Indie Backing
GameMaker creator YoYo Games spins up indie games publishing division
Ex-Outplay senior producer Chris Trewartha heads up new team
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
Beyond App Stores
"In 2050 there will be no app stores"
Will be replaced by chat platforms
Artificial Intelligence
Why games developer Kixeye raised $20 million for machine learning
CMO John Getze explains the company's plans
Angry Tv
Long-form Angry Birds animated series set for 2020
Rovio wants to extend IP outside of games and film
It's Pickle Pixel
Adult Swim buys London-based Pocket Mortys developer Big Pixel Studios
Network plans to increase investment in the games space
The Charticle
Despite strong criticism Jam City's Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a top grosser
Outgrossing Cookie Jam and Panda Pop for IAPs in key markets
Key Speakers
Ubisoft, Campo Santo and Jumpship headline BIG Festival
Isabelle Bismuth, Alan Van Slyke, Chris Remo and Dino Patti set to speak at event
Whoot!
Alien Path publisher iCandy buys Indonesian Hollywhoot developer Joyseed
Deal worth up to $263,000
International Expansion
Chartboost opens Barcelona office
New branch will house engineering team
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Candy Crush Saga knocks Fortnite off top
Rankings from May 7th to 13th
Gameloft Financials
Gameloft revenues fall to $93 million in Q1 2018
Publisher reports 114 million MAUS and 13 million DAUs
Funding News
Riot Games amongst investors in new mobile esports-focused studio Gamelynx
Studio raises $1.2 million
Acquisition News
Dutch firm OrangeGames acquires majority stake in Habbo Hotel dev Sulake
Former owner Elisa retains minority stake
Dau Royale
PUBG Mobile amasses 10 million daily active users
Most downloaded game in over 100 countries and areas
Netease Financials
NetEase profits tumble 20% in Q1 as Onmyoji and New Ghost lose traction
Battle royale hits Knives Out and Terminator 2: Judgement Day offset lost revenue
Rovio Financials
Record revenues for Angry Birds 2 boost Rovio profits
But overall company sales dip year-on-year
What's Next?
Monster Strike publisher Mixi plots $900m investment in biz dev and M&A over next five years
$100 million earmarked for Monster Strike and new IP development
Tencent Financials
Tencent’s mobile games revenue up 68% to $3.4 billion in Q1 2018
But investors concerned by historically low operating margin
Free-to-manage
Project management tool Hansoft goes free for small indies
Available for teams of up to five
Gladiators, Ready
Nintendo and Cygames' Dragalia Lost picks up 200,000 pre-registrations
Game set for summer launch in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau
Racing To Mobile
Slightly Mad partners with Gamevil for new Project Cars mobile game
But no release date announced
Going Global
Ex-Apple GM leads Roblox international expansion
Popular game gets Spanish localisation, other languages coming soon
New Studio
QuizUp creators secure $9m funding for new studio to develop real-time social gaming platform
Teatime Games set to expand team in Iceland
Still Going Strong
GungHo’s sales and profits continue to fall amidst Puzzle & Dragons decline
But still hugely profitable
On The Rise
Mobile games drove $589 million in revenue in Germany last year
Total games market valued at €3.3 billion
Blimey Guv
Zynga celebrates Royal Wedding with Words With Friends 2 Royal Social Dictionary
Blimey I'm gobsmacked
Acquisition From The Deep
G5 Entertainment picks up hidden object IPs Nightmares from the Deep and Kate Malone for $600,000
Performance payouts could add further $500k to deal
Star Deal
Nordisk Film invests $18 million in Star Stable Online dev
Game has more than 14 million registered users
Publishing Partnership
India's Nazara partners with Indonesia's Touchten to publish mobile games in the Middle East
"Emerging markets are not a mere afterthought for us," says Touchten founder
East To West
Chinese livestreaming platform Huya raises $180 million in US IPO
15 million shares sold at $12 each
Going Public
Kakao Games applies for IPO in South Korea
Publisher set to go public on South Korea's second-tier stock exchange Kosdaq
Financials
Netmarble revenue and profits tumble year-on-year as sales slow
Lineage 2: Revolution takes 35 per cent of revenue share of game sales
Rapid Growth
Chinese mobile games sector set to double to over $24 billion by 2022
Set to surpass PC this year
Juicy News
YouTuber Guava Juice partners with developer PopReach on Tub Tapper
Partners with developer PopReach on title
International Expansion
Kongregate gets first international expansion with Montreal office
“Expanding our resources and time zones allows us as a company to be closer to our Canadian and European partners," says CEO Emily Greer
Blockbuster Maker
Space Ape’s mobile games production funnel: Creating a genre-defining hit
Product owner Nick Mansdorf discusses three steps to judge a game's potential
Supply And Demand
Fluffy Fairy’s Idle Factory Tycoon surpasses four million downloads in two weeks
Follow-up to Idle Miner Tycoon finds early success
Linked In
Steam Link app lets you play your PC games on your mobile
Launches week of May 21st
Fly By
Angry Birds the latest big IP to flock to Facebook Instant Games
Joins Disney Tsum Tsum as latest hit mobile title to release on the platform
Art Of The Deal
“Don’t sign a bad deal, there are plenty of publishers out there”
Jon Hare offers some tips on signing contracts with publishers
Finnish Culture
Ilkka Paananen: Open and friendly community is what makes Finnish games industry special
“Fundamentally I think this results in better games"
Q1 Financials
Glu Mobile cuts losses as it hits record $86 million in bookings
Design Home, Covet Fashion and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood the key performers
Rewarding Creativity
IMGA founder on rewarding creativity and its ambitious plans for 2018
Maarten Noyons discusses hot industry trends and brand new events
Royale Royalty
NetEase recruits Battle Royale film scriptwriter for Knives Out
Kenta Fukasaku to build story and lore for hit mobile game
New Studio
Google spins up mobile social games start-up Arcade
Developing a new kind of social network
Tax Claims
UK games tax relief claimed by £1 billion-worth of game development in the last year
Fewer developers approved for tax relief in Q1 2018 than the year prior
Partner Up
Nintendo could partner up with more developers to make mobile games
"If we find other partners that can bring unique strengths that are not found within Nintendo, then we may work with them as well"
Smart Expansion
Mobile a key driver for Nintendo's growth in Asia and Middle East
Access to IP leads to strong Switch sales, says company president
Majority Stake
Mail.RU acquires 51% stake in Russian Guild of Heroes dev Bit.Games
Developer making $1 million-plus a month from hit title
Instant Hit?
In-app purchases come to Facebook Instant Games
But monetisation through Google Play will smaller less returns for developers