Investment News
Exel by Merak invests $300,000 each in 17 gaming startups at its first Demo Day
Over 300 applicants competed for a place in the accelerator
Staff
Isa Muhammad
Job Title
MENA Reporter
About Isa Muhammad is the Lead MENA Reporter at PocketGamer.biz, spearheading the team's Middle East & Africa games coverage. He's been in games media for over seven years and is steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism. If he's not reading, playing games or catching up on his favorite TV shows, he's probably writing about them.
Articles by Isa Muhammad
Marvellous Mena
Kucheza Gaming CEO Bukola Akingbade on building Africa’s future through play and education
"African studios must build business models that can sustain themselves right from day one"
Funding For Games
Fateless secures additional $8m to power Godforge toward 2026 launch
The new round brings its total to $14m
Acqusitions
Rewarded play platform Almedia acquires casback firm Zave.it
CEO calls the move a landmark step toward building an engagement engine
Awards Season
Gamescom LATAM 2026 opens submissions for BIG Festival Awards
Last year’s competition drew over 950 games from 71 countries
Make-a-wish
Make-A-Wish launches new initiative to grant games industry-related wishes for critically ill children
Infinite Wishes aims to create new pathways for game companies to fund wishes and spark fresh ideas
Winners Revealed
Savvy Games Group and HP conclude GameOn GameJam with winning teams revealed
Winners to join Savvy Academy’s three-month Incubator Program in collaboration with Xsolla
Job News
Spin Master appoints Marc De Vellis as EVP and president of its Digital Games Creative Centre
He will oversee flagship platforms Toca Boca and PikNik
Mentorship
Supercell opens applications for AI Innovation Lab in San Francisco
Open to individuals or teams of up to three, with a cap of 20 participants
New Offerings
Hidden Door launches social role-playing platform for co-creative storytelling
Players can step into fictional worlds like Pride and Prejudice, The Wizard of Oz, and The Crow
Crossovers
Subway Surfers and 8 Ball Pool unite for their first-ever crossover event
Month-long collaboration features exclusive themed content, characters, and rewards
New Offerings
Discord launches social SDK for in-game voice and messaging integration
SDK gives developers access to Discord’s 200m monthly users
Expansions
Felicity expands to Singapore with $1m APAC growth plan
New hub will focus on high-growth markets like Vietnam and Thailand
Marvellous Mena
Dubai to host first Middle East government pavilion at Gamescom 2025
Pavilion to spotlight Dubai’s goal of becoming a top 10 global games hub by 2033
New Offerings
Xsolla unveils Unity SDK to give developers more monetisation freedom
The move is part of Xsolla’s push to boost direct-to-consumer revenue across mobile, PC, and web
Strategic Move
Xsolla expands platform reach with SDKs for Windows Store and Epic Games Store
Partnership with Pley and Discord Bot launch expands cross-platform reach
Investment News
Arcanix secures funding to accelerate live ops platform growth
Funding will accelerate product development, early partner onboarding, and European team growth
Milestone
Fable Town surpasses $1m in monthly revenue
The merge-3 title has 2.3m installs and $7.5m in lifetime earnings
Training Camp
Maliyo Games opens applications for 2025 GameUp Africa Bootcamp
12-week remote program covers game art, design, and audio
Online Safety
Roblox open-sources Sentinel AI to detect harmful chat messages
Now open-source so other platforms can integrate the technology
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Rababa Games' Mohammad Al-Qawasmeh on how to build a career as a programmer
In this series, we highlight the talented team members working in the games industry and how they got their break
Adaptations
Disney+ adapts hit mobile game Twisted-Wonderland into anime
Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation will premiere on October 29th 2025
Job News
Ex-King CEO Riccardo Zacconi joins Layer AI board
Layer AI is used by over 200 studios including Zynga, Tripledot, and SciPlay
New Partnerships
ZBD brings real-money embedded rewards to mobile games
TapNation’s Idle Bank is among the first to integrate ZBD’s SDK
Online Safety
PlaySafe ID report: Cheating makes 42% of players consider quitting games
Study shows 71% would verify their identity to stop cheaters
Earnings Report
Mobile powers Take-Two bookings growth to $1.4bn in Q1
CEO Strauss Zelnick signals continued focus on mobile direct-to-consumer growth
Investment News
Impact46 invests $6.7m in five Saudi game studios
Investments align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and National Gaming Strategy
Acqusitions
Chinese publisher XD Inc acquires 5.3% stake in Miao for $14m
Deal values studio at approximately $264m
Earnings Report
Konami's games division grows 14% in Q1 as eFootball soars
eFootball surpasses 850m downloads across PC, console, and mobile
Earnings Report
Netmarble revenue falls to $502m in Q2 despite promising new launches
Seven Knights Re: Birth and RF Online Next were the company’s biggest revenue generators last quarter
Regulations
Japan orders Apple and Google to open payment systems and level app store competition
New guidelines will take effect from December 18th 2025
Milestone
Castle Duels celebrates first anniversary with 3.5m installs and $13m lifetime revenue
My.Games launches Creator Programme to reward and monetise community talent
New Partnerships
Odeeo and Claritas partner to power full-funnel measurement for in-game audio ads
The collaboration aims to direct ad budgets toward game titles
Investment News
Apple to ramp up US manufacturing with additional $100bn investment
The iPhone maker plans to invest $600bn in the United States over four years
Expansions
Territory Studio partner with Savvy Games Group to expand into the Middle East
Territory will open its first Middle East location in Riyadh later this year
Funding News
Liberty Pixel raises $1.1m for casual and hybridcasual games
Latest round brings the studio’s total funding to $2.3m
Funding For Games
Blue Ocean Games launches Rising Tide 2 to fund the next wave of indie developers
Submissions now open to indie developers and aspiring creators worldwide
Speaker Survey
Devcom survey: A third of devs prefer minimal AI involvement in game production
Devcom 2025 speakers say early access is still strong as platform exclusivity fades
Acqusitions
Gdev acquires Light Hour Games to expand mobile portfolio
First project is set for soft launch this October
Funding News
SuperGaming raises $15m to fuel global expansion of Indus Battle Royale
Funds will go towards game development, talent acquisition, and original IP creation
New Offerings
My.Games launches business modelling tool for AdsAdvisor
Tool is set to release in H2 2025
New Offerings
Coplay takes over Unity MCP as it reaches key milestones with public beta launch
Coplay now powers over 3,000 Unity development features weekly for studios using AI workflows
Building Blocks
Roblox daily active users surges 41% to 112m in Q2
Revenue and bookings up as losses continue
Funding News
GameRamp raises $5.4m to build AI-powered publishing tools for developers
Funding will support team expansion in the US and India
Marvellous Mena
"I was pleasantly surprised that singers actually want to be in video games"
Masseka Games founder Teddy Kossoko on building a mobile game that monetises celebrity feuds
Earnings Report
Apple revenue rises to $94bn in Q3 2025 despite $800m tariff-related costs
Americas lead regional sales at $134.16bn followed by Europe and Greater China
Market Growth
Casual games market grows 3.6% amid a surge in strategy titles
Casino games saw an 8% rise in downloads but a 15% drop in revenue
Investment News
Good Job Games secures $60m in series A funding
Total investment to date has reached $83m in under six months
Funding News
STAN secures $8.5m funding to power AI-driven growth and games communities
Funds will go towards growing its presence in India and other mobile-first markets
Crossovers
Mattel and Halfbrick unite to bring Masters of the Universe to Jetpack Joyride
The event runs until August 20th