In-app Advertising
Gaming social platform Discord set to embrace ads for revenue boost
Discord is reportedly hiring more than a dozen workers to see this through
Funding News
Laton Ventures secures $35 million for games investments in Turkey and beyond
Founder Görkem Türk tells PocketGamer.biz why he's so bullish on games and how Turkey's rising games industry has helped spur its fund raise
Week That Was
Week in Views - Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile's debut, Palworld inspires Tencent, and GDC 2024 takeaways
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Podcast | Episode 05
GDC Roundup, EU calls out Apple, and lots of MENA news | 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 05…
Loads Of Layoffs
Sega lays off 240 employees and sells Relic Entertainment
Sega Europe, Creative Assembly and Sega HARDlight are all affected by the layoffs
Studio Suite
Pocket Worlds’ Highrise surpasses 40 million users as it unveils new development tools
Highrise Studio allows creators to make content that can be integrated into Highrise 4.0
Something To Sell
Embracer to sell Borderlands dev Gearbox to Take-Two in $460m deal
Gearbox games from Borderlands and Homeworld to Duke Nukem will fall under Take-Two’s possession
Green Gaming
$700,000 raised in Playing for the Planet’s Green Game Jam 2023
40 games were entered into the Green Game Jam, focused on preserving three endangered species
Major Milestone
Hypercasual developer FreePlay surpasses 1.5 billion downloads
The company's portfolio has generated 500 million installs during the last year alone
Funding Influx
Illuvium raises $12M funding for blockchain games
An open-world creature collector, city builder and autobattler will feature interoperable blockchain elements
Mena Market Growth
Sandsoft and NetEase establish joint venture Stellar Gate Games to publish games in MENA
The new venture will support companies with publishing, marketing, live ops and esports activities in the region
King Calls
King appoints ex-TomTom and Zalando exec Eric Bowman as CTO
Steve Colins steps down from the role to explore AI and return to investment world
Dubai Gamexpo Summit 2023
Super Evil Megacorp’s Taewon Yun: "Gen AI is like a goldmine surrounded by a minefield"
Super Evil Megacorp chief business officer Taewon Yun’s talk at Dubai GameExpo Summit 2023 powered by PG Connects focused around AI and Web3
Iteration Inspiration
Report: Tencent's top studios developing Palworld-like mobile games
TiMi and Lightspeed studios are reportedly developing mobile games inspired by Palworld
Web3 Expansion
Nexon expands to UAE with new blockchain game subsidiaries
Publisher establishes Nexon Universe Global and Nexpace in region as it aims to expand blockchain initiatives
All About Ads
Intrinsic ads make players 5% more likely to consider in-game spending
Anzu and Happydemics find intrinsic ads to have the highest recall rate, brand identification and purchase consideration
Esports Growth
True Gamers gets set to build $280 million esports island in Abu Dhabi
True Gamers is currently in talks with investors to raise the $280 million it needs to acquire the island and commence building facilities
Optimising Opportunity
How Supply Path Optimisation can supercharge user acquisition for gaming advertisers
Ad expert Liftoff highlights how developers can get more from their ad campaigns through a smarter approach to the supply path.
Securing Spending
32% of spending players in mobile games plan to cut back in 2024
Mistplay’s 2024 Mobile Gaming Spender Report reveals that 54% of big spenders make three or more purchases per month
New Partnerships
Tamatem Games relocates HQ to UAE after Abu Dhabi investment
The backing aims to help fuel publisher's growth and strengthen the UAE's overall gaming ecosystem
Massive Savings
Last chance to snag Early Bird tickets for Dubai GameExpo Summit! Don't miss out on major savings before midnight Thursday
Secure your seat, savings and success in Dubai's games industry!
Podcast | Episode 04
Sensor Tower acquires data.ai, Epic Games Store is coming to mobile, and Apple's antitrust woes | 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 04…
Team Tencent
Tencent "focusing on fewer bigger budget games" as it shifts away from IP strategy
Publishing giant moves Assassin's Creed Jade team to DreamStar as part of new focus on internal products and fewer big franchise bets
Revenue Rivals
Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile generates $1.4m in first four days
Shooter launched globally on March 21st after racking up more than 50 million pre-registrations
Milestone
Now.gg hits 100 million users, introduces platform fee of up to 5%
Developers can retain 95% to 100% of their game revenue for a platform fee of 5% for in-game transactions
Clamping Down
EU's DMA bites as it opens non-compliance investigations into Apple and Google
Meta, Google and Amazon also potentially in hot water as EC threatens big fines for rule breakers
This Means War
America Vs Apple: What's at stake and what could happen next?
