Gotta Collect 'em All
Tencent spends $30 million acquiring 10% of UK studio Sumo Digital
Invests in Sheffield co-developer
Staff
Matthew Forde
About Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.
Articles by Matthew Forde
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Google Stadia will have several key features missing at launch
Stream Connect, achievement system, State Share, Crowd Play and more excluding on day one
Mobile Majority
App Annie: Mobile spending accounts for more than 50% of all game revenue
Consumer spending on iOS and Android expected to rise to $105 billion by 2020
Big Up
Tencent’s revenue grows by 21% thanks to Call of Duty and PUBG Mobile
Total revenue for the quarter came in at $14 billion
Seed Funding
Wappier raises $4 million to enhance revenue and dataviz platform
Financing was led by New York-based venture group Counterview Capital
“passion Project”
Epic Games launches RPG Battle Breakers
Free-to-play title is available to download on iOS, Android and PC now
New Location
Update: Voodoo expands 'beyond hyper-casual' with new Montreal studio
Mehdi El Moussali will lead the team
Politics X Games
Games design lecturer Zhia Zariko on the importance of politics in games
Positive GCAP 2019 session
Top Secret
Blue Sky Studios partners with Denali Publishing for mobile game based on Will Smith’s Spies in Disguise
Endless runner is arriving soon
Testing Times
Epic Games suing former Keywords tester for leaking Fortnite Chapter 2
Lucas Johnston worked at Keywords' Montreal office
Tech Tock
Apple's gaming-focused AV/VR headset expected by 2022
AR glasses in 2023
Jobs In Games
Kiki Olofsson on building diversity and great art at Candy Crush Saga dev King
Dealing with the sweet and the sour
Acquisition
Epic Games acquires Megascans outfit Quixel
Company claims to have the “world's largest photogrammetry asset library."
Sonic Boom
New Sonic movie trailer shows off improved redesign after fan backlash
Shadow of its former self
Dime A Dozen
Google Stadia 12-game launch line-up revealed
Including Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Destiny 2, Red Dead Redemption 2 and more
Home Sweet Home
Playrix’s Homescapes surpasses $1 billion in lifetime revenue at $4.60 per download
More than 223 million downloads in just over two years
Tag Team
Bandai Namco revealed as a development partner for Mario Kart Tour
“Partially implemented in-games and 3D visual assets for courses, characters and machines”
Overtakes Mario Kart
Call of Duty: Mobile racks up almost $60 million in launch month
Also does 148 million downloads
Financials
Activision Blizzard and King revenue drops as Candy Crush stays top-grossing franchise in US
Free-to-play title had a monthly active user base of 247 million over the previous quarter.
Ro-block?
Roblox survey says 60% of teens don’t report inappropriate online behaviour to parents
Information asymmetry
I Robot
Rovio to utilise machine learning to create individualised games by 2022
Extending current use for live ops
Channeling
Outerminds partners with PewDiePie again for Pixelings game
Arrives in app stores on November 15th, 2019
Financials
Mobile pushes Square Enix's game profits up 33%
Dragon Quest Walk and Romancing SaGa Re: univerSe come in strong
Sticky Situation
Glu Mobile grows sales 8% to a record $107 million but still fails to make a profit
Net loss of $5.1 million sees shares drop
Bullseye
PUBG Mobile generated $154 million during October 2019
Honor of Kings in second place
Investment
Niantic launches $10 million Creator Program for new location-based AR games
Also opens Pokemon Go sponsored location program for small businesses
Negotiations
US and China agree to roll back tariffs that were set to affect console and mobile
A new deal is pending
No Deal
Playtika considers international IPO after Chinese deal fails again
Giant Network gives up the attempt
Crossing The Beams
Rogue Games takes Vainglory as Super Evil raises $10.5 million for cloud game Project Spellfire
Funding was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz
Let Them Clash
$400,000 Clash Royale League World Finals 2019 to take place in LA on 7 December
Event will be presented by Google Play
Money For Not Much
Google's Play Points reward program launches in US
Reward system already live in Japan and Korea
Spoilsports
Chinese games regulator halves playtime for under 16s to 90 minutes a day
Also limits spending to $60 a month
Indie Spotlight
Exospecies creator Eric Zinda on the move from Xbox to mobile
Finding the right way
Roster-rific
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is now the best-selling fighting game of all time
Move over Street Fighter II
Shot Down
17-year-old Fortnite esports pro Jarvis Kaye permanently banned for using aimbot
Bad mistake
Huge Suck-cess
Luigi’s Mansion 3 hoovers up the competition to become Switch’s biggest launch of 2019
Places second in overall charts to Call of Duty
Well Earned
Supercell co-founders top Finland’s highest-earners list
Ilkka Paananen and Mikko Kodisoja top
Indie Mavens
Will subscription services be good for indie game developers?
The Indie Mavens share their thoughts
Killzone
Social Point's Legend at War, Nexon's MapleStory Blitz, and Space Ape's Rumble League all canned
Soft launch games don't make it
Switching Up
Switch Lite is already shaping up to be 3DS' worthy successor
Console and handheld strategy
Blizzcon 2019
Blizzard unleashes new Diablo Immortal video
Including all the things you know and love about Diablo
Complementary
Switch Lite not cannibalising Switch sales, says Nintendo
Shuntaro Furukawa was speaking to analysts
Big Guns
World of Tanks Blitz's global championship to offer $100,000 prize pool
Winners take home $50,000
Strap In
Mario Kart Tour multiplayer beta launching this December for Gold Pass subscribers
$4.99 per month subscription fee will give users access to new mode
For The Kids
Red Interactive CEO steps away to launch mobile game studio Red Games
Creating family-friendly titles for mobile and VR
Financials
Zynga achieves best quarterly revenue and bookings in 12-year history
Empires & Puzzles and Merge Dragons both drive quarter
Soft Launch
RuneScape enters early access on Android
Supports cross-play with desktop
Super Smashed It
Switch sells over 41 million as Nintendo's profits jump 53%
The power of Switch Lite
Still Flapping
Rovio's Q3 2019 sales up 5% thanks to Angry Birds Dream Blast
Angry Birds 2 had a soft summer
Victory Road
Pokemon Go collects $3 billion in lifetime revenue
2019 on track for highest revenue year to-date