Acquisition
Pole to Win’s SIDE acquires Star Trek: Fleet Command audio studio Vibe Avenue
PTW is a significant force in game localisation and other areas
Marketing And Demographics
78% of gamers play on mobile, with 44% considering it their primary device
Tinuiti examines the primary motivations of gamers, and how brands can appeal to them
Award
Matchingham Games wins Rising Star award at the Google App Summit in Dublin
The award is an endorsement of Matchingham’s rapid rise over the past few years
Analytics
Monopoly Go developer Scopely estimated to surpass $7bn in lifetime user spend
The Monopoly Go developer has earned big bucks from their portfolio
Saved From Stress
Almost half of all gamers find a good friend or spouse through gaming
The majority of gamers use games to de-stress and improve skills along the way
Acquisition
Metacore to acquire Merge Mansion and Clash of Clans animators studio Piñata
The animation studio is Metacore’s first acquisition and will serve to bolster their creative abilities
China
Swedish-based Flamebait Games sees pay-to-play mobile title Passepartout receive 100k downloads in China
The ISBN licence for the game apparently took almost four years
Milestones
NoxGames’ Hexapolis hits one-million downloads milestone
The turn-based civ-like is an example of a smaller studio finding success even at a turbulent time for games
Acquiblizz
Bobby Kotick out at Activision Blizzard
The company's CEO has confirmed he will continue his role until the end of 2023 after which time he'll be handing over to Microsoft management
It's Over
It's official. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is now complete
The "legendary teams" at Activision Blizzard and King are now part of Team Xbox
Opportunities For Indies
PG Connects Jordan 2023 is a MUST for Indies! Here's why...
Get an exclusive look at the unmissable opportunities for indie talent at PG Connects Jordan
Mission Accomplished
Done deal: Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal approved by UK regulators
Video game's biggest deal ever just got approved with Activision Blizzard becoming part of Microsoft for $68.7 billion
Round-up Report
New releases, new modes, and new events: Here's what's new in mobile gaming
A new GameRefinery report analyses the gaming market to identify September's top performers
New Announcements
EA announces turn-based football game for mobile, EA Sports FC Tactical
Not an extension or update to EA Sports FC but a whole new strategy football game exclusively on mobile
Rebrands
Game Taco renames itself to WorldWinner after acquisition of trademark
The original WorldWinner was acquired in 2021 by Game Taco
Redundancies
Team17 cuts are so deep that devs are concerned whether company can still function
A third of the company’s workforce may now be axed
Acquisitions
Xsolla acquires Lightstream, Rainmaker and API.stream in big third-party assets round-up
The three assets were all acquired from previous owner Videndum
Industry Investigations
India arrests Vivo smartphone executives in latest China retaliation
Vivo has previously come under investigation in a money laundering probe
African Advancement
Sony Ventures to invest $10M via new fund for African startups
Fintech may be Africa’s biggest funding category, but Sony’s focus is on entertainment
Welcome To Mo.co
Supercell has announced its latest game. Take "a leap into the unknown" in mo.co
The new monster-hunting game will enter beta testing in the USA in late October
New Releases
Developer Jadu to launch “first ever” AR mobile fighting game
The alternative reality title features collaborations with famous names such as Michael Bay
Halloween Activations
Zynga kickstarts Halloween early with in-game events across 17 titles
The company is running its biggest ever campaign of activations to celebrate the season
Closures
Alien: Isolation spin-off mobile game Alien: Blackout to be shuttered, joining raft of closures this year
The loss of titles that have been closed down during 2023 continues to grow
Battle Of Behemoths
Monster Hunter Now is Niantic’s second biggest game with $31.44 million in one month
Niantic and Capcom’s latest project is a roaring success by every metric
Runtime Rumour
AppLovin may make a second attempt at buying Unity, rumours suggest
Unity’s Runtime Fee backlash has led to a 40% drop in shares
Parental Perception
