Hot Five
The design choices behind Behaviour's Game of Thrones title, Candy Crush shoots down PUBG Mobile, and LEGO Tower diorama breaks record
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Staff
Craig Chapple
Job Title
Head of Content
About Craig Chapple is the head of content at PocketGamer.biz, leading the team's editorial direction and developing the conference agenda for our Pocket Gamer Connects conferences around the world. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.
Articles by Craig Chapple
Award Winners
BIG Festival Awards 2019 winners revealed
Starlit on Wheels takes home Best Mobile Game
Industry Growth
Brazil’s games industry has more than doubled in size in four years
2018 saw 276 games companies employing 2,731 staff
Live And Kicking
Two years on: Small Giant Games on the evolution of Finland's latest great export Empires & Puzzles
CEO Timo Soininen and developer Sofia Vanhanen. discuss growing the highly successful title
Government Backing
Uncertainty surrounds future of Brazil games funds
Ancine and Finep agencies may no longer provide grants for local games companies
Ice And Fire
Game of Thrones gets another mobile game spin-off with Behaviour Interactive's Beyond the Wall
Behaviour Interactive creative director Justin Jones discusses game design and working with a globally recognised IP
Grand Plans
Why Monument Valley developer Ustwo hired a CEO
New chief exec Maria Sayans and chief creative officer Dan Gray discuss what's changed, what hasn't and why the studio is taking on multi-game development
Big Festival
Brazil's Independent Games Festival 2019 kicks off today
PocketGamer.biz will be reporting from the show floor. Come say hi!
World Record
LEGO Tower-inspired model sets new Guinness World record for largest brick diorama
Diorama came in at 21 square metres, smashing Minecraft's previous record of 17.13 square metres
East Meets West
East Meets West: Tencent gaming phone, Apple's warning over US-China trade war, and Game for Peace could reach $1bn
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
Women "underserved" in mobile games market, $1m potato artist joins Animoca Brands, and Empires & Puzzles hits 34m installs
The hottest mobile games industry stories from the last week
Trade War
Apple: New China tariffs will favour foreign competitors, not US
iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods and Apple TV will also be affected in new proposals are enacted
King Of Education
Roblox Summer Creator Challenge teams up with Godzilla to teach kids to code
The King of Monsters takes time out from his day job to incentivise children to learn programming
Games For Change
Games for Change: How students are leading the charge for positive social change
President Susanna Pollack discusses the organisation's mission and how it's enabling students to lead the charge for social change
Cheap As Chips
Artist who sold photo of potato for $1m joins Animoca Brands as creative director
Kevin Abosch will provide creative advice and direction on upcoming titles the Sandbox and F1 Delta Time
Auto Chess
Valve’s first mobile game DOTA Underlords heads into open beta
Title based on the new Auto Chess craze
M&a
Dutch firm Azerion acquires Spil Games’ mobile division
Also takes small minority stake in Spil's web portal business
Executive Shuffle
Ustwo names new CEO as it heads into multi-game development
Maria Sayans takes on top job as Dan Gray is promoted to chief creative officer and Peter Pashley is appointed chief development officer
Style Spaces
“Women are most definitely underserved in the mobile games market”
Hutch CEO Beatrice Fischel-Bock discusses her entrepreneurial history and why she thinks Hutch can crack the mobile games market with Style Spaces
Peacekeepers
Tencent’s battle royale hit Game for Peace could reach $1bn in first year
Niko Partners claims high sales for recent release; speculates on a partnership with Nintendo to release mobile games in China
Forever Franchise
Empires & Puzzles racks up 34 million downloads
New update led by 20-year old Sofia Vanhanen adds base updates and Hunter's Lodge
Instant Demos
Synative Playable Studio now lets devs create Google Play ‘Try Now’ demos for free
, Google Play’s instant games are designed to be available instantly, without the need for a download
Tagged In
How Tag Games balances work-for-hire development and live ops
CEO Marc Williamson reflects on the company's history and his year in charge
Job Losses
Dozens struck by layoffs at Amazon Game Studios
Development teams have release one title since 2015
