A Good Year
Stillfront Group profits grow 84% to $15.5 million in 2023
“Stillfront’s bookings returned to positive organic growth for the months of November and December in the fourth quarter," said CEO Jörgen Larsson
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 Growth
PUBG Mobile Global Open all set for $500,000 showdown in Brazil
Ticket sales for the event will open on February 16 with one lucky winner taking home a bumper prize pot
It's In The Game
EA reach $2.36 billion in Q3 earnings thanks to EA Sports FC
“EA SPORTS FC outperformed expectations again this quarter, delivering 7% year-over-year net bookings growth," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA.
Mobile Adaptations
Elden Ring free-to-play mobile game reportedly in the works from Tencent
Rumours come after Tencent Holdings acquired a 16 percent stake of FromSoftware in August 2022 but progress has been slow
A Major Update
Honkai: Star Rail hits 100m downloads and launches V2.0 today
The update will see the highly-anticipated Penacony realm make its debut with Apple Vision Pro compatibility on board too
Wake Up Call
ByteDance CEO warns employees against mediocrity amid AI disruption
CEO Liang Rubo made the statement during a call to ByteDance employees across the globe.
Gaming Trends
65% of game studios are working on live service games
30% are working on updates, while 65% of studios plan to increase their use of off-the-shelf tools, reveals new game development report
Gaming Trends
China at the forefront of mobile gaming as global market hits $85.76 billion
China's gaming dominance is bolstered by Tencent Games, a revenue powerhouse contributing 100 billion yuan ($14.13 billion)
Lifestyle Marketing
Bingo Blitz launches $1 million sweepstakes promo for the Super Bowl
A lucky winner will get the prize money if either team achieves a record-breaking eight quarterback sacks
Fueling Indie Fire
Day of the Devs becomes a non-profit organisation
The decision to become non-profit as it "opens us up to better funding opportunities..."
Redefining Storytelling
Xsolla launches Story3 platform to empower creators
The platform is designed to embody storytelling freedom and foster a creative ecosystem for makers
Strategic Boost
8SEC secures €1.5 Million investment from Kwalee
The move will see Kwalee’s CFO Matthew Farrow and VP of mobile publishing John Wright join the 8SEC board
China Regulations
China greenlights 115 games in January, largest batch in 18 months
Tencent, Lilith Games and others have had their titles approved this month
Gaming In Africa
Sony Innovation Fund backs Carry1st with strategic investment
The African gaming industry boasts over 200 million players and is projected to achieve a market size exceeding $1 billion in 2024
Strategic Growth
Krafton plans AI, India focus, and a 20-game lineup in 2024 roadmap
The publisher is getting set to launch two games this year with many more in development
Strategic Adjustment
Mobile-exclusive MMO Avatar: Reckoning scrapped
Archosaur Games is now providing refunds to players who participated in the Philippines-limited CBT
Hello Goodbye
Launched and shuttered in a single Tweet… Love Live! School Idol Festival 2 lives! And dies…
The Love Live! sequel gets its English translation and a global launch just as it's makers decide to pull the plug on the whole thing
An Epic Comeback
Fortnite and the Epic Games Store are coming to iOS devices this year
The battle royale game will only be available in parts of Europe covered by the Digital Markets Act
Esports Growth
True Gamers secures $45m investment for esports expansion in Saudi Arabia
True Gamers CEO says it's, "A significant step towards popularising cybersports" and democratising esports in the KSA.
Ecosystem Expansion
AOFverse raises $3 million to propel Web3 gaming vision
The platform seeks to strengthen its position with the release of its flagship game Army of Fortune later this year
Jobs In Games
Oliver Bulloss takes the helm as chief product officer at MTG
Bulloss will participate in upcoming M&A processes as well as take a proactive role in influencing MTG's strategy.
Accelerator Funding
Narwhal Accelerator to support gaming and tech startups
The program only requests for a minor stake in company shares as part of the arrangement.
Pubg Revamp
Krafton plans franchise expansion and graphic improvements for PUBG
The publisher intends to expand its IP by introducing a new range of genres, platforms, play modes and graphic enhancements
Game Creation
Roblox launches new Creator Store for faster game building
The company has prioritised three main aspects: safety, utility, and opportunity for earnings
New Tech
Keywords Studios showcases new VIP Engagement & Growth Service at PGC London 2024
The company's new offering also includes a partnership with machine learning-powered platform SurgeROI
Netflix Games
Netflix's Q4 earnings show gaming success with GTA leading the charge
The streaming giant says that, "Some consumers [are] clearly signing up simply to play these games."
