Plaice No More
Fishlabs is laying off around 50 employees as Embracer Group restructure continues
The German games developer was bought out by Embracer subsidiary Plaion 10 years ago
Job Losses
Unity lays off 265 as it restructures its deal with digital effects creator Weta
Unity's upheavals continue with a "company reset" on their existing deal with Weta, resulting in the loss of key digital effects talent
Roviocon 23
Sega teases the 'Segaverse' with Rovio acquisition central to its transmedia strategy
Rovio already working on Sonic and Yakuza games and Angry Birds coming to PC/console?
Gamescom Latam
First-ever Gamescom LATAM heads to Brazil in 2024 after merger with BIG Festival
Gamescom LATAM will head to Sao Paulo on June 26th to 30th
Venerable Ventures
Laton Ventures is a new venture capital firm investing in early-stage game makers
Founding partner Görkem Türk has started the firm after more than six years at Google
Taxation Explained
TIGA explains the state of VGEC after UK government’s Autumn Statement
Amendments to draft rules mean companies will be required to disclose connected party transactions when claiming tax relief
Platform Power
KEK Entertainment raises $8M in seed round to build "platform-agnostic IP"
The round was led by Korea Investment Partners with participation from Woori Technology Investment Co, Kona Venture Partners and others
Special Spectacular
Half a million raised for disabled gamers during SpecialEffect’s One Special Day 2023
The annual fundraiser seeks to support gamers with physical challenges via personalised controllers and more
Ten Square Turnaround
Ten Square Games sees record quarterly growth with Hunting Clash MAU up 82%
After a difficult start to the year, performance is looking back on track at Ten Square Games
Indian Insight
Are core games the road to success? 49% yearly revenue growth projected in India until 2028
Lumikai and Google’s new report projects a $7.5 billion valuation for Indian gaming by 2028
1999 Reasons To Play
Bluepoch’s debut time travel game Reverse: 1999 reaches $15 million
The latest Chinese gacha game is coming out of stealth with impressive early figures
Nft Now
NFTs incoming: Matr1x doubles funding to $20M ahead of its debut Web3 mobile launch
Matr1x Fire is an upcoming NFT shooter on mobile, bolstered by new $10 million funding round
Not So Monkey Dory
One Piece: Thousand Storm is the latest Japanese mobile game reaching end of service
Bandai Namco and DeNA first released the IP adaptation in 2016
Tactical Turnaround
ByteDance to pull back from games and pull the plug on Nuverse plans
ByteDance is now looking to divest from its existing titles and halt production of new Nuverse games
Heads Up
Thunderful explores sale of Bridge Constructor publisher Headup Games nearly three years after €11m acquisition
Company plots "more focused strategy" for the business
Growth Potential
MENAP gaming market is poised to grow to $2.8Bn by 2026, but there are challenges ahead
The SHFT Gametech Global Q1 MENAP report underscores the region's opportunities, provided more frictionless payment systems and smart user acquisition strategies prevail
What We're Playing
Mobile Game of the Week: Warhammer 40,000 Warpforge
The legendary Warhammer universe gets its own collectable card battler on mobile
Podcast
My.Games’ Elena Grigorian on smart strategies for surviving an industry downturn | 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…
Cyber Monday Offer
Be part of the future of the games industry with these extended Cyber Monday offers
Unlocking the Future of Games: Cyber Monday Discounts on Tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects London and San Francisco2024 - Grab Your Golden Opportunities Now!
Black Friday Offers
Unlocking the Ultimate Games Experience: Black Friday Deals on Pocket Gamer Connects London and San Francisco!
Increasing Conversions
Adjust and TikTok boast 220% iOS app conversion leap with SKAdNetwork 4
Adjust and TikTok have recorded conversion volumes across 37 apps in the UK, US and Japan
Financial Findings
Huuuge Games’ adjusted net profit rose 80% in the first three quarters of 2023
Q3 2023 was Huuuge’s fifth consecutive quarter of rising YoY EBITDA and they've 'huuuge' hopes for the future
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: "Back in 2012 I lamented the absence of a mobile games-specific conference"
Ex-Frameplay senior director business development Laith Al-Janabi share his favourite PGC memories
"ai'll Be Back"
OpenAI's chaos is over: Sam Altman is back on the throne. So what just happened and what's next?