The US Department of Justice just dropped a legal bomb that strikes at the heart of Apple's core. Could Apple's walled garden finally come tumbling down?
Week That Was
Week in Views - Apple in the dock, big name buyouts and next gen investment
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Job News
SYBO appoints Niklas Orup as new Subway Surfers game director
He's the new boss of the world's most downloaded endless runner having previously worked at King on titles such as Bubble Witch 3 Saga
Milestones
Eggy Party sails past 100 million user-generated maps
60% of players actively create content, fired up by the game's incentive program.
Team Factor
"Brawl Stars was very much on the edge"
Supercell's Frank Keienburg on how the developer deals with edge cases on metrics, and why the team's belief in a game matter
Taking A Bite
US files lawsuit against Apple’s "monopoly power to extract more money from consumers"
It's happened… Apple is accused of driving up prices, withholding information from developers and more
Partnership Power
Marblex partners with CARV to deliver data-driven Web3 experiences
Netmarble’s blockchain company Marblex to be elevated by CARV’s data capabilities
Game Launch
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is out today. Here's everything you need to know
It's the biggest mobile launch of the year with over 50 million sign-ups hitting the battlefield from March 21
Expanding Experiences
Roblox’s $35M Creator Fund to support short-form video content
Roblox’s fund expands on the types of content supported by its programme, now going beyond gaming
Epic Games Store Mobile
Epic Games Store coming to mobile by end of 2024
New marketplace offers 88/12 revenue share, coming to iOS and Android
Investing In Innovation
The Inevitable Games Fund will invest up to $100 million in innovative Web3 games
King River Capital, Immutable, and Polygon Labs join forces to invest in the Web3 sector
Flexion Finances
Flexion revenue climbs 64% as Epic gives the gaming market a "boost of confidence"
Distributing Monopoly GO! to alternative app stores was one among many 2023 wins at Flexion
Monster Metrics
Monster Hunter Now is actually BEATING Pokémon Go in these key metrics…
Monster Hunter Now may have a smaller audience, but that audience is more monetised
Strategic Partnerships
GameAnalytics and Xsolla team up to simplify direct-to-consumer game sales
GameAnalytics founder Morten E. Wulff says, "Together, we're setting a new standard for game monetization."
Jobs News
Mobile Movers: All the latest appointments and job moves from around the industry
Moving and shaking - there's new roles at Supercell, Keywords Studios, Microsoft, Griffin Gaming Partners, AdInMo and The Games Fund
This Means War
Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile ready for battle with 50 million players on board
The latest CoD is ready to drop on March 21 with a record-breaking number of pre-registrations set to make it the biggest mobile launch of the year
Gaming Trends
Could jobs platform LinkedIn be on the brink of getting into games?
LinkedIn is rumoured to be developing on-platform gaming experiences, drawing inspiration from the puzzle craze that propelled games like Wordle
Gaming Glory
Hybridcasual generates 800% more revenue per user than hypercasual
Adjust and AppLovin’s The Gaming App Insights Report highlights hybridcasual’s impressive year after analysis of the top 5,000 gaming apps
Safety & Integrity
Keywords, Active Fence, Take This, and Modulate create Gaming Safety Coalition
Bolstering the safety and integrity of online video game communities.
Dont Miss Dubai
10 reasons to attend gaming's can't-miss networking event in Dubai
From indie showcases to investor meetings, don't miss these unmatched chances to elevate your game
Tax Free
Turkish game studios don’t pay tax as government supports burgeoning industry
Games from Turkiye head of advisory board Tugbek Olek outlines Turkey's tax incentives to support its growing games industry at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco
Organic Opportunities
SuperScale's ebook serves organic growth tips, making mobile games more sustainable
Longevity is a rarity in the mobile gaming space with 83% of games not making it to their three year anniversary
Ai Law
Copyright doesn’t exist for generative AI-created content in the US but it remains the "Wild West"
Lee & Hayes attorney Ethan Vodde discusses where things stand for copyright and why court cases are needed to develop the law
Pgc San Francisco
Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco kicks off two day conference featuring Scopely, Netflix, King, Wizards of the Coast and more!
Conference takes place from March 18th to 19th