Shire Subscription
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings Game is on its way to mobile for Netflix subscribers
Releasing in fellowship between Wētā Workshop and Take-Two subsidiary Private Division next year
Staff
Aaron Astle
Job Title
News Editor
About Aaron is the News Editor at PG.biz and has an honours degree in Creative Writing.
Having spent far too many hours playing Pokémon, he's now on a quest to be the very best like no one ever was...at putting words in the right order.
Articles by Aaron Astle
Pgc Helsinki
Get development tips and publishing deal insights and Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
PGC Helsinki takes place next week on October 1st and 2nd
Ai Adventures
Duolingo to introduce AI-powered Adventures months after job cuts
Duolingo reveals Adventures and Video Call, new learning modes using AI technology
Top Grosser
Dungeon & Fighter: Mobile surpasses $800 million in four months
The beat ‘em up made almost $10 million in a single day this June
Sleepy Smartwatch
Pokémon Sleep sleepwalks to $120 million in time for smartwatch update
Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Fitbit and Google Pixel Watch are now compatible with the app
Pre-seed Power
22 year old raises $3.7 million for Roblox tool platform Gamebeast
CEO Zander Brumbaugh is building his no-code tooling platform for game devs and the military
Brand Boost
Vivid Games secures $1.36 million strategic investor deal to grow Real Boxing brand
The Polish developer seeks to grow Real Boxing’s presence in Europe
Afk In Asia
AFK Journey surpasses $150 million with Asian market dominance
Chinese players contribute 22% of AFK Journey’s revenue despite being late to the starting line
Hot Five
Hot Five: Pokémon’s Palworld lawsuit, Playtika’s acquisition, and Ubisoft gets workers back to the office
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Populus Run, Pocket Oasis, Jenny LeClue, and more
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Pokemon Vs Palworld
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company file lawsuit against Palworld eight months later
Audiences quickly compared Palworld to Pokémon in character designs and certain game mechanics
Mobile Matters
Mobile games an "integral element" of EA’s growth strategy but barely acknowledged at Investor Day
CFO Stuart Canfield did, however, discuss mobile’s potential to reach a wider audience
Ai Ahead
EA's Andrew Wilson: AI is at the very core of our business
EA CEO Andrew Wilson talks three strategic categories for the company’s 100+ AI projects
Air Ai
EA reveals experimental Project Air and states AI "is not merely a buzzword for us"
A short demonstration was given during EA’s Investor Day 2024 showcasing the new mobile experiment
Content Creation
User-generated content key to EA’s growth strategy towards "over one billion" players
EA fans have created 60 million hours of user-generated content in the past year
Copyright Case
IBM awarded $44.9 million in patent infringement lawsuit against Zynga
Patents have now expired and no changes to the publisher's titles will be required
Repeat Revenue
Less than 2% of mobile gamers make an in-app purchase
Unity report finds that most repeat purchases happen within 30 days of original spending
Ad Appeal
Unity: Global rewarded ad engagement rose by 3.2% in 2023
Unity’s Mobile Growth and Monetisation Report 2024 finds 38.1% of users will watch ads when out of resources
Green Gaming
PUBG Mobile, Beatstar, Hay Day, Merge Mansion and more take part in Green Game Jam
The fifth Green Game Jam looks to tackle pollution and climate change
Profit Plummet
Keywords Studios makes $18.7 million loss despite 6.6% revenue rise
Sinking operating profit has been attributed to "several exceptional items"
Flappy Fans
Flappy Bird is making a comeback but original creator isn’t involved
"Fans" at the Flappy Bird Foundation are rereleasing the 2013 hit but original creator Doug Nguyen is publicly distancing from it
Loads Of Layoffs
Microsoft’s latest layoffs reportedly impact Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile and Warcraft Rumble teams
Warzone: Mobile has generated less than 10% of Call of Duty: Mobile’s revenue in respective first six months
Hot Five
Hot Five: iPhone 16 reveal, Monster Hunter’s mega year, and The Elder Scrolls: Castles out now
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Monster Milestone
How Monster Hunter Now claimed $225m in its first year through innovation, inclusion and evolving monetisation
Capcom’s monster IP and Niantic’s location-based gaming know-how prove a winning formula
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from an Elder Scrolls spinoff to competitive cosplay
