Madness
Shadowgun dev Madfinger hits 200m downloads across entire games portfolio
The Brno-based developer has crafted 11 titles over eight years
Staff
Iain Harris
About Iain is a freelance writer based in Scotland with a penchant for indies and all things Nintendo. Alongside PocketGamer.Biz, he has also appeared in Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun, PCGamesN and VG24/7.
Articles by Iain Harris
War
Pixonic’s War Robots racks up $190m in revenue
The third-person shooter originally launched back in April 2014
On Tilt
Tilting Point targets more European partners with new Barcelona studio
New office follows on from the publisher’s recent pledge to invest $132 million in mobile games user acquisition
Nice
PUBG Mobile has made $50 million in revenue
The battle royale received a shot in the arm following the introduction of the Royale Pass
Winner Winner Chicken Salad
Tencent soft-launches PUBG Lite in the Philippines on Android
Just a lite update for you
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Dream Reality Interactive's Anna Hollinrake on how to get a job as a senior artist
"There's something delicious and intangible about focusing in on exactly what makes the game feel the way it does and how to communicate that as a whole"
Fine Catch
Pokemon Quest captures $8 million in revenue from mobile after one month
The RPG has proved most popular in Japan followed closely by the US
Oh No
Netmarble shares plummet to all-time low as Lineage 2 popularity fades
Shares dropped 11.27 per cent on August 9th to close at 126,000 won
Chinese Exports
Chinese games raked in more than $600 million in the US for the first half of 2018 alone
The haul was a 52 per cent increase year-on-year
Diverse
Mobile diversification strategy helps drive NetEase to $2.5 billion revenue for 2Q18
Horror game Identity V and battle royale title Knives Out were namechecked specifically
Not Too Shabby
Nexon’s MapleStory M hits five million downloads globally in two weeks
The side-scrolling adventure game originally hit three million within its first week
Yo Yo Yo
GameMaker Studio 2 launches open beta for Nintendo Switch support
The new edition will let developers port any previous games made with GameMaker Studio 2 to Switch
On Job
Ad platform Bidalgo taps up former Clicktale CFO to bolster executive team
Nir Ackerman will join as CFO and will be tasked with overseeing all of the company’s financial operations
Don’t You Mean Football?
Sociable Soccer dev Tower Studios snags China publishing deal with China Mobile
Arcade football game is will land in China first and is pencilled in for launch in Autumn 2018
Jammin’
WildWorks’ kid-focused MMO Animal Jam strikes up revenues to the tune of $150m
$20 million of which comes from the mobile version Animal Jam: Play Wild
Indie Spotlight
Postcard Switzerland and 1930s politics: Stave Studios on striking the balance with Over the Alps
"History is a wellspring from which comes a multitude of inspiring stories about ordinary people who stand up to a vast, seemingly undefeatable evil threat and win"
Who Are Ya
Bandai Namco soft-launches Doctor Who collectible card game on Android
The collectible card game is currently available in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Thailand
Hot Five
Supercell and Playerunknown answer Elon Musk's call, Peak bets on Ryan Reynolds, and Fortnite avoids Google Play
The past week's hottest articles
Break The Market
Glu Mobile’s Kim Kardashian: Hollywood nets $8m in revenue in Q2
The sum represents a year-on-year growth of 20 per cent
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Space Ape's Johnathan Rowlands on how to get a job as a product owner
"Ultimately though, my role distils down to making sure we deliver a great experience, every single week, to our dedicated and loyal community"
Well Traveled
Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler hits one million copies sold worldwide
The turn-based RPG hit the Nintendo Switch eShop three weeks ago
Job News Klaxon
Softgames taps ex-Smilegate Europe head of studio to lead its in-house development team
Bernd Beyreuther joined the games developers as Head of Studio on August 1st
Not Bad
Apple becomes first public company worth $1 trillion
The iPhone manufacturer hit the market value on Thursday
Indie Mavens
How big is the cloning problem within the mobile games industry and what can be done about it?
