Military Move
14% of Playtika’s Israeli employees summoned to military reserves
Approximately 150 of Playtika Israel’s 1,100 employees have joined the country’s military reserves
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
Gravity Gravitas
Gravity’s mobile revenues rise 95.7% YoY with worldwide Ragnarok success
YoY results show a strong performance in 2023, but figures are down from the last quarter
Web3 World
SBI Holdings reveals ¥100BN fund to bolster Web3 in Japan
Sega and Square Enix are already well underway on their blockchain journeys, and up to 200 other devs could join them through SBI’s support
Rising Revenues
Nexon’s Q3 2023 smashes records with 78% revenue rise in North America and Europe
This marks the sixth consecutive quarterly report with double-digit growth
Meta Manoeuvres
Tencent backs Meta’s VR push into China after a 14 year ban
Meta and Tencent are teaming up to bring a new lower-spec VR headset to China, pitched between Quest 2 and 3
Uk Acquisitions
BFI: More than 50% of UK games developers are now owned by overseas entities
The US accounts for 49% of overseas transactions followed by China’s 15%
Publishing Power
Top Chinese publishers accounted for 38.7% of October’s mobile revenue
Tencent, NetEase and miHoYo continue to triumph and Goat Games rises up the ranks
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell’s latest beta, Gardenscapes’ alternate distribution and a reset for Unity
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from 3D Zynga puzzles to Warhammer card battles
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Zeal For Zelda
With a Legend of Zelda movie on the way, why not a mobile game too?
Zelda's link to the future… Isn't it time that Nintendo gave the series a chance on mobile?
Download Deluge
Build a Queen’s download dominance highlights app store disparity
Build a Queen was September’s most downloaded Play Store game but didn't hit the top 20 on Apple's App Store
Making Money
The Big Games Industry Employment Survey explores salaries, satisfaction and AI use across Europe
Median salaries across professions reveal today's most lucrative gaming roles
Arcade Access
Backbone's holiday promotion includes three months of free Apple Arcade
New and existing customers are now eligible for three months’ access to Apple Arcade
Financial Findings
Square Enix’s IPs may be flagging on mobile but net sales are 5.3% up
Square Enix’s latest financial report reveals falling mobile revenue but free-to-play, microtransactions and subscription plans aim to turn the ship around
Funding Fun
GFR Fund to invest $53.5M in games, generative AI, tech and entertainment
Pre-seed investments are the focus, with Fund III also set to bolster prior investees
Early Results
Warcraft Rumble approaches $4M in four days with almost half of all revenue from the US
The numbers are in. Blizzard’s latest makes waves on mobile despite being locked out of China
Saudi Foresight
Animoca Brands partners with Saudi Arabia in $50M deal to bring Web3 to NEOM
The future of NEOM just got a Web3 update
Franchise Fortune
Monster Hunter Now is officially a hit, but is it the next Pokémon Go?
