Job Cuts
Sony Interactive Entertainment axes 900 staff across the globe
Around 8% of PlayStation's global gaming staff will be laid off, with only the UK studios affected being named so far
Partnership Pathway
Smartphones to come pre-installed with Web3 game in Mystic Games and Jambo partnership
New JamboPhones launched in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America will come with Call of the VoYd pre-installed
Star Speaker
Wizards of the Coast’s Eugene Evans to discuss the key pillars of making a great game with IP at PGC San Francisco
Evans to host session 'Expanding Brands Through Mobile: 3 Things to Know When Licensing for a Mobile App'
Project Packup
Die Gute Fabrik enters indefinite hiatus as funding dries up
The studio’s co-founder Nils Deneken will return as CEO if funding is found to complete they're current project
Empowering Players
Ex-Homa staff raise $1.5 million for UGC platform PlayMakers
Start-up aims to make suite of tools available to any developers looking to add user-generated content to their games
Financials
Unity shares fall 18% despite revenue growth to $2.2 billion in 2023
Cost-cutting measures bite as company closes offices and pulls back from Professional Services and hardware units
Festival Fundraising
ESA’s winter charity speedrun raises $85,000 for Make-A-Wish International
Fundraising records were broken by a Sonic the Hedgehog game
Installs For India
Ludo King surpasses 1 billion Play Store downloads in meteoric moment for Indian games industry
Ludo King is the first Indian mobile game to surpass the one billion install figure
Educational Games
Rovio launches two new educational Angry Birds games to make learning fun
Angry Birds Eggstraction and Angry Birds and the Multiplication Portal keep the series moving forwards
Generative Gen 3
"The future of generative AI is hybrid": Qualcomm brings on-device AI to next-gen mobiles
Qualcomm unveiled its latest tech at Mobile World Congress Barcelona, including the FastConnect 7900 mobile connectivity system
Jobs Cuts
EA lays off staff after sunsetting MLB Tap Sports and F1 Mobile Racing
“Unfortunately, the game was unable to meet our performance expectations".
Star Speaker
Gamefam CEO Joe Ferencz to share UGC insights for Roblox and other platforms at PGC San Francisco
Ferencz will take part in the session 'The UGC Gaming Takeover: Where are Roblox & Other UGC Platforms Headed?'
Week That Was
Week in Views - Tough talk, turning tides and big players go mobile
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Cross Platform Success
Nitro Games and Digital Extreme's Warframe on mobile is off to a flying start
Three days after release, the iOS only game is approaching 400,000 downloads with an Android version on the way
Eu Excluded
Why has Apple killed Web Apps in Europe?
Once the only way to get your app on iPhone, Steve Jobs "sweet solution" is now officially dead in Europe as Apple gets heavy handed following the EU's digital markets act
Podcast
The PGC Wrap-Up: Webshops, AI, avoiding Apple fees and more! | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode…
Rallying The Troops
“2023 was a shitty year. 2024 will probably be even more shittier": EGDF president Hendrik Lesser talks tough
The European Games Developer Federation's president spells out his thoughts and confidence in a comeback in an open letter
Star Speaker
Netflix’s VP of external games Leanne Loombe to speak at PGC San Francisco
Loombe will be a speaker on our roundtable entitled ‘Walking the Walk: Are Games Companies Actually Championing Inclusivity and Diversity?’
Extreme Expenses
Thunderful lost $59 million in 2023 after Q4 profit fell 574%
Thunderful is laying off approximately 100 staff in the first half of 2024 to cut costs
New Partnerships
Zeptolab's Om Nom Stories lands 25 season deal with Disney+
The collaboration with Disney+ offers Cut the Rope a new audience, bridging the gap between gaming and animated series
Community Growth
Networking event Unwind is now the South Australian Games Association
“Our goal is to grow the South Australian games industry into the largest state games sector in Australia," says SAGA
Job Cuts
Global layoffs at Gameloft as staff in Ukraine and Canada confirm redundancies
At least 38 staff are leaving their Lviv, Ukraine office with as yet unconfirmed numbers departing Toronto, Canada
Excited Spenders
More games are making millions as player spending on 2023 releases soars
The US, UK, China and other markets all show an increased willingness to spend on new releases
Player Power
TreesPlease Games plants one million trees via LongLeaf Valley
The game from ex-Square Enix staff has already led to one million trees being planted in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Hyper Debate
“Hypercasual is definitely not dead”
Embrace CEO Eric Futoran says genre is evolving, but game economist Phillip Black says it’s “like a wounded animal that no one will just go out and shoot”
Invincible Introduction
Ubisoft launches first Invincible mobile game for the 21-year-old franchise
Invincible: Guarding the Globe is set in the Invincible universe with a brand-new story
Claps
From losing a job to millions in revenue: How Clap Clap Games began
“Everything felt like it was going wrong" before “everything spiked”, says CEO
Live From Pgc San Francisco
Championing British gaming excellence at PGC San Francisco's UK Games Showcase!
