Hot Five
Hot Five: Pokémon wins legal battle, Playtika’s $450m "bolt-on" M&A, and Supercell unveils Boat Game
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
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
Five New Games
New release roundup: Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers, Dredge, Athena Crisis, Level Tank and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Pokemon Day
Pokémon Day 2025: Just how big a deal are Pokémon’s mobile games?
Whether it’s Pokémon TCG Pocket or Pokémon Go, the franchise has a few mobile games worth knowing about ahead of today’s Pokémon Presents
Gdc Is Coming
Pocket Gamer's ultimate GDC week 2025 party guide
When are where to go to make the most of each event around GDC 2025
A Successful Snooze
Pokémon Sleep hits $150m mark despite slowdown since first anniversary
Japan is the app's most lucrative country at $109m to date
Hot Five
Hot Five: Jam City to sell Ludia, Scopely could acquire Pokémon Go, and Last War hits $2bn
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Games
New release roundup: Grand Mountain Adventure 2, Gear Fight!, Land of Heroes and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Sweet Solitaire
Candy Crush Solitaire snaps up $379,000 in first two weeks
Lifetime revenue including soft launch reaches $692k
Job News
February’s Mobile Movers and Shakers: Exits at Space Ape, Tilting Point and Fingersoft, new leadership at Mojang and LEGO Digital Play, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Selling Up
Jam City agrees deal to sell Ludia
If approved, the sale isn’t expected to have a significant impact on Jam City’s business operations
Big Deal
Niantic reportedly in talks to sell Pokémon Go and games business to Scopely for $3.5bn
The deal isn’t finalised, according to people familiar with the matter, but could be officially announced "in coming weeks"
Net Numbers
Ubisoft’s mobile net bookings share up to 10% following Assassin's Creed Shadows delay
Ubisoft’s $315.6 million in net bookings this Q3 were less than half compared to one year prior
Rainbow Revenue
Rainbow Six Mobile revenue surges as Ubisoft chases a global launch
Ubisoft’s troubled mobile shooter gets a rise in downloads and player spending as publisher aims to improve title's fortunes
Spend And Survive
Last War: Survival surpasses $2bn after record player spending in early 2025
Strategy title generated a record $212m in January 2025
Pokemon Pledge
The Pokémon Company and Niantic pledge $1m in support of LA wildfire recovery efforts
Pokémon Go Tour: Unova will go ahead in Pasadena, California this weekend
Levelling Up
Netmarble escapes the red with $4.6m net profit after two years of losses
The dev earned $1.95 billion in revenue in 2024
Focal Figures
Epic Games Store on mobile a "focal point" as cross-platform accounts rise by 94m in 2024
Monthly active users peaked at 74m across platforms, down by 1m compared to 2023
Hot Five
Hot Five: Unity’s latest layoffs, Supercell’s record $3bn year, and AppLovin’s plans to sell off apps business
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Dunk City Dynasty, Truck Manager 2025, The Masked Singer: Mask Mania, and more
We highlight the latest new mobile games that have broken cover over the past week
Segment Sales
Embracer’s net sales down as mobile profits dive and headcount plummets
Entertainment and services outearned PC and console sales in the latest quarter
Ads Vs Apps
AppLovin to sell apps business for $900m as it focuses on ads
But ads firm didn't disclose which company would acquire its games portfolio
Capybara Cash
Habby’s Capybara Go surpasses $100m in gross player spending
The US is this text-based roguelike’s third-biggest market despite being among the latest launch regions
Pokemon Power
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has a "very high retention rate compared to other DeNA games"
DeNA made $120.4m in games profit during TCG Pocket’s release quarter, versus $9.7m in Q2
Profitable Pokemon
DeNA’s games business profits up 8,126.8% after Pokémon TCG Pocket’s success
Nine months into its fiscal year, DeNA attributed profits surge in part to Pocket’s "strong performance"
Royal Revenue
Royal Kingdom surpasses $50m in player spending
Revenue for the title is on the rise after racking up $13.5m in January
Shifting Up
Shift Up revenue up 30% to $151m in 2024 despite decrease in Goddess of Victory: Nikke sales