Job Losses
YouTube Games chief Leo Olebe is among 100 job cuts in their gaming division
The YouTube layoffs come as part of Google's broader restructuring, which has so far seen over 1,000 layoffs
Exclusive Debut
Nefta showcases privacy-first platform at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024
Unveiled exclusively at PGC London, the new ad platform is designed to provide developers with IAA revenue from opted-out iOS users
Collaboration Extended
ITV Studios and Fusebox extend global partnership for Love Island: The Game
The collaboration introduces an expanded release of content throughout the year and will offer players a range of stories
Closure Announcement
One Player Mission recruitment agency to shut down
Managing director Kim Parker Adcock: 'I cannot see how OPM can remain profitable and overcome the difficulties that have arisen in the games industry'
Sneak Peek
King's Candy Crush Blast is now available in soft launch
The game is currently available on Android in the Philippines
More Job Cuts
Riot Games Trims Workforce in new layoffs, cuts 500 jobs
Those affected will receive a minimum of six months' severance pay as well as other benefits
Challenges Ahead
Lean year ahead for gaming companies despite positive industry outlook
New report from Newzoo shows that while the market continues to recover, mobile developers will turn to the PC platform, while generative AI is here to stay
Aiming High
Gamelight sets sights on $1 billion annual revenue in 2024
We spoke to co-founder Günay Aliyeva to learn how the company reached the billion-dollar revenue mark in a year and to find out future plans
A Failed Attempt
Mighty Kingdom shareholders back board, reject ex-CEO's takeover
Less than 34% of the total shares were in favour - and half of those votes originated from Yeend himself
Empowering Gamers
Rize.gg wraps up pre-seed round, raises $430,000 to train and empower gamers
The company intends to allocate these funds to advance the platform's development and broaden its user base
Fitness & Gaming
Talofa Games secures $6.3 Million to build fitness-focused games
The team will use its newly secured funding to engineer and develop Run Legends as well as create new titles
More Job Cuts
Support studio PTW cuts 45 positions as game industry layoffs continue
The impacted workforce primarily consisted of QA workers, but job cuts also extended to other departments
Job Cuts
Layoffs confirmed at Choices: Stories You Play maker, Pixelberry Studios
The layoffs will affect various roles, spanning from QA staff and producers to artists and programmers
Hyper-casual Growth
On Off Games lands $1.5M investment from Mobavenue in Singapore
The newly secured investment will help the company grow, develop new hypercasual titles and reach new players
A Strong Start
Pine Games secures $2.25M for mobile game development in Istanbul
The team currently has four staff and plans to grow that number to 15 for the creation of IP-based mobile games
Impressive Performance
Gamelight bags 12% of all match-3 game ad spend worldwide
Data from Singular shows that the platform's AI-powered algorithm is delivering the goods on match-3, despite their presence in only 11 countries
Industry Outlook
2023 saw revenue soar amidst declining downloads with big name games setting the pace
Report from data.ai shows Konami's eFootball 2024 and EA's EA Sports FC 24 dominating the sports genre while Monopoly GO! continues to impress.
Gaming Trends
Monopoly GO! and Roblox impress in the latest mobile games results and trends report
Sensor Tower data also shows that casino games have now emerged as frontrunners, experiencing a consistent YoY increase in in-app purchase bookings
Hypercasual Trends
Hypercasual is on the slide but new titles are poised to fight back
AppMagic's hypercasual charts for Q4 2023 shows that downloads are down - 3.2 billion in 2023 versus 3.4 billion in 2022
Enhanced Player Safety
NetEase Games introduces regulation appeasing ‘Minor Mode' across all products
The move could indicate that the company expects rapid and random Chinese legislation to continue
Strategic Comeback
Activision Blizzard kiss and make up with NetEase ahead of China return
The move will see the return of Blizzard titles such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged and Overwatch to the Chinese market
One-stop-shop
Coda and Activision team up for new Call of Duty: Mobile web store
As a way of celebrating the launch, players can enjoy a 50% bonus on COD Points whilst enjoying other giveaways and promotions throughout this year
Strategic Downsizing
Twitch slashes 500 jobs - 35% of its staff - in latest cuts
Despite its widespread popularity, experiencing a surge in users through pandemic lockdowns, Twitch continues to grapple with financial challenges
Ai-powered Games
ArenaX Labs raises $6M for AI-driven game development
The company aims to use gaming as a way of educating players and gain a greater of understanding as to the workings of artificial intelligence