Get up close with iconic titles, meet emerging talent, network with industry leaders, and experience the future of gaming at our British innovation showcase
Install Increase
ATT consent reached 39% in 2023 as racing games turbo-charged installs
Action games generated the most installs and longest play sessions of 2023, but racing games saw the largest year-on-year install increase
Mena Market
Honor of Kings makes MENA debut ahead of Esports World Cup
The popular MOBA game will make its way to MENA for the first time since its 2015 launch
Data Deluge
Mobile game downloads fell for the first time ever in 2023 to 88 billion
The Indian market downloaded over double the mobile games of any other region, but didn’t make the top 20 for spending
Netflix Gaming
Netflix and Ubisoft announce Rainbow Six SMOL mobile game
The new, officially licenced mobile exclusive offers “a tiny, whimsical take on the Rainbow Six universe."
Profitable Performance
Com2Us escaped the red in 2023 despite "negative seasonality"
Com2Us’ financial report reveals a difficult Q4 but overall successful 2023
Job Cuts
Ex-GTA producer’s studio, Build A Rocket Boy reveals layoffs
The studio headed up by Leslie Benzies with high profile titles on the way is to remove “a number of roles globally"
A Good Year
AppLovin shines in Q4 2023 with stellar financial results
The company's total revenue in 2023 amounted to $3.3 billion, marking a 17% year-over-year increase
Monster Milestone
Monster Hunter Now's half-year anniversary reveals time-limited monetisation tactics
Plus, the Monster Hunter series is 20 years old in March, with plenty of celebratory content on the way
Mena Market
GameCentric secures $1.5 million angel investment to fuel growth in MENA
The gaming platform aims to add more features to extend its footprint beyond the GCC & MENA region
Time To Tour
Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh gives players power over time and space
The annual Pokémon Go Tour has returned for its fourth year, this time focused on Sinnoh
Esa Event
ESA's charity speedrun event is now on, raising money for Make-A-Wish
Raising funds for Make-A-Wish and children with critical illnesses, the ESA’s winter event is taking place this week
Booted From Blizzard
136 jobs cut as Blizzard axes 68% of employees in Ireland
Blizzard’s Cork office employs around 200 people, roughly half of all its employees in the Republic of Ireland
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Midseason Invitational to feature at Esports World Cup
To celebrate the event, Esports World Cup and Honor of Kings will launch an exclusive in-game skin for fans.
Nitro Numbers
Nitro Games sees record Q4 revenue but the year’s net results remain red
Autogun Heroes supported a successful Q4 and pushed Nitro Games to a stronger 2023, but the dev’s not in the green just yet
Apple Vs Europe
Fortnite and Epic Games are coming back to iOS in Europe
Hell has frozen over and the Fortnite developer and publisher is coming back to iOS three years after being frozen out
More Acquisitions
Monumental acquires Coin Dozer publisher Game Circus
“We're happy and excited to partner with Monty and his very talented team at Monumental," said Games Circus CEO Donnie Thompson
Layoff News
Paramount Global lays off Nickelodeon's entire Noggin team
The company is set to lay off 800 employees, approximately 3% of its total workforce
Podcast
The data and trends defining mobile gaming with Karl Knights and Lirui Ding | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play. This week we're joined by experts from data.ai and Transcend Fund
Week That Was
Week in Views - Xbox App Store appetite, Zuck's Vision Pro dis and Japan goes geo-loco!
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Moving On
Global Game Jam's Tim Cullings to step down
Established in 2008, Global Game Jam is the world’s largest game-creation event, held both physically and virtually across the globe
Destination Dubai
After a triumphant debut the Dubai GameExpo Summit returns this May
Join us in Dubai this May 1st and 2nd for the return of The Dubai GameExpo Summit, a B2B games conference experience like no other!
Award Winners
What the Car? wins Mobile Game of the Year at DICE Awards
Apple Arcade racer beats Honkai: Star Rail, Terra Nil, Gubbins and Hello Kitty Island Adventure to accolade