Buy Button
Xsolla launches external payment option Buy Button for Mobile Games after Apple court ruling
A US court ruling on April 30th has dictated that Apple must allow external payment links in-app without taking a commission
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
Fortnite Fight
Epic Games spent over $100m in legal fees in battle against Apple
Tim Sweeney revealed the cost of the legal battle and speculated on the "hundreds of millions of dollars" missed out on during Fortnite’s App Store ban
Revenue Result
Mobile accounts for 15% of EA’s FY25 net revenue, but net income falls 12% YoY
EA generated $1.1bn from mobile games in its latest fiscal year
Trump Tariffs
Trump’s film industry tariffs: Will game movie adaptations be sentenced or spared?
The US president calls incentives drawing US filmmakers to other countries a "national security threat"
Hot Five
Hot Five: Game over for "Apple tax", Overwatch Mobile distribution plans, and Pokémon TCG Pocket beats Go in first six months
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Sleepy Stork, Odin: Valhalla Rising, The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Mobile Milestone
Delta Force Mobile surpasses 10m downloads in first four days
Tencent’s Team Jade is adding celebratory Burst Fest content including 21 free vehicle appearances
Sonic Slowdown
Sonic Rumble delayed indefinitely one week before expected launch
"We at Sega share that disappointment, especially because we're making this call so close to the launch"
Pgc Jordan
Game incubators in MENA and the risks of "polishing the wrong thing"
GIGS co-founder Ashraf Abi-Said and LUDiMUS Inc CEO and co-founder Sho Sato discussed the value of incubators at PGC Jordan 2024
Pc Expansion
Marvel Contest of Champions to launch on PC after making $2bn on mobile
Pre-registrations are open now, but the exact release date hasn’t yet been confirmed
Pokemon Prime
Pokémon TCG Pocket usurps Pokémon Go launch as it closes in on $1bn after six months
Pocket made $915.3m in its first half-year, beating Go’s $800.7m by 14%
Magic And Mysteries
Jam City talks Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’s seventh anniversary and the power of storytelling
General manager Bryan Shaw and product lead Nicole Adams discuss immersion, loveable characters and bespoke brand alignment
Ready To Race
$2.5bn maker Uma Musume: Pretty Derby opens pre-registrations, cantering towards English release June 26th
Cygames’ Japanese horse girl hit is changing lanes with an English localisation launching this summer
Resident Record
Resident Evil 4 remake surpasses 10m unit sales, but mobile may represent less than 1%
The milestone was reached by the end of 2024, though only now confirmed by Capcom
Multiplayer Mode
Infinity Nikki introducing multiplayer mode in major update tomorrow
The Version 1.5 update Bubble Season will add two-player online co-op
Downloading Dragons
Puzzle & Dragons 0 opens pre-registrations ahead of late May release
The latest entry will join a series with over 90 million downloads to date
Monster Milestone
Monster Strike surpasses $11bn in 11 years with Japanese dominance
Mixi’s flagship has surpassed $1bn in annual player spending five times, twice since Western shutdown
Hot Five
Hot Five: Apple’s DMA violation, Discord CEO steps down, and Blue Ocean Games launches $30m fund
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Once Human, Delta Force Mobile, Pandoland, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Making A Difference
American Cancer Society partners with Besitos to fight cancer through mobile games
Rewards earned for mobile games via KashKick will trigger matching donations to the ACS
Pgc Jordan
Investor AMA: "When it comes to platforms, we think that mobile is the way to go"
Speakers from Merak Capital, Tamatem and Walking Squid Advisory offered funding tips at PGC Jordan 2024
Might And Magic
Ubisoft’s Might and Magic Fates TCG to be powered by web3 platform Immutable
Trading cards will only be available in "eligible regions", indicating NFT elements
Robux Regions
Roblox introduces regional pricing
The pricing model will be updated periodically to keep in line with market conditions
Mobile Majority
80% of Roblox users are on mobile, contributing 46% of Robux revenue
iOS owners contributed 30% of 2024’s Robux revenue, compared to 16% generated via Google Play
Earth Day
Subway Surfers, Monument Valley 3, Pikmin Bloom: The mobile games raising awareness on Earth Day 2025
Various mobile developers have launched new content to celebrate and raise awareness for Earth Day