Our Indie Mavens weigh in
Mobile Gaming
Supercell and Playerunknown respond to Elon Musk's Twitter callout for Tesla game devs
The product architect is angling for Pokemon Go with an “adults in cars anime vibe”
Winner
South Korea takes home $200,000 Prize from inaugural Arena of Valor World Cup
The event was held at the TCL Chinese Theatre and had a total prize pool of $550,000
Partnership
Google partners up with Unity to extend ad campaign reach
The agreement will give Google access to Unity’s network of mobile games through Universal App campaigns
Fired Up
Fire Emblem Heroes fires up $400m in worldwide revenue
The RPG launched just under 18 months ago and has proven to be Nintendo’s most popular outing on mobile
Chicken Fund
PUBG Mobile hits $30m in revenue in four months
The battle royale title saw revenues trip upon the introduction of the royale pass
Who's There?
Ex-Zynga and TinyCo devs raise $2m for chat app games start-up Knock Knock
The chat gaming network will combine chat-native play experiences with unique intellectual properties
Two Sweet
Fortnite Mobile bagging up to $2m a day
Revenues have received a shot in the arm following the launch of season five
Indie Spotlight
"The security of going onto Nintendo Switch is a lot better than mobile and PC"
Plausible Concept on the development of Bad North and how it started with just a cat
Like Tears In The Rain
Next Games’ mobile RPG Blade Runner 2049 hits open beta
Partnership with Alcon Entertainment was revealed in June of last year
Hot Five
Thieves allegedly use Clash of Clans to launder money, Supercell on machine learning, and the 70:30 App Store split is doomed
This week's hottest articles
Not Bad
The Walking Dead: Our World hits top 10 download charts in 40 countries
The location-based augmented reality game launched July 12th
Legendary
Moonton’s popular MOBA Mobile Legends plunders $200m in global revenues
$25 million of that comes from the US
Caught In The Act
Alleged stalker arrested by police claims he was just playing Pokemon Go
Report suggests man has a history of stalking the same woman
Steady Hands
Mobile sales stable for Ubisoft as total revenue doubles to $464m for Q1 2018
Mobile sales contributed eight per cent of net booking which is flat from the year prior
Callin' Hacks
Credit card thieves reportedly laundering money through Clash of Clans and Clash Royale
Kabam’s Marvel Contest of Champions also said to be a target
Development
Develop:Brighton 2018 breaks attendance record with 2,369 visitors over three days
Represents a nine per cent year-on-year increase
A Pretty Penny
Fortnite hits $1 billion through in-game purchases across mobile, PC and console
Viewers racked up 574 million hours watching Fornite in May alone
Giggity
Jam City’s Family Guy Another Freakin’ Mobile Game breaks $30 million in revenue
The match-three game originally launched last year in April
Hungry For Downloads
Future Games of London's Hungry Shark series chomps up 500 million downloads
The arcade game can now be snapped up on the Nintendo Switch
Seismic Acquisition
Pokemon Go dev Niantic acquires Marvel Strike Force developer Seismic Games
Studio to craft new augmented reality experiences
Indie Spotlight
"This business is built on love": How a spark of romance led to AppSir's meta-horror game Dere Evil Exe
"The idea that someone could get so addicted to these mobile games was still alien to me"
On The Go
Niantic lures 180,000 Pokemon trainers to Chicago with Pokemon Go Fest
21,000 players attended Pokemon Go Fest in Lincoln Park alone
Kamehameha
Dragon Ball Legends generates $40 million in revenues in just over a month
The lion's share of revenue comes from Japan with 67 per cent
Co-op
App Store and Google Play game revenues hit combined $26.6 billion in first half of 2018
The combined total is a 28 per cent year-on-year increase from last years $26.9 billion
Hot Five
Google Play tests hub features, Runescape beta comes to Android, and Clash Royale snags $2 billion
The past weeks hottest articles
Jammin’
Jam City signs up ex-EA creative director Chris Tremmel
Tremmel will provide design direction for Genies & Gems and Wild Things: Animal Adventure