The South Korean developer acknowledged "fierce" competition in the industry but asserted Goddess of Victory: Nikke’s "possibility of long-term success"
Financials
Sega’s net sales slide down 8% year-over-year as Football Manager 25 skips release
Entertainment division saw 8% growth during the past nine months
Pubg Push
Krafton makes record-breaking $1.9bn with mobile revenue up 35.7% in 2024
Operating income also hit a record high, attributed to the success of the PUBG series
Turkish Totals
Turkish games industry success "deeply rooted" in mobile with total $935m in capital since 2020
investgame’s Five Years of The Rising Gaming Empire: Türkiye report found Dream Games has seen the highest level of investment of any Turkish games studio
Financials
Mobile sales slump hits Square Enix profits
MMOs have proven Square Enix’s only growing games segment nine months into the current fiscal year
Jordan Investments
Jordan eyes significant investment to grow local games and tech sectors
Speakers at the online event Expanding Horizons: Doing Business in Jordan discussed establishing private businesses in Jordan, employment law and more
Hot Five
Hot Five: Fire Emblem Heroes’ voting power, Candy Crush Solitaire broadens the brand, and Pokémon TCG Pocket hits half a billion dollars
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Candy Crush Solitaire, Doodle Jump 2+, The Art of Fauna and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Platform Power
EA’s Q3 revenue down 3% YoY, as mobile is only platform with GAAP growth
Live service sales more than doubled full game sales revenue in the quarter
Sequel Success
Archero 2 makes $32.8m in first 30 days from player spending
Habby’s Archero sequel peaked at $1.4 million on January 25th
Match-3 Maps
Zynga’s Game of Thrones: Legends is taking a Google Maps-powered twist with Dragon Egg Hunt event
The match-3 title has surpassed $14 million in gross player spending
Voting Value
Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes: eight years, $1.3bn revenue and the value of player voting
Fire Emblem Heroes celebrates its eighth anniversary with latest Choose Your Legends poll results
Switch Ascension
Nintendo Switch sales surpass 150m units, but company profits down 42%
Mobile and IP-related business accounted for 5% of total revenue over the first nine months of the fiscal year
Revenue Result
Meta earned $164.5 billion in 2024 but VR/AR division made another loss
The company’s VR/AR segment made an operations loss of $17.7 billion
Pokemon Power
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket rockets past $500m in just 22 days more than Pokémon Go
Pokémon Go took 75 days from global launch to its first half-billion, versus TCG Pocket’s 97 days
Mabinogi Mobile
Nexon’s Mabinogi Mobile set to release in March 2025
Nexon’s mobile adaptation of the 2004 MMORPG is finally on its way more than four years on from reveal
Mobile Matters
Konami profits up 41.8% as eFootball surpasses 800m installs
Mobile’s Professional Baseball Spirits A was used in the eNippon Series of the Prospi A Pro League
Hot Five
Hot Five: AI content regulations, Love and Deepspace’s first anniversary, and Monster Hunter series hits 100m unit sales
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Bump! Superbrawl, LOK Digital, DinoBlits and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Mobile Monsters
Capcom's operating income drops 38%, but Monster Hunter series hits 100 million sales
"Digital contents" have contributed $189.9 million out of total $201.3 million operating income this year
Royal Revenue
Royal Match earned 51% of all match-3 IAP revenue in 2024 as casual genre made $15.2 billion
Meanwhile, Monopoly Go earned 55% of casual casino’s earnings
Delivering Deals
Report: Games industry M&As valued at $10.5 billion in 2024 with 21% volume increase
Drake Star’s Global Gaming Report 2024 highlighted the biggest investors of the year from venture capitalists to games studios
Lucrative Love
Love and Deepspace celebrates first anniversary and over $400m after record-breaking month
The dating simulator made $61 million in December 2024
Midnights On Mobile
40% more North Americans are playing mobile games at 1AM than global average
Mobile players are most active at 8PM worldwide, but some regions stay up later than others
Snapping Back
Marvel Snap secures new publisher Skystone Games after "surprise" takedown
Second Dinner’s hit game went down in the US alongside the temporary TikTok ban