Simogo Goes
Device 6 developer Simogo stepping back from mobile games to focus on console development
Points to issues surrounding perpetually updating games for new hardware
Staff
Ric Cowley
About Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.
Articles by Ric Cowley
Nintendo Switch Sales
Nintendo's Switch clears 10 million units sold nine months after launching
2.37 million units sold in the last three months
Further Research
User testing firm Player Research expands its services with new lab in Montreal
Former Compulsion and Ubisoft user researcher Morgan Kennedy
Pre-orders And Discounts
Apple adds pre-orders and introductory subscription discounts to the App Store
Drum up support for your app or game earlier
Sowing Discord
Gamer messaging app Discord clears 87 million registered users
Now has 14 million DAUs sending 9.5 billion messages a month
Hutch Hires
Top Drives developer Hutch picks up two new staff from Firefly Studios and NaturalMotion
Mark Ffrench and Jason To join as Senior Programmer and QA Embedded Tester respectively
Uk Mobile Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Animal Crossing holds on at the top while Episode shoots up the grossing ranks
Rankings from November 27th to December 3rd
Crazy Ad Experiments
Animoca gets revenue boost for Crazy Kings with AppOnboard's Rewarded Demo zones
Developer trial new playable ad format
Super Evil Razer
Super Evil Megacorp forms strategic partnership with Razer to advance mobile eSports
Razer's going to sponsor a bunch of Vainglory tournaments
Spatialos Goes Mobile
PlayRaven becomes first mobile game developer to use SpatialOS through partnership with Improbable
Project Metro will be the first mobile game using SpatialOS, but there's no info until next year
To The Top
Big Indie Pitch winners Splitter Critters and Hidden Folks named Apple's Games of the Year 2017
Splitter Critters takes the iPhone crown, while Hidden Folks is the best game on iPad
Pole Position
Hutch's CCG Top Drives races past three million downloads in two months
Adds over 80 new Porsches to its ever-growing list of car cards
Stillfront Acquires Goodgame
Stillfront acquires Hamburg-based strategy game developer Goodgame Studios for $318 million
Goodgame's owners now become majority shareholders in Stillfront
Happy Birthday Finland
Rovio, Supercell, RedLynx, and more celebrate Finland's 100th birthday
Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi!
Bridge Constructor Portal
Valve licenses Portal IP to Headup Games for branded Bridge Constructor game
Bridge Constructor Portal is not the game we expected, but exactly the one we deserve
Blockchainization
Spells of Genesis developer EverdreamSoft adds ability to "blockchainize" cards for full ownership
Turn your digital cards into an item that can be sold for real money
Android Market Share
Android's US market share grew 8.2% in October 2017 while iOS faltered
Kantar Worldpanel blames November launch of the iPhone X
The Next Generation
Code.org raises $12 million to provide more computer science education for children
22 million users of its platform, 10 million of which are girls
Search Ads Basic
Apple launches stripped-back pay-per-install Search Ads Basic service in the US
Designed for smaller developers with small budgets
Champion Of Fire
Amazon's 2017 Champions of Fire casual eSports tournament wraps up in New York
Twitch streamer Yassuo wins $10,000
Xiaomi Ipo
Report: Xiaomi exploring a potential IPO in Hong Kong with a $50 billion valuation
Could raise $5 billion to help its expansion in India
Connect The Dots
Dots CEO Paul Murphy to step down at the end of 2017
COO Patrick Moberg to take over
Turn To Ad 67
IronSource launches choose your own adventure-style "4D" interactive ads
Make ads even more personalised
Mtg Investment
Modern Times Group launches $30 million investment fund for eSports and online gaming
Looking for minority investments in US and European companies
Bad To The Bone
Badland developer Frogmind pushes into free-to-play with soft-launched brawler Badland Brawl
Slingshots and brawling in the Badland universe
Ingress Prime Time
Niantic to reboot its first location-based game Ingress with major update and anime series in 2018
Ingress Prime introduces a new narrative and some serious redesign
Ubisoft Station F
Ubisoft looking for mobile AR and blockchain start-ups for second season of its Station F program
Working with developers to build new tech for the future
Clash Royale World Champion
16-year-old Clash Royale player Sergioramos:) wins first place and $150,000 at Crown Championship World Finals
$400,000 in prizes given out across the competition
Roll The Dice
NHN Entertainment partners with Sony Pictures on soft-launched Jumanji mobile game tie-in
Jumanji: The Mobile Game due to launch on December 14th
Most Read
Mobile Games Awards 2018 finalists, what's happening at MZ, and two PUBG games are coming to mobile
The hottest articles of last week
Top Mario
Super Mario Run was the most downloaded new game on Google Play in 2017
Bubble Witch 3 Saga takes second, some dispute over the final three
Skidstorm Sale
Finnish dev Immobile sells Early Access game SkidStorm to Cheetah Mobile after pirated version goes viral in China
Publishing deal turns into an offer too good to turn down
Top Grossers October 2017
Honor of Kings topped the worldwide top grossing mobile charts again in October 2017
Fantasy Westward Journey falls back to second place
Pikachu On The Case
Detective Pikachu movie reportedly signs up Kathryn Newton as female lead
Wait... they're still making the Detective Pikachu movie?
Two New Battlegrounds
Tencent reveals two new mobile games based on PC hit PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
One traditional, one a little more action-focused
(red) Candy
King partners with AIDS charity (RED) on three charity IAPs across the Candy Crush franchise
Help fight AIDS and crush some candies while you're at it
Go Money
Pokemon GO generates $16 million in tourism revenue for Japan's Tottori Prefecture in three days
89,000 people arrive in the region's sand dunes to catch Pokemon
Hit For Six
JetSynthesys secures 700,000 pre-registrations for upcoming cricket game Sachin Saga Cricket Champions
Indian developer believes it will be the first ever to hit one million pre-registrations
Stealing Christmas
Jam City brings Dr Seuss' The Grinch to mobile for the first time in Panda Pop
Partnership with Dr Seuss Enterprises adds a heap of new content
War Child Armistice 2017
War Child adds 11 mobile games to its next Armistice fundraising campaign
Dawn of Titans, Total War Battles: Kingdom, and more to donate their revenue
Hatch-y Birthday
Hatch celebrates first anniversary by rolling out to five new countries
Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands can now start streaming games
Line 'em Up
CoolGames brings classic puzzle game Tetris to Facebook's Instant Games platform
All part of its AAA Instant Games strategy
Newzoo Estimates
Global games market now expected to grow to $116 billion in 2017
Newzoo adjusts its expectations to account for popular trends in games
Good Game, Goodgame
Goodgame Studios surpasses $1 billion in lifetime revenues in eight years
Now has over 340 million registered players
Autodesk Job Cuts
Autodesk cuts 1,150 jobs amid restructuring to focus on digital products and subscriptions
Around 13% of its workforce made redundant
The Return Of Moshi Monsters
"Who would invest money in a company that's failing?": How Mind Candy plans to build itself back up
CEO Ian Chambers talks developing new products and bringing back Moshi Monsters
Cookie Cutters
Jam City launches YouTube influencer campaign for Cookie Jam in time for National Cookie Day
iJustine and Jenna Ezarik face-off to make the best cookies
Camp Stats
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp clears an estimated 15 million downloads six days after launch
Sensor Tower says it's double Fire Emblem Heroes but half of Super Mario Run
Mag Ipo
MAG Interactive to begin public trading on December 8th
IPO begins today
Big Indie Pitches
The Big Indie Pitch is heading to Dundee and Colchester
Last chances for developers to get their games in front of mobile gaming experts in 2017