Data
App Annie reports game and app downloads pushed 113 billion this year
The figure represents a 10 per cent year-over-year increase in mobile app downloads
Staff
Natalie Clayton
About Natalie Clayton is an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and game developer. Besides PCGamesInsider and Pocketgamer.biz, she's written across the games media landscape and was named in the 2018 GamesIndustry.biz 100 Rising Star list.
Articles by Natalie Clayton
Family
Consumer group complains to FTC over 'inappropriate' kids apps
Children's games and apps were found to breach federal privacy laws in the United States
Nestling In
DoDreams brings aboard former Rovio marketing director Edvard Groundstroem
Drive Ahead developer brings yet another Angry Birds alum into its roster
Vroom
Hutch races into a multi-year licensing partnership with Formula One
Racing organising looks to the mobile driving developer to help expand its global audience
Virtual Birds
Rovio is bringing Angry Birds to virtual reality in 2019 with Isle of Pigs
A partnership with Resolution Games is bringing the long-running mobile hit to headsets next year
Advertising
Developer survey shows in-game ads are an increasingly lucrative monetisation option
The number of games making a majority of revenue through in-game adverts has increased 29 per cent
Jobs News
Splash Damage CEO Paul Wedgwood departs after 17 years
Chief marketing officer and fellow co-founder Richard Jolly takes on top job
Court Battle
Qualcomm insists Apple is in breach of Chinese court order it claims prohibits iPhone sales
“Apple’s statements have been deliberate attempts to obfuscate and misdirect”
Sell
Nintendo Switch is this generation’s fastest-selling console in the US
The Nintendo Switch has sold over 8.7 million units in the country over the last 21 months
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Lion Studios' Popular Wars lives up to its name around the world
Rankings for the week of December 3rd to 9th
Smashed It
Super Smash Bros Ultimate sold over 1.2 million copies in Japan during its first three days on sale
First-week figures for crossover brawler are Nintendo’s best ever in Japan, excluding Pokemon
Video
VIDEO: A Dead Cells post-mortem from Motion Twin’s Sebastien Benard
Benard tells an audience at PGConnects Helsinki 2018 how the developers “found the fun” in its roguelike
Royale
Knives Out out-earns both PUBG Mobile and Fortnite in November revenue results
NetEase’s battle royale is propelled to No.9 this November with over $52 million in player spending
Report
Report: There's been an 80 per cent rise in Western game installs in East Asia
Research from Appsflyer shows a market dominated by midcore and strategy games
Video
Shipyard Games’ Teemu Harju provides pointers on making location-based mobile games
“We really believe in location-based games, and we truly believe there’s an opportunity for way more cooler gaming.”
Insight
Execution Labs’ Jason Della Rocca: “No one is in the business of solving your lack of money problem”
Investment expert advises on the common pitfalls and best practices to acquire funding for your games
Funded
UK games industry receives a tasty slice of the government’s $25.5 million creative industries boost
Games in education program Digital Schoolhouse to receive $255,000 in funding
Brexit
Creative Industries Federation urges the UK government to safeguard the $129 billion sector post-Brexit
TIGA welcomes the report with open arms, calling for particular support for UK games
Moba
NetEase is bringing Super Evil Megacorp’s flagship MOBA Vainglory to China
Mobile-exclusive MOBA is also coming to PC and consoles in 2019
Labo
Nintendo Labo named one of Time Magazine’s inventions of the year
Top 50 inventions list praises Nintendo's cardboard controls for "helping gamers create their own fun"
On The Go
App Annie claims mobile games will snap up 60 per cent of worldwide gaming revenue next year
Increased power and cross-platform successes could see handhelds take almost two-thirds of the gaming pie
Acquired
Mobile measurement company Adjust purchases Acquired.io
Acquired.io’s technology set to be fully integrated with Adjust by H2 2019
Teach
Supercell clashes games skill shortage with free new coding school
Finnish developer puts significant funding behind the free Helsinki program
Fantastic
Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire made on average $1 million a day in November
Combat-focused city builder earned $30 million worldwide throughout last month
