Game Update
Steer Studios pulls Grunt Rush from app stores for planned updates
The studio’s debut title is currently unavailable to new players
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
Esports World Cup
Esports World Cup 2025 begins in Riyadh with record $70m prize pool
Of the prize pool, $27m will be spread across the top 16 clubs while this year’s winner will earn $7m
Acqusitions
Azerion sells Whow Games to DoubleDown Interactive in deal worth up to $76m
The advertising firm said the sale is part of its broader portfolio optimisation strategy
New Partnerships
Genies partners with Unity to bring AI avatar tools and IP assets to developers
Genies will debut a custom landing page in the Unity Asset Store later in 2025, with full integration into the Unity Editor set for 2026
Funding News
Turkish studio Circle Games raises $7.25m to expand puzzle portfolio
Funds will go towards upcoming projects as well as growing its development team
Marvellous Mena
How African game studios can compete globally
“We need to attract our diaspora back or collaborate with international partners to upskill and polish local talents"
The Power Of Playables
Interactive ads surge 20% among top apps as advertisers bet big on playables
Liftoff’s latest report shows the playable ads formats grew eight times higher than non-playables for top spenders last year
Bitcoin Comeback
SaruTobi is first game on iOS with ZBD-powered Bitcoin microtransactions
The game is the first on the App Store to use ZBD's Lightning Network for Bitcoin integration
Strike Over
Video games strike ends after 11 months as SAG-AFTRA ratifies new contract
The new agreement includes an immediate pay increase of over 15% for performers, with raises scheduled for November 2025, 2026 and 2027
Deal Deluge
Games M&A hits $3bn disclosed deal value in Q2 2025
A new wave of M&A through late 2025 and into 2026 is expected as companies leverage improved valuations for growth
Creating A Council
UK Video Games Council establishes to inform and support government policy
The council will be supported by UK trade bodies Ukie and TIGA, with ongoing input from the wider industry
Resilient Growth
Green Game Jam reached 108m daily active players to spur real-world climate action in 2024
The new Playing for the Planet Annual Impact report shows that the alliance fell short of its goal to grow membership by 25%, achieving a 14% increase
Anime Ahead
Garena Free Fire anime details emerge in new teaser trailer
The series is being directed by Ken Takahashi, who previously worked on Fate/Grand Order’s anime adaptation
Marvellous Mena
Gimzat Studios co-founders Khaled Mansour and Ahmed Khalaf talk hybridcasual strategy, platform priorities and MENA opportunities
"To reach Africa’s growing mobile audience, localisation and device optimisation are critical."
Clash Newcomer
Supercell releases major Clash Royale update with new game mode Merge Tactics
The new mode is fully turn-based with ‘Rulers’, turn-based battles and more
New Offerings
Savvy Games Group and PNU’s Applied College sign MoU to equip women for careers in games development
Training will cover areas like concept design, 3D modelling, animation and interactive storytelling
Sporty Celebration
MLB Rivals hits 5m downloads and 1bn pitches as it marks second anniversary
Developer Com2uS is offering players a series of special events and rewards both in-game and on social media
Apple Troubles
Apple appeals $587m EU fine over App Store practices
The iPhone maker said it was forced to appeal to avoid “punitive” daily fines
New Partnerships
The CoLab partners with Universally Speaking to boost quality of indie games
The collaboration will improve quality and strengthen relationships between publishers and studios
Job News
Stillfront recruits Emily Villatte as chief financial officer
She will assume the position on January 7th, 2026 from interim Group CFO Tim Holland
Suites And Services
Keywords’ Liquid Violet expands London studio with new recording and mixing suites
Liquid Violet will now offer end-to-end audio services through a partnership with fellow Keywords subsidiary Laced
Lawsuit Triumph
French court hands suspended sentences to three ex-Ubisoft executives over workplace harassment
All three executives left the company in 2020 following the investigations
Esports Tournament
The Battle of Polytopia Global World Championship set to kick off with $10,000 prize pool
This year's prize pool marks the biggest competitive event in the game’s nine-year history
New Offerings
NetEase's Destiny: Rising hits 5 million pre-registrations ahead of August 28th global launch
Players who pre-registered early will receive in-game rewards
