Aiming To Acquire
Keywords Studios announces conditional acquisition of Smoking Gun
Founders of Canadian studio to continue managing the company
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
Arcade Idle Analysis
"Is arcade idle really dying?" – Homa Games’ Victor Vielliard shares his answer and advice
Aquarium Land used as a case study
Acquisition Achieved
Voodoo acquires Tarboosh Games after partnering on past projects
Value of the acquisition has not been disclosed
Honing In On Hybrid-casual
GameAnalytics offers tips for developers to succeed in new hybrid-casual genre
The new genre has emerged from the hugely competitive hypercasual
Language Localisation
Blend considers localisation "non-negotiable" in current gaming market
Study explores localisation’s value in-game and on gaming sites
Mobile Monetisation
Appodeal’s new ad monetisation index highlights USA’s increased ARPU on mobile
Analysis comes from 12 months of data up to June 2022
Arcade Idle Accelerates
Infographic by Sensor Tower and Homa Games reveals 2050% growth of arcade idle genre
Dramatic growth between Q4 2020 and Q1 2022
Permission To Play
Playing games doesn't make you mad or bad
Gaming does no harm to mental health according to recent study by the University of Oxford
Snapchat Spookery
Snap releases AR game Ghost Phone within the Snapchat app
Augmented Reality horror game stylised as found footage for a modern twist on those Blair Witch Project vibes
Trial On Tiktok
TikTok launches HTML5 games with Voodoo, Nitro and more
Influencer Run, Tap the Difference and Basketball FRVR among mini games included
Predicting Revenue
Mobile games industry to enjoy exponential growth up to 2029
Increasing global demand on smartphones and tablets forecast by Verified Market Reports
The Power Of A Pitch
Come forth, indie devs! The Big Indie Pitch is heading to Gamescom
A chance for indie games developers to get expert feedback in Koln
Getting Musical
"Players really appreciate having constant access to what they’ve paid for"
Indie dev lowiro's Anton Prydatko discusses development, monetisation models, and weathering changes in the mobile games industry over the last five years
A Handful Of Hires
Hyper Hippo hires new executive producer and SVP
Jonathan Warner promoted to SVP, portfolio
Funds For Founders
Concept Ventures launches £50 million pre-seed fund with British Business Bank’s backing
Firm pledges 1% of the total carry pool to a founder’s chosen charities
Unity Users
Consumer Acquisition: Unity games have seen 32% IAP revenue growth in 2022
Rewarded video ads engagement also escalated, with 62% of players engaging daily
Working On Web3
Mighty Bear Games raises $10 million to launch Web3 games
Investment led by Framework Ventures
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