Rising hardware prices, meaningful inclusion and Pokémon Champions’ early success | Week in Views
The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can't let go of…
So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we've created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.
Craig Chapple
Apple raises MacBook and iPad prices as AI-driven memory costs climb
The soaring memory and storage costs have become a full-blown crisis for businesses and consumers.
It’s impacting the mobile and games markets. Apple just raised the price of the iPad Air with 128GB of storage from $599 to $749. The iPhone has been spared - but for how long? And how much will future phones cost?
Meanwhile, hot off reducing the subscription price of Game Pass because it was deemed too expensive, Xbox has increased console costs for consumers. A 512GB model will not cost $100 more, while 1TB systems will be priced at $150 more. The 2TB console will no longer be available.
That comes after previous price increases. The hardware is now more expensive than when it launched back in 2020.
Incredibly, it’s all a problem of big tech’s own making. The AI boom they’ve invested so much in is now pushing up the price of new hardware, potentially out of reach for the consumers they want to sell their AI tech to.
Could this eventually result in a greater push by these firms into cloud tech? It’s never caught on for console gaming - and don’t forget the price of those triple-A have risen this generation, too. At this point, I’m skeptical it ever will.
And for mobile, it’s surely going to be tougher to sell new innovations on new hardware as smartphone prices rise. Mobile devices have become an essential piece of tech to own - but surely there is a breaking point at the high-end.
It’s all become a complicated mess for companies chasing the promised riches of the AI revolution, without yet finding a profitable business model. No matter the consequences (good or bad) big tech is all in. Potentially now even at the expense of profitable parts of their businesses.
P.S. I bought 32GB of DDR4 RAM (it was cheaper than DDR5) for £100 in August 2025. It has since risen to £300, before falling to £200, and it’s now back up to £230.
Paige Cook
Inside Zynga’s Play With Pride initiative and its evolving approach to representation
This week, we interviewed Chris Garlington about Zynga's Play With Pride initiative, and I want to discuss something we touched on. Making inclusion part of the broader scope for everyone involved, not just a special event in June.
According to Zynga, development teams are now proactively approaching its zPride group ahead of Pride Month celebrations to discuss representation and inclusion ideas, while many LGBTQ+ characters and themes introduced through previous campaigns remain in games long after Pride Month ends.
I think that's an important distinction. It's easy for companies to support a cause for a month, but building it into company culture and wider development processes is a different thing entirely.
As someone who is part of the LGBTQ+ community myself, it can be frustrating when you hear people ask why Pride is still necessary or why representation matters. The answer is fairly simple. Somewhere, someone still doesn't feel comfortable being who they are or openly expressing that part of themselves.
Representation in games and wider media can seem like a small thing to people who aren't looking for it, but it can have a real impact. Seeing a character who reflects part of your own experience can make you feel seen in a way that's difficult to explain unless you've lived it yourself.
That's why I will always support greater inclusion in games, but what's equally important is what happens behind the scenes and supporting the real people who make these characters.
When companies create environments where different voices feel welcome and supported, that ultimately helps shape better games and stronger communities.
Aaron Astle
Pokémon Champions makes $3.5 million in first week on mobile
Pokémon Champions has earned more than I expected in its first week on mobile, picking up roughly $3.5 million by AppMagic estimates. A dominant 75% of that has come from iOS, with Android contributions yet to break $1m alone.
Considering Champions’ monetisation model, more about creating a regular spending habit than quick purchases for in-game resources, I’m curious to see how much this title makes over time - whether it quietly rakes in millions every month or if we’ve already seen its peak.
Because players can’t outright buy resources, items or rankings, spending really falls into a few main categories. First, newcomers can spend on a one-time Starter Pack to expand their storage by 50 slots, allowing room to bring in more of their favourite Pokémon.
Secondly, they might spend on a monthly membership, expanding that storage by 1,000 for as long as they’re subscribed. This model also offers exclusive missions, battle music and more.
Thirdly, there’s the Premium Battle Pass, running alongside each season of competition with bonus rewards for playing and winning battles. Free-to-play battlers can unlock certain rewards in the free tier, whilst seeing those premium rewards they could claim if they paid.
With this in mind, I suspect Champions will begin to decline in revenue in the coming weeks - until a new month and season inspire retained players to spend again. Alternatively, a successful UA campaign could see a sudden spike along the way, but either way, this is clearly a game built more around committed purchases than frequent dopamine hits.
And, it’s a model that’s doing just fine so far. The allure of entering traditional turn-based Pokémon battles from your phone really is just that strong.
As for myself, I’ve built a new team for the season and swapped from fire to water. There is something to be said for a game with so much connectivity, allowing me to bring my Shiny Swampert from Z-A, a Blastoise from Go and Basculegion from Legends: Arceus together. Suddenly, these Pokémon from different worlds and times have assembled as one team, taking down the competition and racing up to Master Ball Rank.
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