Catch ‘em
Pokemon Go catches $80 million worldwide revenue in November
Worthy catch marks a 50 per cent year-over-year increase
Magic
Gameloft’s Disney Magic Kingdom soars to $114 million in lifetime revenue
Enchanted park builder has also reached over 70 million downloads since 2016
Global
Tencent and NetEase saw a 382 per cent increase in international mobile games revenue during 2018
China’s game freeze hasn’t stopped the country’s biggest players going global
Chicken Dinner
PUBG Mobile revenue grows 166 per cent to surpass Fortnite for the first time
Brendan Greene’s handheld battle royale earned $12 million in the week ending Black Friday
Holiday
US mobile games revenue hit $55.8 million all-time peak over Black Friday
This year’s bargain holiday market the most successful day for mobile gaming in the US ever
Royale
PUBG Mobile hits 30 million daily active players and 200 million downloads in eight months
Handheld battlegrounds held the second highest MAU count among all mobile games this quarter
Strategy
PlayRaven leaves Eve: War of Ascension to CCP after joining Rovio’s flock
CCP London will take over the development of the galactic MMO tie-in
Jobs
Jam City laid off “a large number” of developers on Friday
Mobile developer has yet to reveal exactly how many employees have lost their jobs
Super
Marvel: Contest of Champions Cyber Monday revenue exploded 583 per cent in one week
Kabam’s mobile fighter reached a superpowered $3.3 million this holiday weekend
Sound Strategy
Analytics group believes Nintendo can claim control of the 2019 console market with the Switch
Strategy Analytics isn't worried about the enduring success of home consoles
Uk Special
"Scotland's pedigree has endured, and the development scene is thriving"
4J Studios, Outplay and Tag Games fill us in on the game scene north of the wall
Crash Course
Google Play removes 13 phoney apps from a single developer for installing malware
But not before the racing games accumulated over half a million downloads
Jobs
IGDA names new chairman and vice chair as David Seltzer steps back from leadership role
Vesa Raudasoja succeeds Seltzer as chairman while Emily Greer takes on the vice chair position
Brexit
Leading UK Games industry figures and companies reject Brexit deal
The Games4EU-published letter was signed by over 125 companies and 1300 industry members
On Tap
Tapjoy on Tapdaq acquisition: “We hadn't found the right combination of great team and differentiated tech until now”
Tapjoy SVP of strategy, corporate and business development fills us in on the decision to acquire mediation platform Tapdaq
Out
Goodgame founders relinquish leadership positions following Stillfront deal
Doctors Kai and Christian Wawrzinek to focus on new roles as Stillfront shareholders
On The Move
Marvel: Contest of Champions dev Kabam secures office move in Vancouver
Studio has signed a lease for 105,000 square feet of office space
Start-up
Seven games start-ups kickstart new Northern Irish co-working and business support space The Pixel Mill
Belfast hot-housing location will also provide funding and business support for game developers
Chill
$1 million is on the line in Fortnite’s Winter Royale Online Tournament
Star players will be chosen to take part in the Fortnite World Cup in 2019
Point
King and Facebook veterans raise $8 million to kickstart London and Minsk-based dev Tripledot Studios
Mobile startup wants to put together the “Apollo program” of mobile games
Funding
Super.com will support Unreal Engine projects with a new $50 million investment fund
Funding site is looking for independent Unreal developers of all levels of expertise
Ocean
Sea Entertainment seals a five-year deal to publish Tencent games in Southeast Asia
Games will be published by Sea's entertainment division, Garena
Tap Tap
Tapjoy acquires ad mediation and app monetisation platform Tapdaq
Tapdaq by Tapjoy will team up with its new owner’s London office to work on its Maximum Impact Platform
Kingly
Game of Thrones: Conquest grosses $125 million in just over a year
Fantasy strategy saw a 500 per cent year-over-year increase in growth this October
Clash
Clash Royale players to fight over esports gig in the first EE Mobile Series
Fnatic is offering a place on its professional Clash Royale team to the overall winner
Job Losses
Tekken Mobile developer Bandai Namco Vancouver closes
Senior vice president claims all but a "small skeleton crew" have been laid off at the Canada office