Investment News
Web3 platform GAMEE secures investment from TON Ventures
The Animoca Brands subsidiary plans to integrate TON-based digital assets into its Telegram Mini App to boost user engagement
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
Jobs In Games
Raptor PR pulls in big names with key hires from Unity and Square Enix
“With Greg and Claudio onboard, we’re locked and loaded for our next phase of hyper growth," said founder and managing director Rana Rahman
India Games Industry
Key Indian execs endorse PM Modi's Independence Day games business backing
Modi is also calling for the country to transition from being a games industry consumer to becoming a leading producer
Friends In High Places
AltStore PAL goes free thanks to Epic Games' MegaGrant
The grant is to support the development of innovative projects that might lack sufficient funding. Or…
Ready To Play
SuperGaming's battle royale, Indus is now available in open beta
With over 12 million pre-registrations on the Google Play Store, the ‘made-in-India-for-the-world' game is now playable for all players
Developer Tools
Kwalee launches Arabic mobile game publishing platform for MENA developers
Kwalee's Hitseeker will now support Arabic-speaking developers with the tools and resources they need to create games
Mena Market
Saudi Arabia and UAE to propel Gulf region games spending to $3.24 billion by 2028
The KSA alone represented 49.5% of the gulf total revenue and 61.7% of its gamers in 2023
In-car Gaming
Mattel and AirConsole to showcase UNO Car Party for BMW vehicles
The game will be available on over 500,000 BMW and MINI vehicles through the AirConsole platform
Jobs In Games
FRVR names Quentin Staes-Polet as its new CEO
Staes-Polet has over 25 years of experience from leadership roles at Epic Games, Unity, Take 2 Interactive, and Ankama
Advisory Board
PlanetPlay launches advisory board to drive environmental action in video games
The advisory board includes Niantic CEO John Hanke, Lockwood Publishing CEO Halli Bjornsson and more
Jobs In Games
Krafton taps Jin Oh as their new chief global publishing officer
Oh will lead Krafton's global publishing and international business operations from September
Earnings Report
Krafton hits $1.04 billion in H1 2024 revenue as PC and mobile lead
Q2 earning increased to $532 million - an 83% increase over Q2 2023 despite a console revenue decline
Scaling The Industry
TIGA identifies risk period for UK game start-ups and five tips to scale the industry
Studios with fewer than five staff are highly vulnerable to failure with 50.2% studios failing to grow
Jobs In Games
Supercell appoints Gerard Griffin as its new CFO
Griffin will work together with Supercell leadership to grow the company and contribute to business decisions
Milestone
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery racks up $500 million in revenue
The game was also Jam City's most downloaded game for the first half of 2024
Acqusitions
Krafton acquires Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks
The Tango team will now continue developing the Hi-Fi Rush IP and explore future projects
Earnings Report
Take-Two reports $1.34 billion in net revenue teamed with a $262 million net loss
"We expect to achieve sequential increases in net bookings in fiscal 2026 and 2027,” said chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick
New Tech
Heroic Labs launches Satori 2.0 for improved LiveOps and insights
The new update is designed to live operations for game studios and publishers
Funding For Games
Arkadium expands into third-party publishing with $1 million developer fund
The company will provide funding and resources for high-potential browser-based games that can enhance its network
Earnings Report
Nexon hits record Q2 revenue fueled by Dungeon & Fighter Mobile success
Revenue exceeded expectations by reaching ¥122.5 billion a 30% increase year over year
Canada Expansion
Xsolla opens new office in Montreal
Plans are to hire up to 50 new regional employees over the next two years
Epic Crossovers
Galaxy Quest invades Star Trek via Scopely's Fleet Command mobile game
When worlds collide… The long-awaited, fan-pleasing crossover is finally happening - exclusively on mobile
New Game Studio
Former Hitman and Raid: Shadow Legends developers launch Chamo Games
The studio is focused on developing a physics-based shooter with a diverse European perspective
Investment News
MixRift raises $1.6M to develop mixed reality games
The start-up will use the funds to support and accelerate its efforts in developing MR games in 2024
New Publisher
Industry veterans partner to launch game publisher Digital Bandidos for indie developers
They're primarily focused on PC and console titles with a development budget of around $3 million
