Spending On Subscriptions
Liftoff and AppsFlyer report considers untapped potential in subscription-model mobile games
11% of subscription-model apps are games
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
European Expansion
Wargaming opens new studios in Poland and Serbia
Officially pulled out of Russia and Belarus
Predicting And Projecting
Sensor Tower: player spending on mobile games reaching $117 billion by 2026
Apps to outpace games in terms of spending, but gaming predicted to remain the largest individual category.
Browser Bash
Google and Apple’s mobile browser dominance investigated by UK regulator
UK competition regulator announces plans to take action against the tech giants' hold over browsers and cloud gaming
Financial Findings
Netmarble’s Q1 2022 results show 43% fall in EBITDA year-over-year
Casual games found to be Netmarble’s most lucrative genre
Next Netflix Games
The Queen’s Gambit mobile game and more announced during Netflix’s Geeked Week
Working with developers such as Ripstone, Nanobit, and Chimera Entertainment
New To Netflix
Desta: The Memories Between announced in Netflix partnership
A new title in partnership between ustwo and Netflix
Subscription Success
GameRefinery: creative battle pass implementation found in 60% of the top grossing mobile games
Gacha and battle pass elements are integrating into many genres
Eclipsing Events
E3 rivalled as Geoff Keighley confirms physical Summer Game Fest for 2023
Next Summer Game Fest announced to be digital and in-person
Going Global
Honor of Kings global mobile launch confirmed for 2022
Honor of Kings is confirmed to be coming to launching globally later this year on mobile.
Polish Expansion
Amber to open Polish studio following 56% revenue growth
Studio to be headed by game designer Greg Ciach
Stakes And Shares
Saudi Arabia acquires 8.1% of Embracer Group with $1 billion stake
Via subsidiary Savvy Gaming Group
Growing Into Germany
iCandy sets sights on the metaverse with a 60% stake in Flying Sheep Studios
Total consideration for the stake is $2.14 million
Developer Deals
Keywords Studios enters conditional $32.5 million acquisition of Forgotten Empires
Maximum value of the acquisition, with initial cash consideration of $15.75 million
May Merriment
Apex Legends Mobile and Ni No Kuni boost US mobile performance in May, GameRefinery finds
Report analyses mobile sectors in US, Japan, and China
Environmental Events
MAG hosts reforestation initiative in third consecutive Playing for the Planet appearance
In-game events themed around reforestation developed at Green Game Jam
A Wealth Of Winners
Apple Design Awards 2022 crown six mobile game winners from inclusivity to innovation
Marvel Future Revolution, Star Wars: Castaways, Overboard!, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Wylde Flowers, and A Musical Story awarded at the annual celebration of design
Director Deluge
Annapurna Interactive makes multiple hires to internal development studio
Helmed by game director Chelsea Hash, the new additions – Brett Lajzer, Evan Hembacher, and Cosimo Galluzzi – will push forward with an unannounced project
Prospering Pikachu
Pokémon GO celebrates lifetime player spending of $6 billion
Sensor Tower data reveals the game has averaged $1 billion per year since launch
Co-development Deal
Mighty Kingdom and Lion Studios partner to develop unnamed title
Partnering for 12 months of co-development
Apple And Apps
68% of mobile games devs find marketing more difficult following Apple ATT
Tenjin and Growth FullStack speak to PocketGamer.biz on their latest report which states 99% of developers plan to use alternative Android stores this year
Player Power
Sky Mavis reveals player-generated games using Axie Infinity IP
Selected games from the Builders Program granted a minimum of $10,000 in AXS
Blockchain Breakthrough
Square Enix is creating an NFT ecosystem with Animoca Brands
Partnering with Animoca Brands to develop Web3 plans
Locational Layoffs
Playtika to lay off 250 employees as it closes three development studios
London, Los Angeles, and Montreal studios are closing, Helsinki studio considered
