Leak Before E3 Klaxon
Battle royale hit Fortnite appears on Nintendo Switch following eShop update
A hacker found a text mention of the game along with a home screen icon
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
Streamed
Ubisoft CEO predicts the industry will move entirely to streaming after next console generation
Yves Guillemot also reckons it’ll be for the better
New Digs
GameAnalytics continues APAC expansion with new office in India
The move is the mobile analytics firms second expansion in the region following an office opening in China in 2016
Connected
Apple launches App Store Connect for developers as it transitions from iTunes Connect
The apps portal has a website and an app and comes with an analytics suite
Nice
Mail.Ru teams up with Unity to invest in games developers
Devs will also receive technological, marketing and analytical support
Investment
Ludia co-founder Marcoux’s VC White Star Capital raises $180m in second fund
The company will use the fund to help start-ups for international
Dominating The Charts
Word Domination hits top 10 in word game category across 116 countries on iOS
MAG Interactive’s word-based game launched May 31st on iOS and Android
Allied Forces
Spirit AI reveals slew of updates to social behaviour tool Ally
Software uses AI and natural language science to keep the trolls at bay
Tournament
Tencent makes E3 debut, partners with ESL and Razer to host Arena of Valor tournament
The Valor Series playoffs will take place at the E3 ESL Arena from June 12th to 13th in Los Angeles
Ported
Apple to make iOS apps portable to MacOS in 2019
The tech giant showed off MacOS 10.14 at WWDC 2018
Job Klaxon
Glu brings back former VP of analytics as senior vice president of company’s revenue platform
Chuck Elberti will help the company drive growth through an increased focus on technology and data science
Hit That Subscribe Button
Developers can now set up trials for non-subscription apps on the iOS App Store
The latest update also tackles rules around multi-platform apps such as Steam Link
New Clan
Chinese dev Seasun cracks South Korean market with Clans: Shadow of the Moon
Seasun managed to score a 170 per cent ROI through the Taptica’s targeted app install campaign
Pog Champ
90s fad POGs set for comeback with new AR Mobile game in the works
POGs AR pencilled in for a September launch for both iOS and Android
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Zach Gage on reinventing old classics and beating the clones
“I think it’s nice for the kind of people I'm going after, people who are not hardcore gamers but actually play a lot of games in their lives, but don’t think of themselves like that”
Hot Five
Zynga acquires Gram Games, Jam City job losses, and Voodoo raises $200m
Last week's hottest articles
Gearing Up
Codemasters teams up with Eden Games to develop F1 Mobile Racing
The new racing game will come to iOS and Android with the date to be announced
Switching It Up
Reports: Battle royale sensation Fortnite set to parachute onto Nintendo Switch
A classification for the game appeared on the Korean Games Ratings Board
That Was Onix-pected
Pokemon Quest catches one million downloads on Nintendo Switch within two days of launch
The title is currently out on Switch but will find its way to mobile in June
Nation Of Domination
DomiNations hits $150 million mark in time for third anniversary
The strategy game has also racked up more than 37 million downloads
Data Klaxon
75% of spending in the iOS App Store came from games over the past 10 years
In terms of downloads games took 31 per cent
One In One Out
Nitro Games appoints former head of Rovio Stars as COO while CMO departs
Jussi Immonen joins as COO as CMO Mikko Kähärä parts ways with the company
Hatching A Plan
Hatch expands games catalogue with Noodlecake Studios partnership
The deal will see premium titles Death Road to Canada, Lumino City and Chameleon Run come to the streaming platform
Job Losses
Report: Redundancies hit Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery dev Jam City
Some claims suggest layoffs were ‘sizable’
Indie Mavens
Indie games developer tips for making the most out of industry events
Our Indie Mavens weigh in
Tagged Up
Subway Surfers sails past the two billion download mark
Installs are 100 per cent organic, according to Kiloo’s CEO
No Troll
Spil Games' Troll Face Quest series breaks 100 million downloads
90 per cent of downloads are organic
Batman Royale
Batman joins Arena of Valor in new update
Update also includes new deathmatch game mode and complete UI overhaul
Financials Klaxon
Fyber endures challenging first quarter as revenues drop to $34 million
Revenue fell 41% while profits also came in at a loss
Unreal
Interactive Gaming Ventures and Epic Games out to invest in indies using Unreal Engine 4
IGV plan to invest $1 to $5 Million in one to three indie teams per year
Going Up
Pokemon Go captures 800 million downloads
Niantic is ramping up activity ahead of the summer
I Choose You
Slate of new pokemon games set for Nintendo Switch and mobile
Pokémon: Let’s Go duo to come out late next year while Pokémon Quest is out now
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Gorogoa creator Jason Roberts talks getting into games and the genesis of the hit title
We get up close and personal with the stars of mobile games' indie scene
Big Hire
Former Rovio executive producer Will Luton joins Big Pixel Studios as director of product
Luton to take a leading role in design and direction for Pocket Mortys
Job Klaxon
Spil Games promotes from within for new CEO
COO Timm Geyer is taking the reins
Birds On Tour
Rovio reveals slew of licensing partnerships in US for Angry Birds
Bags, oral care, crocs, you name it
Destroyed
Ash vs Evil and the Divergent series collide in Lionsgate's Deploy and Destroy
Developer Apps Ministry will add more characters from Lionsgate's library of IPs in due course
Well Then
New PlayStation chief sees future in portable games for Sony
John Kodera thinks it should be a vital part of the PlayStation ecosystem
First Person
Google out to highlight mobile games stars with new behind-the-scenes series
First three videos feature voice actor Ashly Burch, games dev Bennett Foddy and Ink Stories co-founder Vassiliki Khonsari
Closure
150 staff laid off as Wargaming Seattle closes down
Up to 150 jobs to be affected
What A Play
Outplay recruits King's Luis De La Camara for global marketing role
Luis De La Camara joins as VP of Global Marketing
Stats
Static full-screen generate largest revenue share amongst casual games in the West
Appodeal surveyed a host of mobile casual games developers to look into monetisation trends
Cabin
Games accelerator Stugan welcomes 21 developers in 2018 line-up
The programme has aimed to double down on diversity with this year’s crop
Why Not
NetEase developing internet drama based on battle royale hit Knives Out
The Chinese tech company are also turning Onmyoji into a live action movie
Crafty
Minecraft builds up 100 million players in China since launching last year
The popular builder originally came to China in August
Key
Apple's 19th annual WWDC to kick off June 4th in San Jose
Apple expected to reveal host of new updates for iOS in opening keynote
Interesting
Double Fine Presents taps up Playables for interactive animation title KIDS
KIDS will come out this year on iOS and Android
Not Safe
More than 72% of Android apps are at risk of European GDPR violations
SafeDK is accessing the readability of android apps ahead of the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation
Go Go Go
Pokemon Sun and Moon content coming to Pokemon Go
Content update to include Alolan versions of Kanto Pokemon
Funded
Nokia phone manufacturer to “aggressively expand” in 2018 after raising $100 million
Round of investment was led by Ginko Ventures