Revenue Royale
Clash Royale hits post-pandemic record of $3.8m daily revenue with new mode Merge Tactics
Daily player spending has reached its highest since 2021
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
China Changes
Overseas studios to be eligible for domestic licences in China for games developed in Shanghai
The Shanghai Municipal Government will test this in a pilot programme
Moving To Mobile
Global Worldwide closes funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures in mobile manoeuvre
The oversubscribed round was "tough" in the current AI landscape, according to chairman and CEO Will Harbin
The Power Of Pokemon
Pokémon Go celebrates ninth anniversary and $8.8bn in gross player spending
Total earnings are likely even higher when including alternative stores, Go’s web shop and more
Victorious Valorant
Valorant Mobile hits 40m pre-registrations in China
Riot Games opened pre-registrations on April 21st, exclusively for the Chinese version
Hot Five
Hot Five: Zenless Zone Zero's $442m year one, King reportedly loses 10% of staff, and Toca Boca hit by layoffs
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Angry Birds Bounce, Mo.co, Goat Simulator 3 and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Zenless Celebration
Zenless Zone Zero celebrates first anniversary with $442.1m, just 23% of Genshin Impact’s year one
HoYoverse’s latest gacha game generated nearly one-third of its lifetime mobile revenue in its launch month
Pgc Barcelona
The value of retargeting players and when to do it
RTB House gaming account director Vera Manhoso talks data preparation and integrating an MMP at PGC Barcelona 2025
Marketing Merge Mansion
How Metacore cracked Japan's mobile market with Merge Mansion
Shuhei Watanabe discusses advertising campaigns, cultural differences in Asia, and Merge Mansion’s successful marketing strategy
Refund Round
FTC distributes $126m in refunds to "tricked" Fortnite players charged for unwanted purchases
Players are able to file for a refund until July 9th, 2025
Roguelike Reimagining
Angry Birds Bounce game lead talks brick breaker genre, development under Sega and "a great deal of interest on Apple Arcade"
Bryan Cook reveals all from the ideation phase, prototyping, design decisions and creating the first Angry Birds game since Rovio’s acquisition by Sega
For The Throne
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad surpasses $1m on mobile after 36 days
Netmarble’s action-adventure RPG has taken a slower road to seven figures than Legends, Slot Casino or Conquest
Hot Five
Hot Five: Kingshot and SD Gundam G Generation Eternal shoot past $100m, and Grow a Garden hits 21m concurrent users
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Marvel Mystic Mayhem, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, Lego Fortnite Expeditions and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Horse Girls Are Here
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby launches globally today after racing to $2.6bn on mobile in Japan
Cygames’ horse girl game has launched in English more than one year on from reveal, and four years after release in Japan
Candy Crown
King crowns 2025 Candy Crush Saga All Stars champion and dishes out $1m prize pool
Tiago P from Portugal won this year’s tournament, claiming $500,000 in prize money
Portfolio Prowess
FreePlay surpasses 2bn lifetime installs after expanding into hybridcasual
The developer and publisher’s games are available in more than 175 countries, with standouts including Count Masters, Twerk Race 3D and Zombie Apocalypse
Google Games
Google quietly launches HTML5 games hub Instant Games on select Android devices
The new app allows users to access a selection of games without downloading them separately
Roblox Record
Roblox’s Grow a Garden hits industry record 21.3m concurrent users, surpassing PUBG, Fortnite and more
The Roblox experience more than doubled its 8.9m record set in May
Sequel Strategy
Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond surpasses $20m in first week
Cygames’ strategy card game sequel quadrupled the original Shadowverse’s week one earnings
Major Milestone
Kingshot surpasses $100m in just 117 days
Century Games has blended strategy and survival genres once again, leading to another hit game growing month-over-month
Moshi Monsters Mobile
Mind Candy CEO talks Moshi Monsters comeback: New mobile game, toys and merch are "all on the table"
Christianne Amodio reveals the value of fan feedback and the "outpouring of support" since the Moshi Monsters comeback Kickstarter was targeted with fake pledges
Eternally Earning
SD Gundam G Generation Eternal surpasses $100m in two months
Bandai Namco’s recent release peaked at $3.5m in daily player spending
New Name
