Hard Pill To Swallow
Dr. Mario World’s first month revenue is Nintendo’s lowest on mobile to date
$1.4 million in revenue places the puzzler last out of all five major releases
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
Legal Advice
Update: Annapurna Pictures seeks bankruptcy protection
The company owns Annapurna Interactive, publisher of indie titles such as Florence and Donut County
Loot Boxes
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony will now require developers to disclose loot box odds
Agreement has been made for odds to be shown by the end of 2020
Under Investigation
Report claims Activision Blizzard has avoided taxes on billions
The Candy Crush publisher moved $5.59 billion to subsidiaries in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013 to 2017
Closing Doors
Square Enix shutting down Star Ocean Mobile
Less than two years into game being available worldwide
Red Hot
Angry Birds film sequel currently sits as highest-rated video game movie ever
Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus pegs birds follow up at 82 per cent
Financials
Animoca Brands posts highest revenue quarter in company’s history
Company took $5.8million in sales during Q2 2019
Indie Spotlight
Platonic Games co-founders on risking it all to form the studio
"It’s going to be our biggest and riskiest project so far"
Joy
Pop-up Pokemon Centre capturing London this October
We hope to see you again soon
Blockchain
nWay launches new blockchain application allowing devs to implement monetisation solutions
“We believe this will allow games developed on nWayPlay platform to run game economies in a far more flexible way”
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Dragon Raja helps Tencent claim top four highest grossing spots in China
Rankings from July 22nd to 28th
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Futureplay's Chris Wilson on going from food apps to marketing manager
"Though food tech and gaming are very different industries on the face of it, there are many similarities in the foundations of app marketing"
Indie Mavens
What monetisation models work best for indie developers in the current mobile games market?
The Indie Mavens share their thoughts on the different monetisation models on offer to small studios
Ramping Up
Ustwo begins work on Monument Valley 3
New game director needed to lead “creative vision”
Remember To Subscribe
Google testing new Apple Arcade-like Android subscription service Play Pass
Monthly cost of $4.99
Twinkies Sold Separately
Sony Pictures and Tilting Point 'nut up' for new Zombieland RPG on mobile
Company partners with Tilting Point and Metagame Studio on project
Financials
Zynga’s strong portfolio gives firm best-ever revenue and bookings for Q2
Empires & Puzzles and Merge Dragons contributed $70 million
Acquisition
Ubisoft acquires majority stakes in Green Panda Games
70 per cent stake in hyper-casual mobile specialist
Partnership
My.Games partners with iDreamSky for mutual global expansion
“For us, this deal represents a valuable opportunity to engage with players in the Asian market”
European Expansion
Interview: Hyper-casual specialist Voodoo opens new Istanbul studio
“The move to Istanbul follows recent studio openings and that growth really demonstrates our drive to develop the sector and expand the hyper-casual market”
Sensor Tower
India tops worldwide mobile downloads for Q2 2019 with 5.4 billion
13 per cent increase from Q1 2019
Mobile Here
EA confirms Apex Legends is on track for mobile
Battle royale on course to arrive in China too
Financial Results
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes nears 80 million players but EA’s mobile revenue drops by 16%
The company earned net revenue of $1.21 billion for this fiscal year
Relocation Relocation
Red Kite Games relocates to Leeds
“We’re really excited to take Red Kite to the next level in a city full of talent”
Frenemies
Epic Games “one of our best partners” says PUBG Corp
“We talk all the time”
Deuces Wild
KamaGames expands portfolio with new social casino title Video Poker
“A core focus for us in 2019 was to create a diverse portfolio of standalone apps that would complement our already existing titles”
Mobile Up
Nintendo Switch sales continue to be strong as hardware reaches 36.87 million
Software builds to 210.13 million with Mario Maker 2 selling 2.42 in three days
Didn’t You Get The Memo?
Nintendo offers free Joy Con repairs as firm is struck with class action lawsuit
“We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly”
Be Connected Be Discovered
Facebook tops mobile app publishers worldwide for Q2 2019
Google dominates the App Store however
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent’s Game for Peace reclaims top spot from Honor of Kings in China
Rankings from July 15th to 21st
East Meets West
East Meets West: Supercell pulls out of Vietnam, Pokemon partners with Tencent and Animoca Brands is making an Addams Family game
Keeping up with the news from the world's most influential games market
Hot Five
Facebook pulls Instant Games from Messenger, Zynga taps classic major IP and whatever happened to Wizards Unite?
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Live And Kicking
One year on: Next Games on the evolution of location-based title The Walking Dead: Our World
We catch up with executive producer Joonas Viitala to discuss the game's performance to date
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Alike Studio on developing successful premium games and creating Very Little Nightmares
This week we put the spotlight on twin brothers Xavi and Marc Terris and the team at Alike
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Big Pixel Studios' Lorchan Trapp on how to be an environment artist
"People seem to assume there's a hidden 'make art button' in the software we use and don't understand that it actually takes a lot of time and skill to develop good art"
Deja Moo
Zynga taps classic major IP for newly soft-launched FarmVille 3 - Animals
Farming simulator has made its way to Android in the Philippines and Thailand
Just Like Magic
Niantic and EE partner to bring Wizards Unite bonuses to the UK
Inclusive data, sponsored Inns and licensed merchandise
Npd Numbers
Nintendo Switch US sales top PlayStation and Xbox in June
“Nintendo Switch is the only platform showing year-on-year growth”
Medically Sound
Dr. Mario World encapsulates five million downloads in first week
Half a million dollars generated from player spending
Best Canaries
Seriously partners with Norwich City football club for Best Fiends sleeve sponsorship
“The first character ever to feature permanently on a Premier League shirt”
Kyoto Drift
Nintendo Switch owners are suffering Joy-Con drift issues
This follows Joy-Con desyncing fault near consoles launch
Live And Kicking
Four years on: Bethesda on the mutation of surprise hit Fallout Shelter
"Many decisions we made with The Elder Scrolls: Blades were based on our learnings from Fallout Shelter"
Decade Of Publishing
Merge Games opens $4 million indie games fund
“It has always been fresh ideas that have made the business thrive”
Esports Funding
Pixion Games raises $2 million to fund mobile esports development
“We are seeing a re-segmentation of casual players looking for a more core experience on mobile”
Ongoing Partnership
Snap and Baidu renew sales partnership to continue reach in Asia
“Our partnership with Snap Inc. provides Chinese companies new avenues to expand their businesses through Snapchat advertising”
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Level designer Jay Foreman on going from Kent Police force to making games at King
"Suddenly I’d gone from policing the streets of Kent to policing the mean streets of Stormwind as a game master for Blizzard"
Nfts
PGC Hong Kong: WAX strategic advisor Malcolm Caselle to host talk on the purpose of digital goods and NFTs
Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019 will take place on July 17th to 18th
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Honor of Kings is only the third top grosser in China as it faces a new challenger
Rankings from July 1st to July 7th
Medical Bills
Dr. Mario World prescribes two million downloads in 72 hours
Game generates a disappointing $100,000 in revenue from player spending
Nexus Interview
Wargaming Nexus wants to find the next Fortnite on mobile
"For the near future, we plan to keep joining forces with external studios that are well-versed in Unreal Engine and willing to shoot for the stars alongside us"