Metaverse Motoring
Infinite Drive is steering towards the metaverse
The Tiny Digital Factory has revealed its next racing game with Web3 and NFTs
Heaps Of Holiday
tinyBuild is trailing limitless paid time off until end of year
Mandatory minimum of two weeks remains in place
Subscription Service
3 Network operator, CK Hutchison, and Gameloft to launch "All You Can Play" service
Titles like Asphalt Nitro 2 and Sonic Runners Adventure included
Alternative App Stores
Android games make $50 million through alternative app stores, states Flexion
“Essentially a bonus for games that already do great in Google Play,” claims CEO Jens Lauritzson
Latest Lawsuit
Apple loses bid to dismiss app store lawsuit
Alternative app store Cydia originally accused Apple of continuing an unlawful monopoly in January 2020
Gaming And Golfing
New PGA golf game utilises Niantic Lightship AR tech
Developer by Trigger as an educational, utility game
Readjusting To Remote
Gismart is shifting to remote-first working as of June 2022
Flexibility to work from anywhere in the world
An Apex App
Apex Legends Mobile player spend reached $4.8 million in first week
The most downloaded game in 60 countries following initial launch
Mobile Manoeuvre
20% of all first-party releases will be mobile by 2025, says Sony
Playstation CEO Jim Ryan also stated that 10% of first-party releases will be mobile within 2022
Making Of
Square Valley dev Ryan Becijos: "It definitely was challenging to stay motivated working on a project part-time"
Rycekube founder Ryan Becijos shares the tabletop inspirations for his first title and former PocketGamer.biz Game of the Week, Square Valley
Loot Box Lull
Activision Blizzard is not releasing Diablo Immortal in Belgium and the Netherlands
Both countries have banned loot boxes in games via gambling laws
Awards And Achievements
Mobile wins big at the Finnish Game Awards 2021
Pako 3, Kitka Games, and HypeHype celebrated for Small Screen Game of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Creative Achievement, respectively
The Lion's Share
Mobile gaming to exceed 60% of entire games market in 2022
More than $1.6 billion spent weekly on mobile games in Q1 2022 alone
Plans For Pride
Zynga donating $50,000 for Pride Month
Employee resource group zPride donating to Brave Space Alliance, LGBT Foundation, and Gay Gaming Professionals
Double Digit Development
Huuuge announces Q1 2022 results with $84 million in revenue
Adjusted EBITDA percentage increase reaches double digits
Roblox Role
Roblox hires former Zynga and Twitter exec Nick Tornow
Former Zynga CTO joins Roblox as vice president of technology
Community Currency
Former Gameforge CEO launches Web3 publisher Eleet Games
Carsten van Husen to lead
Under A Union
Employees from Activision Blizzard's Raven Software form the first gaming union
Accepted by the National Labor Relations Board with 19 votes to 3
Big Fish Focus
Former Amazon gaming manager Larry Plotnick appointed president at Big Fish Games
Supporting innovation and development of casual games
Acquisition Interest
Ubisoft holders want €60+ per share for potential sale
At the time of writing, Ubisoft’s share price is €48.29 (roughly $51)
Alleged Acquisition Aspirations
Electronic Arts sought acquisition from Disney, Apple, Amazon, NBC
NBCUniversal came closest to deal thus far
Play Store Policy
Google to permit third-party payment systems for Match Group
Following lawsuit from Match regarding payment systems and revenue share
Pinpointing Popularity
Deliver It 3D, Angry Birds Classic, and Football Manager are the fastest-growing iOS games in 2022
Mozillion reports on data for fastest-growing App Store mobile games
Collaborate And Cooperate
Developing the metaverse must prevent harm, Meta's Nick Clegg states
Former UK deputy prime minister shares outlook from virtual glasses to practising surgeries
Tiktok Testing
TikTok wants to release in-app games this year
Testing may be in progress in Vietnam
Directors And Developers
Dr Jakin Vela appointed new IGDA executive director
Founder of Games For Me, CEO of Astral Interactive, and more