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Dragon Ball Legends enters top 10 grossing rankings in the US and UK
Rankings from June 3rd to June 9th
Roundup
Games industry roundup: The big trends at E3 2019, Dr Disrespect banned from Twitch, and blockchain's increased E3 presence
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
East Meets West
East Meets West: China region focus, Nintendo's mobile business analysed, and some Switch production leaves China
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
Nintendo's Doug Bowser talks crunch, E3 2019 mobile roundup, and Call of Duty: Mobile soft-launched
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
E3 2019
E3 2019: Mobile gets a fair shake as the lines between platforms blur
From mobile to cross-platform streaming, all kinds of games were welcome on the big stage
E3 Mobile
E3 2019: All the mobile game news in one place
The top stories coming out of one of the year's biggest shows in gaming
Stats Royale
PUBG Mobile racks up 50 million daily active users outside of China
Surpasses 400m downloads
Lineage Royale
Netmarble gives MMORPG Lineage 2 Revolution the battle royale treatment
Up to 25 players can compete to be the last person standing
Fallout Expands
E3 2019: Fallout Shelter coming to Tesla cars; sequel heading for China
Fallout Shelter Online to feature new PvP elements, guilds and character customisation
Half Measures
E3 2019: After mobile's no-show for Nintendo, is it really all-in on the platform?
If Microsoft, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Square Enix all found time to talk up their mobile plans - why didn’t Nintendo?
Fund Raise
Update: Stillfront Group to raise $53 million from directed share issue; seeks up to $106m from bond loan
Company wants to add cash to its M&A warchest
Live And Kicking
Nine years on: Social casino specialist KamaGames on the evolution of Pokerist
CEO Andrey Kuznetsov gives us the lowdown on how the game has changed over the years and how it stands out in the highly competitive social casino arena
No Code Movement
AppOnboard acquires Buildbox game engine to power codeless development
Buildbox CEO Trey Smith has joined AppOnboard as its chief growth officer and fellow co-founder Nik Rudenko has been named VP of technology
Instant Hit
Casual RPG AFK Arena surpasses six million players as it climbs top grossing charts
Lilith Games-developed title only launched in April 2019
Lawsuit
Ex-Unity VP files lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and wrongful termination
Tech firm denies claims of wrongful termination and other allegations
Nintendo E3 Roundup
E3 2019: The key Switch announcements and all the games from Nintendo Direct
Breath of the Wild sequel announced, Animal Crossin: New Horizons delayed, and Banjo-Kazooie return to a Nintendo platform
Breath Of The Wild 2
E3 2019: Nintendo developing sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Follow-up to the 2017 hit
The Switcher
E3 2019: The Witcher 3 lands on Nintendo Switch in 2019
Comes four years after PC, Xbox One and PS4 release
Square At E3
E3 2019: Square Enix reveals new Final Fantasy mobile game, a Katy Perry partnership and Stadia lineup
We round up the key announcements from the publisher's press conference
Mythic Quest
E3 2019: Ubisoft partners with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars for new comedy series Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet
Show pokes fun at games development and the wider industry
Growing Warchest
Zynga looks to raise $600 million through proposed private placement
News comes shortly after publisher took in $600m from the sale of its San Francisco HQ
Ubisoft Stadia
E3 2019: Ubisoft's UPlay+ PC subscription service will be available across devices when it comes to Google Stadia in 2020
Library of over 100 100 games will cost $14.99 a month
Mobile Elite
E3 2019: Ubisoft reveals Tom Clancy's Elite Squad mobile game
5v5 squad battler coming soon to the App Store and Google Play
Delf 2019
Hong Kong’s three-day Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum delves into esports, blockchain and mobile gaming
DELF Main Forum and Blockchain and Pocket Gamer Connects take place between July 16th and 18th
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: NetEase resurgent with four top 10 grossers on the Chinese App Store
Rankings from May 27th to June 2nd
East Meets West
East Meets West: Hong Kong region focus, final bids submitted for Nexon acquisition, and analysis on China's hyper-casual market
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market