Almost two months on from Niantic’s latest launch, we take a deep dive into Capcom’s beloved franchise and promising new collaboration
Sega's Sonic Foresight
Sega Sammy Group teases first "Rovio x Sega" mobile game
The group’s financial report highlights future IP ambitions for Sonic, Persona 5 and more
Meeting Mo.co
With the beta period over, what's next for Supercell’s newest soft launch, mo.co
Now is the perfect time to ponder whether mo.co has what it takes to meet Supercell's exacting standards
Hot Five
Hot Five: Web3 tactics gaming, FunPlus’ latest soft launch and a bunch of new investments
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from time travelling Brits to cat rescuers
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Favourable Foresight
Indian gaming market predictions fall by $1 billion, but steady growth continues
The region’s previous $8.6 billion projection has fallen to $7.5 billion
A Happy Birthday
Goddess of Victory: Nikke celebrates an incredibly lucrative first anniversary
After a year on the market Shift Up’s star performer comes out victorious despite complaints and controversy
Brazil Budge
PTW to expand into Brazil, producing the company's 44th office
Joao Albani will lead the new office expected to employ upwards of 100 local workers
Acquisition Achieved
Modern Times Group takes 100% ownership of PlaySimple
Modern Times Group has seen a successful 2023 and goes from strength to strength with this latest deal
Linking Locations
Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link’s closed beta confirms geolocation gameplay
Square Enix has confirmed an upcoming beta test for iOS, with an Android test to follow
Adventurous Achievement
Seven Knights Idle Adventure pushes Netmarble to second biggest Korean mobile publisher
Idle Adventure has generated $40 million just under two months of global launch
Lawsuit Landing
AviaGames accused of using bots to win its own cash prizes
A lawsuit from Big Run Studios and Skillz alleges that AviaGames Bingo Clash not only copied their Blackout Bingo but use bots to deprive winners
Modern Times, Mo' Money
Modern Times Group Q3 results show "even more encouraging" growth
MTG’s Q3 financials buck trends to reveal 6% year-on-year revenue growth
Japanese Journey
SinoAlice to close down in Japan two months after SinoAlice Global's end date
Another Square Enix mobile game approaches the end of the road as the Japanese game - thought safe - is similarly getting the chop
Finding Funds
Riot veteran MJ Wong prepares Web3 AstrArk for gamers who "should be better treated"
$5.4 million has been raised in funding towards the launch of two Web3 games
Looking For Loyalty
RPGs have the most loyal fans, but how do different genres drive monetisation?
Mistplay’s 2023 Mobile Gaming Loyalty Report assesses which genres and models are working best
Homa Hire
Homa appoints Michal Kowal as director of publishing to strengthen hybrid and hypercasual games
Kowal joins after eight years at BoomBit and 12 in the industry
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell’s mo.co launch, Netflix’s gaming strategy, and an AI seed round
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from Cut the Rope successor to synthwave strategies
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Ai Advancement
Harmony Games raises $3M in seed round to build an AI puzzle game
The seed round was led by Griffin Gaming Partners
Aplha Agents
Richard Garfield’s auto battler Chaos Agents enters pre-alpha testing
The game was shown off on-stream ahead of the pre-alpha’s launch
Job News
Kwalee appoints Firebrand’s Mark Greenshields to VP of Bangalore studio
Mark Greenshields’ cross-platform experience is expected to be of great benefit to Kwalee
Intriguing Invitation
Supercell launches eagerly awaited new game mo.co in the US
The Finnish studio has rolled out invites to US gamers to try out its latest game
Mobile Manoeuvre
The next Dynasty Warriors game is on mobile, and it’s soft-launching today
Dynasty Warriors M is in essence a mobile port of 2018’s Dynasty Warriors 9
Kingdom Come
Square Enix drops Kingdom Hearts Missing Link tease after nine-month silence
The fan-favourite mobile spin could prove to be Square’s missing link after multiple middling releases
French Findings
French foresight: Only 3% of France’s games were hypercasual last year
The SNJV’s survey reflects upon 2022’s state of play in France
Sales Success
Bilibili passes 300m monthly users as Dead Cells hits five million Chinese sales
Five million paid installs in two years, with a big boost this August
Bakugan Brawl
Bakugan Brawling hits Roblox: Bringing big-name brands to the metaverse
Spin Master EVP and global chief marketing officer Jeremy Tucker discusses delivering IP to attract younger audiences while keeping faithful fans on side
Roblox Reduction
Roblox China faces layoffs as the company undergoes "evaluation"
It's safe to say that the launch of the Chinese version of Roblox, LuoBuLesi, didn’t quite go to plan
Bowing Out
Dragon Quest Monsters: Super Light reaching "service completion" after a decade
AKA Square Enix has another mobile game on the chopping block… But at least this one has stood the distance
Strategic Streaming
Netflix plans to win "The Big Prize" of gaming
Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, and VP of finance Spencer Wang revealed the future of gaming on the platform
Invest To Win
AppQuantum’s Core is the King will invest up to $1M in selected hybridcasual mobile devs
Core is the King is their new programme to support developers making hybridcasual games
Walking Whereabouts
Monster Hunter Now set to "surpass" Pokémon Go as geolocation games get moving in Japan
Sensor Tower’s latest report reveals location-based games’ performance in Japan