Guilty Google
Google found guilty of illegal ad tech monopolies
But the tech giant plans to appeal
Expansion Excitement
Netflix Games "in this to win"
But Netflix co-CEO, president and director Gregory Peters admits "frankly, we can improve everything that we're doing"
Hot Five
Hot Five: Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid board game, Machine Zone CEO out, and Final Fantasy XIV Mobile’s tentative launch date
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Disney Solitaire, Jetpack Joyride Racing, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Finding Funds
UK Games Fund re-opens applications for two funds, offering grants of up to £150,000
The Content Fund offers a maximum £150,000 while the Prototype Fund peaks at £30,000
Upcoming Release
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile could be launching August 29th
The mobile adaptation is listed on the Chinese App Store for a launch this summer
Board Game Branding
Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid board game to launch on Kickstarter with early pledge reward
Supercell has teamed up with Maestro Media to launch the project on Kickstarter this month
Mena Month
Investment opportunities in MENA: "From an investor perspective this is the best time to be deploying by far"
Panellists took to the stage at the Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects in 2024 to discuss mobile, web3, AI and investments in the MENA region
App Acceleration
Nintendo app installs surge after Switch 2 Direct while its mobile games go unnoticed
Mario Kart Tour missed out on a download spike despite Mario Kart Word’s full reveal
Mo.co Milestone
Supercell’s Mo.co surpasses $2.5m in under a month
The Clash of Clans maker’s latest title launched globally on March 18th
Indian Iphones
Apple airlifted $2bn worth of iPhones from India in March to evade Trump tariffs
The imports marked a substantial increase from January and February
Done Deal
SayGames’ idle arcade games portfolio surpasses $300m
SayGames is publishing LoadComplete’s Chainsaw Juice King as the "first of many partnerships" with South Korean studios
Job News
Goodville promotes Katerina Dudinskaya to CEO
She will take over from co-founder Alexey Meleshkevich on May 1st
Minecraft Mobile
Minecraft’s daily mobile revenue hits three-year high at $969,000 after A Minecraft Movie’s release
The mobile version has its most lucrative day since Christmas 2021 on April 12th, 2025
Major Milestone
Bleach: Brave Souls hits 100m installs ahead of 10th anniversary
KLab’s action gacha title first released in Japan in July 2015
Triple Crossover
Sonic Rumble's IP collab Crossover Event 0: Sega Stars is for soft launch players only
The event, which stars characters from Super Monkey Ball, ends one day before the global launch date of May 8th
Hot Five
Hot Five: Trump tariffs turmoil, Agonalea Games’ $2m funding, and games M&A hits $6.6bn in Q1
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Black Mirror: Thronglets, Katamari Damacy Rolling LIVE, Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic+, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Major M&a
Games industry M&A hit $6.6bn in Q1 2025 with mobile domination led by Scopely
The figure was a two-year high and more than doubled Q1 2024’s result, according to Aream & Co.’s first quarterly Video Game Market Update report
Content Check
Roblox launches new parental controls to block specific friends and experiences
The update builds upon Roblox allowing parents to view friends lists
Prize Pool
Esports World Cup 2025 to feature record-breaking $70m+ prize pool
New games joining the lineup include Valorant and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Feathered Film Forecast
The Angry Birds Movie 3 set for January 29th, 2027 release
The third entry will release over 10 years on from the original The Angry Birds Movie
Earth Day
PlanetPlay launches Earth Day 2025 campaign with Sybo, Niantic, Sir Ian Livingstone and others
Livingstone and other celebrity ambassadors have been confirmed ahead of the 55th Earth Day on April 22nd
Web3 Way
High income, a young population and "attractive" regulations could make Dubai a "launchpad" for games and web3
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre director of ecosystems Belal Jassoma talks MENA region advantages
Charity Chair
The IGDA Foundation appoints Microsoft veteran Shannon Loftis as new chair of the board
Loftis has stepped in after Ed Fries spent two years at the helm