Working On Web3
Mighty Bear Games raises $10 million to launch Web3 games
Investment led by Framework Ventures
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
Moving To Mobile
New free mobile web games platform from YoYo Games and Opera
Opera GX browser games to deliver 'native-like' performance on mobile
Release Reignition
Diablo Immortal launches in China after 20 million worldwide download milestone
Release follows delays of more than a month
Political Puzzler
Papers, Please confirmed for mobile release on August 5
Second PC indie favourite to hit mobile years after initial release, following Into the Breach's mobile debut through Netflix Games
Ready To Launch
Diablo Immortal nearing launch in China after delay
Sources claim delays were a result of social media post taken as criticism of China’s president
Anniversary Achievements
Outfit7’s My Talking Angela 2 celebrates first anniversary and 300 million downloads
Anniversary celebrations include game update and song release
Making Changes
Google Play to allow alternative billing systems, but only for non-gaming apps
Changes to be made as a result of the Digital Markets Act
A Studio In Seattle
NetEase Games’ new studio Jar of Sparks hopes to build "new franchises"
Founding member of Xbox Live Jerry Hook to lead the studio
Contests Galore
Supersonic Superstars 2022 winners announced as ironSource’s SuperSonic SuperSummer begins
Tall Man Run and Move Animals win first and second prize
Swedish Success
Sensor Tower: Embracer Group takes the top spot for Q2 Google Play downloads in Europe
Ranking fifth of all publishers worldwide for the quarter
South Korea's Gamer Surplus
Newzoo finds three-quarters of South Koreans are gamers, and mobile is the most popular platform
59% of gamers in South Korea play on mobile
The Power Of Partners
Netflix and Microsoft partner for new subscription plan
The ad-supported Netflix subscription plan aims to provide "more options" to consumers
Supersonic Speed
Supersonic Studios’ Danielle Cohen Reich promoted to VP of gaming at ironSource
Reich has spent 5.5 years with ironSource and subsidiaries
Bringing The Blockchain
Unity certifies Pocketful of Quarters to bring blockchain SDK to developers
Using the Quarters currency with optional integration into developers’ games
Rules And Regulations
Tencent confirms strict gaming restrictions for minors in China will continue
Strict regulations attributed to stagnation of growth in Chinese tech industries
Outside The Stores
Popular mobile games are bypassing Apple, Google fees for in-app purchases via web stores
GameRefinery explores how Clash of Clans, Marvel Strike Force, Star Trek: Fleet Comamnd and others are circumventing app store fees
Creating Connections
Dream Games, thatgamecompany: building iconic IP creates essential emotional attachments
Royal Match and Sky creators Soner Aydemir and Jenova Chen share their views on connecting with players at Index Gaming Summit
The End Of An App
Tencent is closing its mobile games portal WeGame
PC version expected to remain online
Acquisition Announcement
Kongregate acquires Gamaga to work closely on NFT and blockchain games
Gamaga’s expertise is in 2D and pixel graphic artwork
Furthering Funding
Konvoy launches new $150 million fund to invest in early-stage game companies
Previous investments made in Axie Infinity, Gamefam, Legends of Learning, and more
Pgc Toronto
TransPerfect: Importance of audio and tools in a successful media strategy
Meet the mobile games and Web3 experts at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto on July 6-7 2022
Deepening Development
Resolution Games opens its first US studio after record growth
After five consecutive years of profitability
Veering To Vr
NetEase takes its first steps into Polish games market with latest investment
Polish studio Something Random receives "several million dollars"
A Desire To Distribute
King of Avalon launches on alternative app stores with Flexion
The third FunPlus title to be published by Flexion
Passing The Peak
Games industry must weather the recession, predicts Ampere Analysis
Inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cited as causes of the fall
Rising Up The Ranks
Michael Lenz promoted to newly created CAO role at InnoGames
Responsibilities range from video ads to data science
Gaming Or Gambling
Six parties in the Netherlands seek a new loot box ban
The motion claims loot boxes are a "form of gambling" that could disrupt families
Spotlight From The Store
Smaller European developers are given the spotlight in new App Store series
Developers selected on the basis of growth potential and more
Ready To Role
Alyssa Walles appointed IGDA Foundation executive director
Taking on the role from interim executive director Sarah Spiers
Turbulent Times
Research and Markets report finds China’s playerbase fell to 706 million in 2021
China Mobile Games 2022 report predicts mobile and PC games revenue will reach $55.23 billion in 2026
United No Longer
Unity lays off 4% of workforce following "resourcing levels against our company priorities"
Layoffs have impacted at least 150 Unity employees in Denmark, the US and Canada
People's Platform
Soba raises $13.6 million in seed round to help gamers make games
User-generated content platform now in closed Alpha
Bouncing Into Basketball
Niantic partners with the NBA to create an AR basketball game
Basketball in the "real-world metaverse"
Immersive Immortalis
Arm’s flagship Immortalis GPU to allow hardware-based ray tracing on mobile
Arm’s first GPU signifies player interest in 3D worlds
Court Case Conflict
US Supreme Court refuses to hear Apple’s appeal on Qualcomm patents
Qualcomm requests that justices reject the appeal
Shutdown
101 Studio becomes ByteDance’s first games unit closure
Some staff will reportedly transfer to Bytedance's games division, Nuverse
Tencent Titles
Tencent Games revealed 44 products and 26 game updates at SPARK 2022
Games include League of Legends Esports Manager and Return to Empire
Moving Metaverses
Jon Vlassopulos steps from Roblox to join Dubit advisory board
Responsibilities include advising on metaverse strategies and brand partnerships, whilst retaining advisory capacity at Roblox
Brand Benefit
Layer aims to streamline processes between games and brands
Matchmaking IP holders with game developers within its platform
Bounty Hunting
CloudFeather Games raises $1.25 million in seed funding round
"Bounty Hunting" SDK aims to tap into competitive side of gamers
Reality Rebrand
Reality Gaming Group rebrands to Reality+ with move to full-service Web3
NFTs and blockchain using "side-chain" of Ethereum mainnet
Subscription Prediction
Ericsson projects more than 1 billion 5G subscriptions in 2022
1.1 billion prediction tweaked following invasion of Ukraine
Hardware Happenings
Tencent rumoured to have entered hardware space with XR ambitions
Three sources suggest an extended reality business is in the works
Chipset Court Case
Qualcomm wins four-year battle against $1 billion fine from EU antitrust regulators
Following accusations of paying Apple for exclusive use of Qualcomm chipsets
Cause To Captivate
User acquisition to be dominated by three key factors: predictive analytics, automation, and data privacy
Tempr. report suggests casual mobile games will especially benefit from predictive analysis
Multimedia... Maybe?
Nexon eyes a multimedia western expansion for its biggest franchises
Discussions between the publisher and independent film and television production company AGBO to translate MapleStory and Dungeon & Fighter beyond games
About An Acquisition
Uncapped acquires gaming finance provider Sugar for undisclosed amount
New brand name "Sugar powered by Uncapped"
Prediction Positivity
McKinsey & Company report predicts $5 trillion in metaverse earnings by 2030
Between $2 trillion and $2.6 trillion could come from e-commerce
Investment With Intent
MSA Novo invests in Tamatem Games' Chinese expansion
New partnership forged between companies to bring "top-tier" mobile games to the Arabic-speaking market
Bringing The Beats
A mobile games and music industries first: Beatstar releases early exclusive of Black Eyed Peas, Shakira new single
Space Ape's Simon Hade speaks with PocketGamer.biz on how the new single became available to play through Beatstar two days ahead of global release