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Portfolio Power Up
52 Entertainment welcomes "millions of new players" through Blackout acquisition
The casual games dev behind Word Search Quest and Bubble Shooter Rainbow joins 52 Entertainment’s portfolio
Philosophy Focused
Mother Games raises $5 million to fuel its games ambitions
Its debut title Le Zoo is veering away from "traditional mobile games that exploit the dopamine system to addict players"
Platform Power
Live ops platform Magify raises €1 million to enhance AI and reach new markets
Magify has raised further funds towards democratisation, product development and more
Out Now
The Elder Scrolls: Castles is out now as a "spiritual successor" to Fallout Shelter
Bethesda’s latest game opts for simulation and in-app purchases over grand action RPGs
Deep Dissatisfaction
Ubisoft minority investor calls for new CEO, studio sales and company to go private
AJ Investments’ open letter to Ubisoft is concerned about Ubisoft’s reputation among gamers
Organic Opportunities
Empire Games will function as "new external team" after Huuuge Games investment
Huuuge sees potential in Empire to contribute to its organic growth
Profit Plummet
Huuuge Games’ profits down 30.6% YoY but top games hit major milestones
Despite declines in revenue and profit this Q2 Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino both surpassed $2 billion in lifetime revenue
Real Revenue
Roblox developers to earn real currency on PC later this year
Developers will be able to earn real currency directly rather than save and convert Robux
Ambition Ahead
Roblox is on a mission towards one billion DAUs and "10% of all gaming revenue"
a party system plan has been revealed in an effort to drive player communication
Hot Five
Hot Five: Final Fantasy falls, Unity shares down to decade low, but Coin Master hits the jackpot
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from risky roguelikes to engaging elevators
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Masters Monetisation
Pokémon Masters EX turns five: Lessons from an IP and monetisation masterpiece
Half a decade on, as the mobile games industry evolves, so too does the fine art of monetisation…
Fashionably Fifth
Infinity Nikki due to launch later this year as series goes cross-platform
Infold Games’ fifth entry in the series will expand from mobile to PC and PlayStation
Double Jump
double jump.tokyo raises $10 million to bolster web3 games development
The Series D funding round was led by SBI Investment
Flagship Fishing
Ten Square Games profits up 22.8% as restructure takes effect
Fishing Clash continues to generate more than half of all net bookings, but Wings of Heroes makes a growing contribution
Dynamax Debut
Pokémon Go to introduce Dynamax battles after a five-year wait
Previously exclusive to 2019 Switch titles Sword and Shield, Dynamax battles are finally making the move to mobile
Partnership Power
Aghanim forms a strategic partnership with Adyen to deliver high-value payment processing capabilities
Two fintech firms join forces to offer games publishers cost-effective payment systems
Jujutsu Out Of Japan
Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade is going global with a 10 million pre-registration goal
SumZap’s mobile RPG launched in Japan in November 2023, and is planned for worldwide release by the end of 2024
Supercell's Superfest
Supercell to bring Clash of Clans, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars championships together in historic SuperFest
This new event, SuperFest 2024, marks the first time all three games will hold their World Finals together
Anime Appeal
Goddess of Victory: Nikke shifts up Japanese charts with Evangelion crossover
The crossover event generated $1.35 million on mobile on its first day
Hot Five
Hot Five: Squad Busters undergoes radical changes, Apple’s NFC update, and the winners of the Mobile Games Awards 2024 are…
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from merging minimalism to card-based combat
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
A Meat-free Mission
Subway Surfers supports Playing for the Planet with in-game veggie event
Sybo hopes to see players ditch the meat and eat more plant-based meals
Premium Pockets
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp to close, but fans can continue playing… For a fee…
A new version of Nintendo’s mobile Animal Crossing title will be available for a one-time fee
Mobile Games Awards
HoYoverse is in the Zone, winning Best Developer at Mobile Games Awards 2024
Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero… What’s not to love?