Touch Of Love
Game-focused messenger app Plato launches public beta following $3 million seed round
Play pool with your friends within the app
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
Super Mario Runaway
Super Mario Run officially hits 40 million downloads
No word on sales
Riccitiello On Vr
Unity CEO John Riccitiello holds firm on belief that VR won't be mainstream until 2020
Also reveals himself as a BLT lover
The Lives Of Devs
Finnish game developers reveal their daily lives in new YouTube series Devs
Fingersoft, Kiemura already confirmed
Imploding
Kabam looking to sell off the rest of its studios following Netmarble sale
Including Los Angeles, Beijing, and San Francisco studios
Why Finland?
Can Finland still be a powerful force in the mobile games market?
Oscar Clark leads a panel to find out
China Esports
China's mobile eSports industry expected to generate $2.6 billion in revenue in 2016
Three times more than 2015
Running Nicely
Super Mario Run generates $14 million during its first three days of launch
Yet more numbers run in
Slow To Switch
Nintendo Switch uses last-gen Nvidia tech and will run 60% slower when undocked
But when has Nintendo ever had the best performance?
Keep Dreaming
Halfbrick Studios terminates China distribution agreement with iDreamSky
Looking for a partner with "greater transparency"
Apple In India
Apple in talks with India's government to begin manufacturing in the country
Looking to emulate China model
Most Anticipated 2016
Our Most Anticipated games of 2016 - Where are they now?
A look back at the year that could have been
It's A Hit
Seriously's Petri Järvilehto on what happens after you launch a hit game
Can you handle success?
Ad Revenue Attribution
AppsFlyer launches Ad Revenue Attribution service to track all revenue sources in one place
See how much ad revenue you're actually making
Super Mario Predictions
SuperData predicts $60 million in revenue for Super Mario Run
Only time will tell
Super Mario Fall
Nintendo shares fall 5% following Super Mario Run launch
Still better than pre-Pokemon GO days
Runaway Success
Super Mario Run tops download charts in 49 countries and the top grossing rankings in eight
Sees success in US and UK
A Royal Victory
Royal Revolt 2 saw 28% better D30 retention thanks to TROPHiT partnership
Incentivised campaigns does wonders for flaregames
Crying Out
Former Crytek employee launches crowdfunding campaign to sue developer for unpaid wages
Claims no one has been paid for two months
Pokemon Sit
Pokemon GO players walk more than non-players but only for the first six weeks after downloading it
Says a study from the British Medical Journal
Watch This
VR eSports streaming platform Boom.tv raises $3.5 million in seed funding
Bringing VR eSports streaming to all headsets
Unleash The Beast
EA's exclusivity with Porsche runs out at the end of 2016
Other developers able to license Porsche for their games
Pretty Little Partner
Episode partners with Warner Horizon Television for new Pretty Little Liars story
Another big hitter for the narrative platform
Should I?
The questions all indies should ask themselves when deciding to work with a publisher
Twelve Squared Consulting's Jeremy Gross gives his insight
No Watching
China's government bans the streaming of unapproved games
Another nail in the coffin for China's indies
Drifting Along
VR eSports developer Drifter Entertainment closes $2.25 million seed funding round
Funding led by Signia Venture Partners
Oculus Shuffle
Oculus CEO Brendan Iribie steps down to head up new PC VR division
Jon Thomason taking lead on new mobile VR division
New Year New Unity
Unity 5.6 to be the last in the development cycle as the game engine moves onto Unity 2017
Due to launch in March 2017
Trailer Clash
Clash of Clans' VR short was the third-most viewed game trailer on YouTube in 2016 with 37 million views
Clash of Kings sneaks into the list too
Ok Google
Slither.io beats Agar.io to be the most Googled game of 2016
Top two games both mobile/browser
Money For Something
All Caps on the lessons learned from working with a games publisher
CMO Christian Hansen recounts the dark past
Late Night Switch
Nintendo Switch launch date and price to be revealed on January 12th at 8pm PT/11pm ET
4am GMT for poor UK-based news editors
Big Valiant
Big Viking partners with indie comic publisher Valiant Entertainment on five-year HTML5 game deal
Shadowman making a comeback
Go To India
Pokemon GO to officially launch in India following Niantic partnership with Reliance Jio
No data charges on the game until the end of March
Tapping Up Line
Tapjoy partners with LINE to bring rewarded Interplay ads to 220 million chat app users
Earn stickers by playing ads
Final Clash
Clash Royale's inaugral North American championship finishes with the Crown Duel on December 17th
$15,000 and a trip to Helsinki up for grabs
Pokemon Going
Pokemon GO adds first new batch of pokemon five months after launching
Also gives Pikachu a Santa hat
It's About Time
Google acquires smartwatch platform developer founded by ex-Google staff Cronologics
Bringing them home
Bigger Bang
Traplight Games on turning Big Bang Racing into a user-generated content focused racer
Creative Director Sami Kalliokoski talks us through it
Super Nintendo World
Universal Studios Japan to open $433 million Nintendo-themed area by 2020
Generating 1.1 million jobs in the decade after its launch
Just Fine
French stock market fines five Ubisoft execs €1.2 million for insider trading
Ubisoft appealing the decision
Money To Burn
Californian man embezzles $5 million from employer, spends $1 million in Game of War
Facing 20 years in jail for his trouble
Outplay Squared
UK's largest independent mobile developer Outplay acquires Raid HQ studio Eight Pixels Square
Bumps employee count to over 190
High Noon
Industrial Toys spin-off Gunslinger Studios raises $1.4 million
Closing down on a Summer 2017 release for Exiles of Embermark
Most Read
The long road to Dawn of Titans' launch, Ubisoft making Switch games with mobile in mind, and how Miniclip hit one billion downloads
The hottest articles of last week
Thriving Indies
How indies can thrive in the modern mobile games business
Secret Exit's Jani Kahrama explains
Super Abiko Run
Maliyo Games' Aboki Run becomes the first Nigeria-made game to be featured on Google Play
A big leap for a small game
Super Mario Estimates
Super Mario Run will generate $71 million in its first month of release, says Sensor Tower
7.1 million paying players is reasonable, right?
Striking Hard
Mobile Strike's Super Bowl ad is the most watched ad on YouTube in 2016 with over 100 million views
People love Arnie
F Is For Funding
Children's AR games dev Osmo raises $24 million funding round from Mattel and Sesame Street
Moving beyond the iPad