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
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
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
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Behind Total war: Three Kingdoms' success, blockchain game Project Genesis heads to Steam, and YouTube defends targeted harassment
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Hot Five
Devs sue Apple over App Store fees, Stillfront acquires Kixeye, and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite conjures up 100k installs
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Fallout Milestone
E3 2019: Fallout Shelter surpasses 150 million downloads
Number of installs rises 30 million in a year
Streaming Tech
E3 2019: Bethesda's new Orion technology designed to optimise game streaming across platforms
Publisher shows Doom 2016 streaming on a mobile device at 60 frames per second
Helmet To Helmet
E3 2019: Commander Keen IP returns on mobile this summer
Game set for soft launch in the summer
Switch Blades
E3 2019: Bethesda opens E3 press conference with The Elder Scrolls Blades mobile game
New update goes live for mobile today; Blades coming to Nintendo Switch
Next-gen Xbox
E3 2019: Microsoft unveils next generation Xbox console Project Scarlett
"When we think about the future of gaming, it's not just PC, it's not just console, it's not just mobile, it's really all of the above"
Gears Pop
E3 2019: Pre-registrations open for Gears Pop mobile game
Title looks to take inspiration from Clash Royale with added cover mechanics
Xbox At E3
E3 2019: Microsoft acquires Psychonauts 2 dev Double fine
Developer joins growing number of in-house studios
Going Public
AppLovin wants to raise $1bn in 2020 IPO
Marketing platform and publisher has ambitious plans
Divesting Shares
Tencent sells $56m worth of Glu Mobile shares
Chinese publisher reduces stake in US developer to 14.46 per cent
Pes 2019
PES 2019 mobile game racks up 200 million downloads
Celebrates with log-in bonuses and other special in-game rewards
Stadia Games
Here are the games coming to Google Stadia
And other developers confirmed to be supporting the platform
Google Stadia
Google Stadia games streaming service launches in November for $9.99 a month
Service will be available across devices, however mobile access will initially be restricted to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a
Hyper-casual
4 videos analysing China's lucrative hyper-casual games market and how to get user attention
Mintegral presents The Bridge Between East & West covering all things China
Job News
Asmodee Digital chief revenue and marketing officer departs
Philippe Dao was the company's second employee and helped grow firm into a leading board game publisher
Bluestacks Inside
BlueStacks Inside SDK lets mobile devs release games on PC
One-step SDK designed to make it as easy as possible to launch games on Steam and Discord
Snap Royale
Zynga launches Snapchat exclusive game Tiny Royale
Battle royale title is the publisher's first release on the Snap Games platform
Job News
Jam City names former Disney exec Lisa Anderson as senior VP of game operations
Responsible for overseeing operations at company's LA area studios
Wizards Unite
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite conjures up 100,000 installs from first month in beta
Title has so far grossed $400,000 during testing period
Still Together
Tencent denies overseas marketing and sales team was disbanded over Arena of Valor woes
But does not touch on whether it will continue to support the game in Western markets
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: NetEase's top 10 grossing dominance diminishes on the Chinese App Store
Rankings from May 20th to 26th 2019
Casual Expansion
WeQ: Investment in ad tech, development and publishing sets us apart from hyper-casual competition
Ad tech company has acquired Booster Studios to develop and publish in-house and third-party hyper-casual games
Key Changes
GameMaker firm enacts strategic changes as it halves mobile licence fee and closes publishing division
Free trial now includes all of the engine's features but has been limited to 30 days; publishing division has closed
Ios 13
iOS 13 gets faster app downloads, better Apple Maps and a Dark Mode
Raft of new features incoming for the latest operating system
Augmented Apple
ARKit 3 gets motion capture and occlusion enhancements
RealityKit and Reality Composer also unveiled offering a raft of new features and easier ways to build apps
Minecraft Ar
Minecraft Earth takes centre stage at Apple’s WWDC
Upcoming augmented reality game used to show off ARKit 3 capabilities
Apple Arcade Controllers
Apple Arcade gets Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controller support
Subscription games service to launch later this year
Big Deal
Stillfront snaps up Kixeye in deal worth up to $120m
Acquisition worth $90 million plus up to a potential further $30 million in earnouts
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Inside Superhot's success, Theta Labs and Animoca raise funds for blockchain, and YouTube Gaming shuts down
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
East Meets West
East Meets West: Roblox partners with Tencent, Gamescom heads to Asia, and Konami talks two years of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Nexon Acquisition Battle
Netmarble, Kakao and others submit final bids for Nexon
KKR & Co, Bain Capital and MBK Partners also join the fray, but there's no direct deal from Tencent
Hot Five
Zynga sells HQ for $600m, Auto Chess comes to mobile, and Subway Surfers passes 2.5bn downloads
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Big Festival Awards
BIG Festival Awards 2019 finalists unveiled
55 games make the shortlist across 16 categories
Rebranding
Mail.ru Group brings development and publishing operations under My.Games brand
58 per cent of company's 2018 revenue came from mobile
Franchise Management
How Rovio’s licensing and games businesses have evolved over the last decade
The Finnish company's marketing director Stephen Porter guides us through the highs and lows of the last 10 years