Staff

Aaron Astle

Job Title

News Editor

Contact aaron.astle@steelmedianetwork.com

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

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Rovio talks optimised ad placements, player segmentation and Beacon

September 4, 2025

Rovio talks optimised ad placements, player segmentation and Beacon

Rovio principal product manager and team lead of Beacon product management Niina Ojala highlighted the uses of Beacon throughout a game’s lifecycle at PGC Helsinki 2024

Sword Art Online Variant Showdown will end service on October 30th

September 3, 2025

Showdown Shutdown

Sword Art Online Variant Showdown will end service on October 30th

Bandai Namco Entertainment is closing down the troubled title after almost three years

FreePlay talks 2bn downloads and hybridcasual's rapid growth

September 2, 2025

Genre Strategies

FreePlay talks 2bn downloads and hybridcasual's rapid growth

"We consider creatives production to be one of our core strengths," says head of publishing Ivan Spijarskiy

Destiny: Rising surpasses 1m installs on Apple’s App Store

September 2, 2025

Destiny Downloads

Destiny: Rising surpasses 1m installs on Apple’s App Store

NetEase Games’ latest release ranked as the third most-downloaded game on launch day on iOS

Anime-style dating sim Love and Deepspace surpasses $750m

September 2, 2025

Romantic Revenue

Anime-style dating sim Love and Deepspace surpasses $750m

Infold Games’ departure from the Nikki series has proven fruitful, three-quarters of the way to $1 billion

Hot Five: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby’s overseas victory, Destiny: Rising’s mobile launch, and India's games companies hit by real-money ban

September 1, 2025

Hot Five: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby’s overseas victory, Destiny: Rising’s mobile launch, and India's games companies hit by real-money ban

Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz

New release roundup: Destiny: Rising, Acecraft, Hello Mario, and more

August 29, 2025

New release roundup: Destiny: Rising, Acecraft, Hello Mario, and more

We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week

AI vs art and the evolution of creative campaigns

August 28, 2025

AI vs art and the evolution of creative campaigns

PGC Barcelona panellists discuss user acquisition and the battle against "average" results

Rec Room lays off

August 28, 2025

Loads Of Layoffs

Rec Room lays off "roughly half" of staff as priorities shift away from broad UGC

Rec Room’s mobile creation tools have struggled to produce "impactful" experiences

Lightspeed Japan opens Osaka office to recruit talent, including Capcom veterans

August 28, 2025

Lightspeed Japan opens Osaka office to recruit talent, including Capcom veterans

This is Lightspeed Studios’ second office in Japan after a Tokyo office was established in 2024

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby picks up 57% of mobile revenue outside Japan in two months since global launch

August 27, 2025

Triumphant Trot

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby picks up 57% of mobile revenue outside Japan in two months since global launch

Cygames’ horse girl racer has earned $46.8m overseas since June 26th, 2025

Roblox’s peak concurrent user count hits record 47.4m as Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden compete

August 27, 2025

Roblox’s peak concurrent user count hits record 47.4m as Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden compete

Steal a Brainrot has become the platform’s second experience to hit 20m concurrent users

August 2025’s Movers and Shakers: Playtika promotions, Appcharge's senior hire, SayGames' new head of PR, and more

August 27, 2025

August 2025’s Movers and Shakers: Playtika promotions, Appcharge's senior hire, SayGames' new head of PR, and more

Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers

Finnish games industry's revenue and profit declines in 2024 despite Supercell boon

August 26, 2025

Finnish games industry's revenue and profit declines in 2024 despite Supercell boon

Despite the declines, the Finnish games sector remained among the five largest in Europe in 2024

Square Enix to shut down Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Dragon Quest of the Stars in Japan

August 26, 2025

Stopping Support

Square Enix to shut down Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Dragon Quest of the Stars in Japan

Both games will celebrate their 10th anniversaries in the weeks before end of service, set for October 31st

Hot Five: Mobile Games Awards winners revealed, India bans real-money games, and NextBeat shutting down Beatstar

August 26, 2025

Hot Five: Mobile Games Awards winners revealed, India bans real-money games, and NextBeat shutting down Beatstar

Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz

New release roundup: Valorant Mobile, Mini Sudoku, Coffee Pool and more

August 22, 2025

New release roundup: Valorant Mobile, Mini Sudoku, Coffee Pool and more

We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business

India bans real-money games but looks to legitimise esports as competitive sport

August 21, 2025

Regulation Ramps Up

India bans real-money games but looks to legitimise esports as competitive sport

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 will ban ads and social media promotion of real-money games, whether skills-based or chance-based

August 21, 2025

Google Play policy update restricts pre-registrations, discovery and more to higher-tier fee payers

Changes also allow developers to more flexibly link to payments outside of an app

Balatro wins hearts as the People's Choice at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

August 21, 2025

Mobile Games Awards 2025

Balatro wins hearts as the People's Choice at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

Solo developer LocalThunk picks up the People’s Choice award for a $30m mobile game first intended "for myself and a few friends"

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket wins Game of the Year at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

August 20, 2025

Mobile Games Awards 2025

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket wins Game of the Year at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

Making $1 billion in 204 days makes TCG Pocket the very best, like no Pokémon mobile game ever was…

Scopely triumphs as Best Publisher at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

August 20, 2025

Mobile Games Awards 2025

Scopely triumphs as Best Publisher at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

Monopoly Go, Pokémon Go… It’s all go!

Supercell is crowned Best Developer at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

August 20, 2025

Mobile Games Awards 2025

Supercell is crowned Best Developer at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025

Record revenue, portfolio-wide growth and Clash Royale’s ‘Brawl Stars moment’ help Supercell come out on top

Moshi Monsters’ second comeback Kickstarter hits £50,000 goal in six hours

August 19, 2025

Moshi Milestone

Moshi Monsters’ second comeback Kickstarter hits £50,000 goal in six hours

The original Kickstarter fell short of its target, but the new, lower goal was promptly achieved

Atlas partners with Google Cloud as its AI platform enters closed beta

August 19, 2025

Platform Partnership

Atlas partners with Google Cloud as its AI platform enters closed beta

"If you haven't started putting AI in your development pipeline, you should probably do that," says Google Cloud global director for games Jack Buser

Supercell hires Drussila Hollanda as first-ever head of new games

August 19, 2025

Supercell hires Drussila Hollanda as first-ever head of new games

The role will include cultivating cultures for developing new games and putting together the best teams

Games are Make-A-Wish’s fastest-growing wish category, but the industry has

August 19, 2025

Wants And Wishes

Games are Make-A-Wish’s fastest-growing wish category, but the industry has "taken a backseat" since the pandemic

Make-A-Wish International charitable gaming and creators community manager April Stallings talks Infinite Wishes, opportunities for developers to get more involved, and her plans for Gamescom 2025

Safe In Our World launches first games industry mental health accreditation

August 19, 2025

Workplace Wellbeing

Safe In Our World launches first games industry mental health accreditation

The Mental Health Star Accreditation will award companies for exemplary mental health and wellbeing practices

Publisher Lyrical Games to work with devs

August 18, 2025

Risks And Rewards

Publisher Lyrical Games to work with devs "taking big creative risks"

The new company has been formed by veterans from Private Division, Humble Games and Devolver Digital

Roblox shares decline 6% after new lawsuits raise child safety concerns

August 18, 2025

Shares And Safety

Roblox shares decline 6% after new lawsuits raise child safety concerns

Shares have hit a two-month low but remain up year-over-year

Pixel United veterans launch Plan A Games to invest in casual, midcore and social casino

August 18, 2025

Pixel United veterans launch Plan A Games to invest in casual, midcore and social casino

Gary Rosenfeld, Huy Nguyen and Michael Lang bring their experience from RAID: Shadow Legends and more to help games overcome UA challenges

Metaplay’s new Starter plan lets devs use same backend infrastructure as games like Merge Mansion

August 18, 2025

Bringing The Backend

Metaplay’s new Starter plan lets devs use same backend infrastructure as games like Merge Mansion

Metaplay co-founder and CO Petri Kero believes too many devs have been "priced out of using top-tier backend solutions"