Acqusitions
RMV IT Services acquires hit mobile game Plane Evolution from Global Champions
Supersonic from Unity will keep its shares and continue as the game's publisher
Marvellous Mena
Gamezop commits $4m to expand in the Middle East with a new office in Bahrain
The company plans to onboard 1,000 new apps and hit $6m revenue within 18 months
New Offerings
Outfit7 unveils 2025 roadmap with three new games
Leading the rollout is My Talking Tom Friends 2 which already has 2 million pre-registrations
Antitrust Heat
Apple faces potential sanctions in Brazil over App Store antitrust violations
Antitrust body recommends fines and behavioural remedies to solve the competition problems
Job News
LEGO Group appoints Fredrik Loving as SVP and global head of LEGO Game
He will report to chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin
Investment News
Boby.ai secures Revo Capital investment to scale AI products
This is Revo’s second seed investment from its new $86m Fund III, which launched in March
Funding News
Grand Mobile raises $750,000 to grow flagship title Grand Mobile
The deal closed with the company valued at $75m
Funding For Games
Google Play’s Indie Games Fund returns to Latin America with $2 million for 10 studios
Selected studios will receive between $150,000 and $200,000 to grow their game
Milestone
Sky: Children of the Light surpasses 270m downloads ahead of sixth anniversary celebration
The anniversary ceremony will honour outstanding user-generated content across ten categories
Investment News
Liftoff secures minority investment from General Atlantic to accelerate growth
General Atlantic joins majority investor Blackstone in backing the AI-driven performance marketing platform
Investment News
Behold Ventures raises $58m to fund European game studios
The firm has invested $21m in 18 companies since 2021
New Offerings
Former CVCapital partner Jim Ying launches games M&A and investment advisory firm Mihada Capital
The company specialises in offering financial advisory services to businesses in games, ad-tech, and digital media
Market Growth
India’s mobile games market booms with 8.45bn installs
In-app purchase revenue remains modest at just over $400m
New Offerings
Game engine Godot rolls out asset store in early beta
“Once we are happy with the new platform, we'll start rolling out paid assets”
Anti-corruption
Perfect World investigates staff and suppliers over alleged corruption
The One Punch Man developer said it will strictly punish any fraudulent or self-serving behaviour that harms the company
Acqusitions
Tripledot completes $800m acquisition of AppLovin game studios
Following the acquisition, Tripledot now operates 12 studios, including the 10 acquired from AppLovin
Studio Closure
Hypercasual game studio Yayy closes
Following Yayy's closure, CEO Ziad Talge co-founded MyLuigi with AI and cloud expert Sukhdeep Johar, securing $125,000 in funding
Market Growth
Newzoo revises 2025 global games market growth forecast to $188.9bn
Mobile is projected to reach $103.1bn in 2025 and $107.7bn by 2027
Tiktok Sale
Trump: Potential US TikTok buyer will be revealed in next two weeks
The US president described the buyers as a group of “very wealthy people", but that the deal would need China's approval to close
Game Jam
Playgama and GameDistribution launch Green Web Game Jam 2025 to tackle environmental challenges
The jam will challenge web developers to focus on using game mechanics to drive responsible behaviour and action
Developer Learning
Carry1st’s Dominion Ero partners with Udemy to launch game development programme for African youth
The Initiative aims to provide a structured learning path covering industry fundamentals
New Offerings
Meta launches gaming accelerator to empower Indian developers
Program will support 20 to 30 emerging Indian game developers and studios in its initial phase
Annivasery
“We're not just building games, we're building habits”
UMX Studio CEO Ali Alharbi on the developer's 11th anniversary, studio growth, Jetapult funding and lessons learned
Crossovers
Garena Free Fire celebrates 8th anniversary with Squid Game crossover
The collaboration will allow Free Fire players to experience Squid Game challenges from the Netflix TV show
New Partnerships
Supercell launches Brawl Stars as minigame on Tencent’s WeChat, Clash Royale following soon
The Squad Busters maker wants to leverage the market’s growth and the rising popularity of lightweight, instantly playable games
Layoffs Imminent
Microsoft to slash more Xbox jobs as part of wider workforce reduction
This could mark the fourth major layoff at Xbox in the past 18 months