Honor of Kings rebrands to Honor of Kings Plus with "biggest version update yet"
Tencent’s flagship is the highest-grossing mobile game in the world, with a revamp coming shortly after record revenue
Hot Five
Hot Five: Fortnite’s Blitz Royale, Moshi Monsters’ comeback Kickstarter sabotaged, and UK Government launches £30m games industry fund
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Fortnite Blitz Royale, Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond, What Duck. and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Root Raising
Social platform Root raises $9m in seed funding ahead of closed beta
Funding was led by Headline Ventures and Konvoy Ventures
No Deal
Tencent denies Nexon acquisition reports
The idea of a Chinese company purchasing South Korea-founded Nexon sparked backlash from the Korea Game Society
Finland's Foreign Workers
Finnish Aliens Act amendment gives international talent just three to six months to find new employment
"We must not close the door on the very people who help make Finland thrive," says Finnish games trade association Neogames
Phoney Pledges
Moshi Monsters’ comeback Kickstarter sabotaged by "malicious actor" who made multiple fake pledges
It was previously believed that the campaign reached its £250,000 goal in less than 24 hours, before fake pledges with "clear intent" to mislead were discovered
Prize Pool
Dunk City Dynasty’s first competition Community Bash has $10,000 prize pool
Winning teams in Southeast Asia and North America will net $2,300 each
Solitaire's Secret Sauce
Why are the world's top games publishers making solitaire games and has Playtika already won?
As solitaire installs rise for seven consecutive years to a record-breaking 347m, we ask game design consultant Jakub Remiar for further insight
Moshi Monsters Mobile
Moshi Monsters to make mobile comeback after £250,000 Kickstarter target reached in one day
The 2000s web browser game is getting a follow-up on mobile, expected in 2027
Anzu And Amex
Amex Ventures invests in in-game ads firm Anzu
The investment will help Anzu scale faster in key segments
Hot Five
Hot Five: New Apple Games app, SAG-AFTRA strikes ending, and Zynga founder forms Playful.AI
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: 10 Second Ninja X, Sonic Blitz, Lost in Play+ and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
The Birds Are Back
Angry Birds Bounce launches in July as series’ first game developed under Sega’s ownership
Sega completed its acquisition of Rovio in August 2023, 18 months after the last mobile Angry Birds game released
Finding Funds
Former Tacticool devs at Nice Plans Studio secure $3m for 3v3 shooter Ricochet Squad
Studio claims day one player-to-payer conversion rate is 4% to 5% in soft launch
Strong Soft Launch
Nice Plans Studio's ambitions to independently scale a new shooter in a challenging mobile market
Co-founder and CEO Roman Malakhov talks metrics, ambitions and becoming a "fully independent studio"
Building Brands
Supercell hiring in multiple roles to grow brands outside of games
A "whole slate of unannounced projects" are already in development
Jobs Roundup
June 2025’s Movers and Shakers: Unity CTO exits, Embracer appoints new CEO, Roblox gets a CFO, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Switch 2 Success
Nintendo Switch 2 breaks records with 3.5m unit sales in four days
The original Switch reached 2.7m unit sales in 29 days
Origin On The Way
The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin launching this year after Grand Cross surpasses $1bn
The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross generated its first $1bn on mobile in under five years
Download Deluge
Fortnite lands 2.8m new installs on App Store in US
Epic Games’ flagship remains the country’s most-downloaded mobile game for 19 days running, but has been beaten by ChatGPT for most-downloaded app
Squad Slump
Squad Busters makes $472,000 on Chinese App Store as version 2.0 is slow to ignite global fortunes
The global version has generated $1.8m in almost a month since the major overhaul
Hot Five
Hot Five: Wuthering Waves makes $317m in first year, Scopely closes $3.5bn Niantic deal, and Epic Games Store hits 40m mobile installs
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Trinity Trigger, Helix Jump+, Crystal of Atlan, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Floodgates Open
Wuthering Waves celebrates first anniversary with $317.3m on mobile and Los Angeles celebration
Kuro Games’ gacha RPG quickly sailed to its first $100m and has found a second wind since Version 2.0’s release
Switch 2 Release
Nintendo Switch 2 is out now: Hardware specs, launch games and an $8bn industry opportunity
The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here, with a bigger screen, 120fps and GameChat functionality