Hot Five: Konami's games division grows 14%, Fortnite to return to iOS in Australia, and AppsFlyer reportedly in acquisition talks worth up to $4bn

August 18, 2025

Hot Five: Konami's games division grows 14%, Fortnite to return to iOS in Australia, and AppsFlyer reportedly in acquisition talks worth up to $4bn

Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz

Pocket Gamer’s ultimate Gamescom 2025 party guide

August 17, 2025

Pocket Gamer’s ultimate Gamescom 2025 party guide

Making the most of every event around Devcom and Gamescom 2025

New release roundup: LEGO Bluey, Dragon Spira, Once Human: RaidZone, and more

August 15, 2025

New release roundup: LEGO Bluey, Dragon Spira, Once Human: RaidZone, and more

We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week

Sega sales down 23% as Rovio falls short of expectations

August 14, 2025

Sega sales down 23% as Rovio falls short of expectations

The Sonic owner has forecast 42% annual growth in its free-to-play sales

August 13, 2025

"100% of IAP is up for hijacking" in DTC 2.0

Appcharge chief marketing officer Gil Tov-Ly spoke at PGC Barcelona about web shops, web games, alternative app stores and more

Appcharge raises $58m to scale up with growing DTC demands

August 13, 2025

Appcharge raises $58m to scale up with growing DTC demands

The direct-to-consumer platform has raised $89m to date, currently powering stores for more than 100 games

Epic Games hails

August 12, 2025

Epic Games hails "win for developers and consumers" as Fortnite to return to iOS in Australia

After five years, a court ruling has determined Fortnite and the Epic Games Store can return to iOS

Roblox asks

August 12, 2025

Protective Partnership

Roblox asks "vigilante groups" to leave child protection to experts, AI and law enforcement

The platform is partnered with law enforcement and has AI-based Sentinel to detect signs of exploitation

Mind Candy cancels Moshi Monsters Kickstarter as it targets campaign relaunch

August 11, 2025

Mind Candy cancels Moshi Monsters Kickstarter as it targets campaign relaunch

The team is taking a pause to reflect on fan feedback almost two months into the original campaign

Hot Five: Clash Royale’s Brawl Stars moment, AppLovin vs Unity, and the NextBeat team joins Duolingo

August 11, 2025

Hot Five: Clash Royale’s Brawl Stars moment, AppLovin vs Unity, and the NextBeat team joins Duolingo

Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz

New release roundup: Talking Tom & Friends: World, Mecharashi, Farlight 84 and more

New release roundup: Talking Tom & Friends: World, Mecharashi, Farlight 84 and more

We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business

Games subscription opportunities and challenges after

Subscription Strategy

Games subscription opportunities and challenges after "people have been trained to play for free"

GameHouse CEO Simonetta Lulli spoke at PGC Barcelona about lessons to learn from other industries

How Talofa Games' Monster Walk aims to stand out from Pokémon Go

Fitness Formula

How Talofa Games' Monster Walk aims to stand out from Pokémon Go

CEO Jenny Xu discusses raising $6.3 million, making exercise accessible and fun, and why it's targeting a Gen Z audience

Talking Tom & Friends: World launches globally with emphasis on sandbox experiences

Talking Tom & Friends: World launches globally with emphasis on sandbox experiences

The title is the second of three Talking Tom mobile games slated for 2025

Is Clash Royale having its Brawl Stars moment?

Is Clash Royale having its Brawl Stars moment?

This July, monthly spend grew by 251% Y/Y and hit its highest since December 2017

The Pokémon Company defends TCG Pocket illustrator in artwork fiasco

The Pokémon Company defends TCG Pocket illustrator in artwork fiasco

The card production team mistakenly provided artist Sie Nanahara with the wrong documents when designing Ho-Oh art

Nintendo Switch 2’s launch month sales more than double original Switch’s

Nintendo Switch 2’s launch month sales more than double original Switch’s

Over 5.8m Switch 2s were sold in the console’s first 26 days, helping drive net sales up 132%

Capcom generates just 1% of net sales from mobile as segment falls 50% Y/Y

Capcom generates just 1% of net sales from mobile as segment falls 50% Y/Y

The Japanese developer highlighted PC and console games over mobile in its latest financials