Yahoo Game Plus
Yahoo Japan launches HTML5 and cloud-based browser games platform Game Plus
52 companies already signed up to provide titles for the platform
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
Blasting Off
Hypernova Interactive raises seed funding from first-time games investor Kae Investments
Two-man developer has released two games so far
Crash-tastic
Not Doppler's Crash of Cars smashes 10 million downloads four months after launch
Over 750 battles have taken place
Switch Online
Nintendo launches Switch Online companion app for voice chat and organising online matches
Free to use until the full online services kick in
Look Ma I'm On Tv
Vainglory to make TV debut on Disney XD as part of new series ESL Brawlers
One episode dedicated to Super Evil's MOBA airing as part of D|XP
Apple China Jobs
Apple promotes VP of Wireless Technologies Isabel Ge Mahe to VP and MD of Greater China
Leading China-based teams and improving co-ordination in the country
Ubisoft Financials Q1 Fy18
Ubisoft scores $233 million in sales with 80% of its total revenues generated from digital products
11% of total sales came from mobile and ancillaries
Rising Costs
Mobile game development costs in Japan have risen as high as $9 million per game
Serkan Toto looks into the rising cost of making a game
To The Moomin
Moomin-focused mobile developer Snowfall promotes COO Natasha Trygg to CEO
Former CEO Petri Elovaara will stick around as a board member and advisor
Zooming To Emea
Mobile performance firm PacketZoom pushes into EMEA with new General Manager hire
Amos Ben Yaacov joins from bob to oversee operations
From Partner To Owner
Taptica cements position in Japan by acquiring marketing firm Adinnovation
Partnership leads to complete acquisition
Leaps And Bounds
Motion tracking developer Leap Motion secures $50 million series C funding round
Pushing into Asia and broadening the scope of its product
One For All
Zynga apologises to CSR Racing 2 players over setting random prices for the same car
Some players paid up to $34.99, while others scored the car for $4.99
Most Read
Amazon buys GameSparks, King doubles down on midcore, and Riot sues Moonton
The hottest articles of the week
Mobile Is King
Mobile games revenues surpassed PC and console revenues in 2016 for the first time
DFC Intelligence tells us more
Force Field Funding
Term1nal developer Force Field raises $1.14 million to finish its next six games
Working on "high-end location based VR"
Ar Next
Next Games pushes into AR and location-based games with Lume Games acquisition
Also sees revenues up 52% to $22.6 million
Apple China Data Centre
Apple to build first data centre in China to comply with stricter data storage laws
Partners with Guizhou-Cloud Big Data on new centre
Country Head
Gameloft hires former Arena Azure Head of AV as new Country Manager for UK and Ireland
John-Paul Burke to grow the company in the region and lead Gameloft Advertising Solutions team
Dreams To Reality
VR developer NDreams secures $3.5 million investment in second stage of funding round
Mercia Technologies continues to pour money into the studio
Games In Leeds
GamesLab Leeds grants $200,000 to nine Yorkshire devs in latest round of funding
40 jobs created or safeguarded by funding
Tasty
Candy Crush TV show has sweet premiere with 4.1 million viewers
Scores a 1.1 Nielsen rating, whatever that means
Time To Experiment
Experimental games company Velan Studios secures $7 million series A funding round
Round led by Velan Ventures
Pokemon Galore
Pokemon GO players in Japan spent an average of $26 on IAPs in the game's first year
Sensor Tower ranks the top spenders in Niantic's megahit
Epic Accelerator
Epic Games chosen to take part in Disney's 2017 accelerator program
One of 11 companies taking part
Battle Of Legends
Riot Games sues Mobile Legends developer Shanghai Moonton Technology for copyright infringement
Mobile MOBA developer alleged to have ripped design and art from League of Legends
V-art
Ex-ARM and Guerrilla Cambridge staff launch mobile-focused VR studio Virtual Arts
Using triple-A knowledge to develop mobile VR experiences
We Are Family
Jagex and Riot Games join Ukie's ever-growing network of developers
Jagex cementing relationship, Riot Games leading eSports
Women In Games
Anita Sarkeesian and Brie Code to keynote European Women in Games Conference on September 5th-6th
Over 40 speakers and panellists across the conference's two days
From The Sky
Cloud-based PC game streaming service LiquidSky launches service on Android
Play your PC games on your Android phone or tablet - for a price
Unity 2017
Unity 2017.1 launches with Timeline, Cinemachine, improved analytics, and more
New year-based numbering system finally in effect
Developing A Legend
"We have a plan, and we're sticking to the plan": Nordeus on the continuing development of Spellsouls
The Spellsouls team discuss how development is progressing six months after soft-launching
Spoils Of War
Summoners War hits lifetime revenues of $890 million as it surpasses 80 million downloads
Currently a top five grossing game in the US and Canada
King In Space
King doubles down on midcore with soft-launched space-based Stellar: Galaxy Commander
Mixes match-3 and turn-based strategy
Most Read
Supercell gives $280,000 to Aalto University, Peter Lovell returns to Jagex, and David Perry joins GoVyrl
The hottest articles of the week
Gree Melbourne Shuttered
GREE shuts down Melbourne studio less than two years after it was first opened
Around 50 jobs lost, with more redundancies in Berlin and San Francisco
Promoting Diversity
"As soon as you call it out, people become more aware of it": Wooga on promoting diversity in games
Head of Communications Maike Steinweller discusses the initiatives Wooga is working on to get more women into games
Champions And Revolutions
Netmarble scores top five grossing ranks in 77 countries with just two games
Marvel Contest of Champions and Lineage 2 Revolution take over the world
Unity For Everyone
"People have been using Unity for non-gaming things for years"
Product Manager Mike Wuetherick talks Timeline, Cinemachine and opening Unity to everyone
Running On
Super Mario Run surpasses 150 million downloads seven months after launch
Fire Emblem Heroes has less than a tenth of the downloads but generates more revenue
Unite Europe 2017 Lessons
Five things we learned at Unite Europe 2017
From a bigger focus on mobile to a push away from games altogether
View The Future
View-to-play pioneer Futureplay Games looking beyond clickers to match-3 and more
Soft-launching two new games soon
Get Into Sea
CloudMoolah offers up its top tips for publishing your mobile game in Southeast Asia
COO Jonathon Sze talks publishing, partners, and payments
Uk Mobile Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Ketchapp's The Floor Is Lava knocks Floor Is Lava Challenge off the top spot
Rankings from June 12th to 18th June
Mobile Games Revenues 2020
Global mobile game revenues expected to hit $64.9 billion in 2020
Newzoo and AppLift partner to share the details
Closing Shop
Scopely pulls Breaking Bad: Empire Business from app stores after 19 months in soft-launch
Looks like no one will be knocking
Potential Legend
King takes another stab at midcore RPGs with soft-launched Legend of Solgard
Will this one survive the soft-launch?
Most Read
Glu partners with WWE, deconstructing Clash of Clans' Builder Base update, and analysing those Candy Crush sequels
The hottest articles of the week
Pokemon Gone
Pokemon GO dropped out of the worldwide top 10 grossing ranks for the first time in May 2017
SuperData Research breaks out its worldwide report yet again
Shining Star
Brawl Stars tops Canada's iOS download chart and is already a top 10 grossing app in its first week
Can it maintain its position? Does Supercell even care?