UK kids are most likely to make in-game purchases, but only 4% spend on loot boxes
Ipsos’ latest report for Video Games Europe finds in-game spending among children is highest in the UK
Disney Acquisition
Disney CEO Bob Iger is considering the acquisition of a major publisher
Disney is one of the world’s best known entertainment brands, may be on the brink of a major gaming acquisition
Statistics
Stumble Guys & Monopoly Go struggle in Latin America as report reveals the region's top games
Global chart toppers struggle to cut through in Latin America
10 Years Of Pgc
PG Connects celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2024
Join us in London and share your own PG Stories from a decade of games industry connecting
Xsolla Payments
Xsolla unveils its new payment system Headless Checkout
The company are further enhancing their popular Xsolla Pay Station service giving devs the ability to build customisable, branded purchasing experiences for their players
Green Gaming
Tencent, Apple, Ubisoft, and Nintendo lead the industry in carbon emission reduction
The games industry is slowly going green, but still emitted 81 million tonnes of greenhouse gases last year
Mobile-to-pc
Supercell to bring Clash of Clans and Clash Royale to PC for the first time
Supercell’s flagship title and spin-off will be available via Google Play Games
Gaming In Korea
RPGs account for 60% of Korea’s mobile game sales
MMORPG's proved particularly successful, while squad-based RPGs showed strong growth
Unity Runtime Fee
Unity's Runtime Fee Farrago: The whole story in one place
From start to finish. Want to know why the games industry got so blazing mad at one of its most popular development platforms and why its CEO just got offed? Look no further…
September Success
China’s top publishers generated $1.96 billion this September
39 out of 100 top publishers were based in China last month
Two Tactics
Too big for your rules? miHoYo tried to dodge Apple App Store fees twice in one month
Apple has scuppered miHoYo’s fee aversion tactics twice - removing apps and disabling features
Regulation
Apple and Google could be on the hook for $50.5 million fine in Korea
The KCC has sought remediation after accusing the two companies of anti-competitive practices on mobile
Expansion
Metacore opens first overseas office in Berlin as Merge Mansion hits 50m downloads
The developer has expanded rapidly over the past few years thanks to the success of their breakout merge hit
Time Runs Out
Unity CEO John Riccitiello exits after runtime fee backlash
Former IBM president James M. Whitehurst has been appointed as interim CEO, president, and board member
Generative Ai
Generative AI deals fell to 101 deals in 2023’s third quarter
The amount represents a 29% decline from 142 in the second quarter
Cloud Competition
Amazon and Microsoft cloud services to face CMA competition probe
The competition and markets authority will investigate the tech giants to ensure fair play
Collaborations
Subway Surfers collaborate with Universal Pictures for Back to the Future crossover
The classic film will be the first multimedia collaboration that Subway Surfers has introduced
Job News
Homa appoints Emma Egan-Lawless as head of user acquisition
Egan-Lawless previously held the role of growth director at AppLovin
Statistics
Konami is the king of mobile sports games in Japan - and worldwide
While best known for its big name gaming franchises, Konami's sporting portfolio on mobile is certainly no slouch
Stocks
Embracer Group dropped from top stocks list by S&P
The lack of faith in the group exhibited by their exclusion is a further blow to the embattled company
Acquiblizz
Microsoft hopes to close its Activision Blizzard deal as early as October 13
The long-running saga may finally be coming to a close
Hypercasual Report
3.5 billion hypercasual games installed in 2023's third quarter
The figure represents an 8% quarter on quarter decrease
Job Cuts
Telltale layoffs in progress at resurrected company
Redundancies are being made at The Walking Dead creator, but numbers are still unclear
Warzone Mobile
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile delayed once again
Activision Blizzard have confirmed a Spring 2024 release date at their Call of Duty Next event
One Special Day
The games industry unites with SpecialEffect for One Special Day today!
The flagship fundraising campaign seeks to help disabled gamers