The former CEO is back in the hotseat and just what is 'Project Q*' anyway?… Welcome to the anything-can-happen all-bets-are-off too-big-to-fail business of artificial intelligence
Crowd Of Clans
Supercell’s Clash of Clans team doubled in size in 2023
Supercell set out at the start of the year to grow its team and clearly, it has succeeded
Predicting Prosperity
China’s gaming rebound is go and on track for $47.8 billion revenue this year
Niko Partners projects a 5.2% YoY rise in gaming revenue
Production Power
Layer AI seed round raises $1.8M to bolster generative game art production
The AI-powered productivity tool sees support from The Games Fund, GFR Fund and others
Debtmarble
Netmarble cuts losses by 90% in Q3 despite revenue decline
Workforce reduction and original IP stem losses, but publisher still has $1.29 billion short-term debts
Ai On Board
Analytics specialist Sensor Tower are producing AI-driven insights reports
The market intelligence company has turned to AI to produce new reports appearing online now
Statistical Significance
Unity’s Supersonic platform launches two big updates enhancing KPI insights
Supersonic updates its A/B testing page and ‘All Games’ page
Tumultuous Times
Almost half of all mobile games are axed in development and 83% don’t last three years
SuperScale’s new report reveals the vast majority of mobile games are shuttered by their third anniversary
Download State Of Play
Xsolla releases first ever State Of Play report, offering insight into the future of mobile games
Mobile services giant's State Of Play report created to be a 'strategic compass' for mobile games businesses, covering development, payments and key trends for 2024
Rebrand
PlayStation’s Savage Game Studios rebrands to Neon Koi
"We've decided to embrace a new identity that better aligns with our vision for the future"
Top 50
Nominations now open for Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2024 awards
BlockchainGamer.biz opens nominations for list, set to be revealed at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024
Signing Up For Supercell
Supercell to hire "first ever" Brawl Stars producer alongside new staff for Clash Royale and mo.co
Supercell has been expanding its team in recent times and wants to make three more key hires
Studio Shuttering
Supercell-backed studio Papukaya is closing down after three years
The Helsinki-based studio aimed to reach non-gamers with experimental titles
User Acquisition
Unity partners with Roku to bring user acquisition campaigns to the big screen
Connected TV viewers can now download apps direct to their mobile from an ad placed by Unity
Profit Power
NetEase profits up 23.4% as Justice and Racing Master drive strong Q3
Q3 financials reveal 11.6% revenue increase with over 80% from games and related services
Tiga Awards
Trailmix and Ustwo the big mobile winners at TIGA Awards 2023
Love & Pies wins Best Puzzle Game and Desta: The Memories Between picks up Diversity Award
Revenue Rumble
Warcraft Rumble scores nearly $14 million in first two weeks
Blizzard's latest mobile title averaging $1 million per day following global release
Planning Ahead
Early Bird tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects London end midnight tonight!
Score massive savings when you book your ticket to PGC London 2024 this January 22 - 23. But don't delay!
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: How a PGC talk "laid the groundwork" for an instrumental partnership deal for Imperia Online JSC
Below, Imperia Online JSC chief business development officer and chief marketing officer Mariela Tzvetanova shares her favourite PGC memories
Unity Runtime Fee
Unity CEO Jim Whitehurst tackles the Runtime Fee farrago one last time
Taking the stage at their Unity Unite event in Amsterdam, he didn’t have to go there… But he did
Super Hires
Supercell expands leadership team with first CMO and new head of live games
Former Mojang head of games Sara Bach and ex-King CMO Fernanda Romano recruited in senior roles
Buyout
Annapurna to acquire previous partner 24 Bit Games
Building on their long-standing partnership, the South African Studio will become a "key development asset" for Annapurna
Mobile On Web
Pley partners with Tilting Point to bring mobile games to the web
Tilting Points mobile games go cross-platform to browsers with no downloads, installs, or paywalls
Aquisitions
Nordcurrent acquires River End Games "broadening its vision beyond mobile games"
The River End team were founded in 2020 with support from Amplifier Game Invest, part of the Embracer Group
Promote Your Brand
Why your company can't afford to miss Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024
Discover all the ways to make your company stand out at the biggest industry event in the UK
Podcast
Embrace’s Eric Futoran on turning user experience into tech that solves problems | 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…
Pioneering Peridot
Niantic bringing generative AI to Peridot for "surprising" AR encounters
Peridot taking augmented reality to a new level with AI pets reacting to the real world