Igda Dss 2017
IGDA survey finds developers concerned about job stability and diversity in the industry
Majority of respondents identify as white men
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
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Part Time Monkey's Tuomas Erikoinen on life as a one-man casual mobile games studio
Why he focused on hyper-causal and why he's now looking for the second monkey
Go Mi
Oculus partners with Xiaomi to manufacture upcoming standalone VR headset Oculus Go
Xiaomi also creating its own near-identical headset for the China market
Lineage 2 Revolution Downloads
Netmarble's MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution clears five million downloads in 50 days in the West
Still going strong in South Korea
Most Read
The future of app intelligence, our favourite games of 2017, and the top-performing mobile game stocks
The hottest articles of last week
Giftgaming Closure
Nick Hatter closes monetisation platform Giftgaming to become life coach
Decides the world doesn't need more advertising or revenue
King Of Advertising
UK's Advertising Standards Authority declares King of Avalon ad misleading
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is a very, very different game
Cortopia Funding
Mobile VR developer Cortopia raises $2.48 million to expand magic dueling game Wands
Also developing new VR titles, of course
Switch Sales
Nintendo's Switch is the fastest-selling console of all time in the US
Clears 4.8 million units sold in 10 months
App Store 2017
Developers on the App Store earned $26.5 billion in 2017
January 1st 2018 sees $300 million in sales alone
Nexon Shakeup
Nexon Korea CEO Jiwon Park promoted to global COO of Nexon
VP of business Junghun Lee nominated to take over as CEO
Onmyoji Soft Launch
NetEase soft-launches English version of China hit Onmyoji ahead of full release in 2018
Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden can play it now
Pressing Forward
Sony ForwardWorks preparing to push its games beyond Japan in 2018
Sora to Umi no Aida coming to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau first
For The Cause
Apple offers free Developer Program Membership to non-profit organisations
Get that $99 fee waived if you're an eligible organisation
Mind Candy 2016 Revenues
Mind Candy's 2016 revenues fell to $4.65 million as mobile sales dropped by 90%
Overall loss was down, and it's continued to push on through 2017
Get Over It
Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy scores three nominations at the 2018 Independent Games Festival
Vignettes by Skeleton Business is the only mobile-only game to receive a nomination
Indie Mavens
How is 2018 shaping up for indie games developers on mobile?
We ask our Indie Mavens what they think the biggest trends were for 2017 and what the year ahead holds for them
Failure To Launch
The five biggest games that failed to leave soft launch in 2017
From SMITE Rivals to Breaking Bad: Empire Business
It's Like They're Really There
Niantic to improve AR functionality in Pokemon GO with ARKit integration
New gameplay features and more realistic Pokemon on compatible devices
Disruptor Point
Disruptor Beam and Tilting Point form strategic partnership on UA campaign for Star Trek Timelines
Helping Disruptor Beam scale its UA efforts while continuing to work on the game
Unity 2017.3 Update
Unity rolls out 2017.3 update with easier access to Xiaomi's China app store
Also improves various graphics and Cinemachine functions, while dropping support for Tizen
Reality Gizer Partnership
AR developer Reality Gaming Group partners with eSports app Gizer to bring tournaments to Reality Clash
Shoot your friends in AR and maybe win some prizes
Odyssey To Japan
Super Mario Odyssey jumps to one million units sold in Japan
Switch closing in on three million hardware units sold
America Of Valor
Tencent's popular mobile MOBA Honor of Kings lands in the US as Arena of Valor
Hasn't got off to an explosive start, but there's still time
A Clean Operation
Spil Games' surgery simulator Operate Now: Hospital racks up 10 million downloads in six months
95% organic downloads and 50% day one retention rates
Wargaming Gunslingers
Industrial Toys spin-off Gunslinger Studios partners with Wargaming Mobile to publish upcoming mobile RPGs
Exiles of Embermark likely to be the first game to be published
Indie Mavens Goty 2017
Indie Mavens' Games of the Year 2017
From Hill Climb Racing 2 to Breath of the Wild, our Indie Mavens throw their favourites into the ring
Rules Of Survival Championship
NetEase kicks off $650,000 championship for PUBG clone Rules of Survival
$150,000 for the overall winners at the finals in China
Vainglory 5v5
Super Evil Megacorp to bring Vainglory in line with PC MOBAs with 5v5 mode in February 2018
What will it mean for the game's current competitive scene?
Downloads Out
NetEase's PUBG clone Knives Out surpasses 100 million downloads in just over a month
Cleared this milestone while still in beta
Most Read
NetEase's Rules of Survival scores 15 million downloads, Discord clears 87 million users, and King launches a Candy Crush AR lens for Facebook
The hottest articles of last week
Never Stop Never Stopping
Keywords picks up LATAM localisation firm LOLA just two days after its most recent acquisition
Deal worth up to $1.03 million
Stick Sports Scores
Casual mobile games developer Stick Sports crosses 70 million downloads
Currently hiring at both London and Sydney studios
Wrestlemania!
Reliance Games partners with WWE on branded fighting game WWE Mayhem
The fourth WWE mobile game partnership of 2017
Best Fiends Forever
Seriously clears $100 million in lifetime revenues three years after launching Best Fiends
The studio outlines its plans for 2018
Tencent Rules All
Tencent generated 51.6% of China's online games revenue in China in Q3 2017
Beijing-based research firm iResearch digs into the numbers
Get Certified
Unity partners with testing firm Pearson VUE to roll out Unity Certification tests globally
5,000 test centres in 180 countries now have access to Unity Certification tests
Shadowverse World Grand Prix
Cygames gears up for end-of-year Shadowverse World Grand Prix with $120,000 prize pool
Each of the 24 players earns $1,000 just for turning up
Hit For Six
JetSynthesys' Sachin Saga Cricket Champions smashes one million downloads in under a week
Currently 90th on the overall top grossing charts on the Indian Google Play store
Candy Crush Ar
King launches AR camera effect on Facebook featuring Candy Crush
Catch candies in your mouth as your head grows bigger and bigger
Food For All
Food Truck Chef developer Nukebox Studios partners with Tilting Point on $18 million UA campaign
Tilting Point to fund and operate UA for Food Truck Chef for the next three years
I Tip My Hat
Indie darling FEZ comes to iOS five years after it first launched
FEZ Pocket Edition port handled by BlitWorks
Mighty Morphin' Investment
Power Rangers: Legacy Wars developer nWay secures $11 million investment round
Lionsgate sets up nWay with March Capital Partners and Ridge Ventures
Tapjoy New Features
Tapjoy adds Custom Exchange Rates and Permanent Currency Sales to its advertising offerwall
Set different prices for different players, or drop prices for a limited time for everyone
Ludicious 2018 Speakers
Ludicious 2018 adds seven new speakers to its growing line-up
Ustwo senior artist Lauren Cason and Red Hook creative director Chris Bourassa join the speaker list
Blowing Up
Game Insight developing eSports-specific PRO Play mode for mobile shooter Guns of Boom
Game surpasses 20 million downloads in six months
Nintendo Partnerships
Nintendo reportedly looking for new mobile developers to work with outside of DeNA partnership
GungHo could be in the running
Nazara Minority Stake
India's 54th richest man acquires minority stake in Nazara for $27.9 million
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invests in the major Indian developer
Pearl's Audience Growth
Wooga and marketing agency HeyHuman target younger players with new Pearl's Peril influencer campaign
"Are you a friend of Pearl?" campaign looking to expand the four-year-old game's audience
Change The Game
Google Play launches Change the Game initiative to promote diversity in mobile games
Finds that 49% of all mobile gamers in the US are women