab
A Fresh Start
Ex-Unity and Scopely developers launch new studio, Outer Haven Games
Based in the US, the studio is already working on a role-playing anime-inspired game called Techno Infierno
King In The North
Zynga calls in Kit Harrington for Game of Thrones: Legends launch
Mobile ads are becoming increasingly star-powered, with Jon Snow himself promoting the latest puzzle RPG
Ea Q1 Financials
Electronic Arts: "FC Mobile is the blueprint for our mobile strategy"
Their profits may be down 30% but EA Sports FC Mobile made record net bookings while FC Mobile Madden NFL 24 earned double digit growth
Mena Workshops
Maysalward hosts Minecraft Education training workshop for teachers
The workshop trains teachers to integrate Minecraft Education into their classrooms
Speaker Reveal
Devcom 2024 reveals latest speaker lineup including Larian Studios, SIE Santa Monica Studio, IO Interactive and more
Developer conference takes place between August 18th and 20th, with talks starting from the 19th
Resleriana Revenue
Atelier Resleriana adventures past $50 million via the power of fan-favourites
Most lucrative day coincided with release of Klaudia, a main character from best-selling game in the series Atelier Ryza
Trends Survey
What are the hottest trends right now? Let us know in the 2024 Mobile Games Industry Survey
All participants will get a 30% discount on tickets to PGC London. You'll also be in with the chance to receive a £200 Amazon gift voucher, a free ticket to PGC, and promotion on our sites worth up to $8,000
Layoffs
Bungie to lose 220 staff as it takes "a new path"
The Destiny, Halo and Marathon game dev giant is just the latest victim to fall foul of rising costs versus revenue rewards
Independent Ai
Mark Zuckerberg: “Nah, f*ck that”. Meta’s mouthpiece still isn’t a fan of closed platforms
Try to tell Zuck what game to play and he’s going to take his ball home
Microsoft's Mobile Mystery
Microsoft made $88 billion profit in FY2024 thanks to Activision Blizzard boost
Xbox revenue was up 61% in Q4 2024, but mobile specific figures remain a mystery
Milestone
Whiteout Survival races past $1 billion revenue
The US leads as the game's top revenue region
This Means War
SAG-AFTRA takes the AI war to the next level with games industry strikes
From tomorrow 10 big names in games will see picket lines protesting the use of AI to replace human talent in games
Milestone
Netmarble's Solo Leveling: Arise has passed $100 million revenue
More than 30% of the game's revenue comes from South Korea
Interview
"Navigating the MENA region's funding landscape specifically in Saudi Arabia has been quite promising"
Starvania Studio CEO and co-founder Meaad Aflah discusses her studio's latest project and the opportunities and challenges facing Saudi Arabia's games industry
Rpg Reposition
RPGs overthrown by strategy genre as new consumer spending king
RPGs have topped consumer spending charts since "at least" 2017, but were dethroned in Q2 2024
Podcast
How AppHarbr puts a stop to bad ads before your users can see them | 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…
Ai Acquisition
GiantX acquires League of Legends AI coaching app maker iTero Gaming
The app, launched in late 2022, has been downloaded almost 250,000 times
Cash Splash
Q2 mobile app spending hits a new record of $36.2 billion
Apple owners are responsible for the latest spending surge for Q2 2024, though downloads in the quarter declined
Mobile Games Awards
Aghanim named as co-sponsor for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2024
Event returns on August 20th to celebrate the industry's finest
Game Cancellation
Dinosaur Polo Club scraps Magic School in order to renew focus on its Mini series
The goal of Magic School was to explore new ideas beyond the studio's typical minimalist simulations. But it's an experiment that failed
German Gaming
German mobile gamers spent €2.9 billion in 2023, 98% via in-app purchases
The German video games industry more broadly generated €9.97 billion last year
Alternative App Stores
The Xbox Mobile Store lives… Or at least there’s a webpage for it
As their self-imposed July deadline draws to a close, could an official roll-out be imminent?
Squad Spenders
Squad Busters takings pass $50 million, but how does it compare to Supercell’s greatest hits?
The US currently represents the game's biggest market share, where it's earned $19.6 million so far
Investment Bounceback
M&A is on the rise for the third quarter in a row
That's according to Drake Star whose latest Global Gaming Report for Q2 only carries good news on the games industry's rebound
Lively Layoffs
Lively Studio undergoes layoffs for the sake of "long-term health"
The Keywords subsidiary will reportedly lay off a small number of people, while sister studio Electric Square remains unaffected
Pokemon Power
The Pokémon Company caught $10.8 billion from merch and licenced goods last year
License Global’s latest Top Global Licensors Report places Pokémon seventh among all licensors based on 2023 revenue
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason event to kick off with a $3 million prize pool
Players can earn event currency by logging in, playing matches, or spectating matches
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: "PGC enabled me to grow my network and presence"
Raptor PR's Rana Rahman shares his favourite PGC memories
Podcast | Episode 22
How Lilith Games builds billion-dollar mobile hits | 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 22...
Final Countdown
Final hours of voting for the Pocket Gamer mobile Games Awards 2024 in association with Gamelight
It's your last chance to vote for who you think should win their respective category
Event News
Mobidictum Conference returns to Istanbul in October
Event takes place on October 15th and 16th