New Game Studio
Former NFL star and ex-Activision producer team up to launch new mobile game studio Marauder Tech
The Marauder Tech team are developing a turn-based strategy mobile game Price of Glory
Funding For Games
South Korea's HYBE secures $80 million investment for games division
The first payment of 61.8 billion won is due by September 6 with the remaining 48 billion won to be paid by October 31st 2024
Esports World Cup
ESL FACEIT signs multi-year deal as official partner of the Esports World Cup
The ESL FACEIT Group will manage tournament operations and broadcast programming
Interview
"Jordan's talent pool offers significant potential for growth and innovation"
Chickmania Entertainment head of studio Mustafa Swiedan discusses the company's new initiatives, cross-platform aspirations and MENA challenges
New Approvals
China approves 15 import games, delivering a total of 76 import approvals in 2024
Nintendo secured approvals for Mario Golf: Super Rush and Paper Mario: The Origami King
Acqusitions
Nazara subsidiary Absolute Sports to acquire US games content platform Deltias Gaming
The transaction involves an all-cash payment of $900K and is expected to close within 45 days
New Offerings
Microsoft and Activision form new Blizzard team to expand iconic franchises
This new team is focused on developing smaller games based on existing Blizzard franchises, potentially for mobile platforms
New Partnerships
RallyHere partners with ProbablyMonsters to launch two new titles
ProbablyMonsters will utilise RallyHere's services for its two debut titles Battle Barge and Hidden Grove.
Layoff News
Jam City has laid off 10% of its workforce
"The overall upward trend has not materialised as expected," said Jam City CEO Josh Yguado
Interview
"Cross-platform games are the future of gaming"
Mad Hook Games CEO and co-founder Hazim Al-Hanbali discusses shifting mobile game mechanics and the challenges of finding talent
New Offerings
Ubisoft teams up with NFL to launch new fantasy football game
The game allows players to collect cards and make decisions during the NFL regular season and playoff games
Funding News
Games studio 2weeks has raised $1.25m in pre-seed funding
The new studio will use the funds to create new projects including web-based titles
New Leadership
Jan Richter succeeds Ralph Stock as CEO of Sixteen Tons Entertainment
Richter has played a key role in developing successful titles at EA, Bigpoint, Mighty Bear Games, and ZeptoLab
Funding For Games
NCSoft invests $3.5 million in Swedish studio Moon Rover Games
The studio will use the funds throughout the development stage of its upcoming FPS game Project Aldous
A Fresh Start
Ex-Unity and Scopely developers launch new studio, Outer Haven Games
Based in the US, the studio is already working on a role-playing anime-inspired game called Techno Infierno
Mena Workshops
Maysalward hosts Minecraft Education training workshop for teachers
The workshop trains teachers to integrate Minecraft Education into their classrooms
Mena Market Growth
Saudi Arabia leads MENA in VC investments and games market growth in 2024
With 21 million active gamers, the KSA is MENA's largest games market to be valued at $6 billion come 2027
Milestone
Whiteout Survival races past $1 billion revenue
The US leads as the game's top revenue region
Milestone
Netmarble's Solo Leveling: Arise has passed $100 million revenue
More than 30% of the game's revenue comes from South Korea
Interview
"Navigating the MENA region's funding landscape specifically in Saudi Arabia has been quite promising"
Starvania Studio CEO and co-founder Meaad Aflah discusses her studio's latest project and the opportunities and challenges facing Saudi Arabia's games industry
Multi-platform Gaming
Japan and Korea's 97 million gamers drive growth for multi-platform games
The latest Niko Partner's report shows a clear shift as Japanese mobile players embrace console and PC
Game Cancellation
Dinosaur Polo Club scraps Magic School in order to renew focus on its Mini series
The goal of Magic School was to explore new ideas beyond the studio's typical minimalist simulations. But it's an experiment that failed
Funding News
dotplay raises $1 million funding to transform mobile game distribution
"We believe the mobile web can compete with app stores for distribution," says dotplay's CEO Iskander Pataudi
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason event to kick off with a $3 million prize pool
Players can earn event currency by logging in, playing matches, or spectating matches
Ecosystem Expansion
Dubai is confirmed as Games of the Future host in 2025
Qualifiers are underway via the World Phygital Community’s Phygital Games 2024/25 tournament