Milestone
Budge Studios surpasses 2 billion lifetime downloads across its mobile games portfolio
The milestone marks 15 years of delivering child-focused digital play experiences
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
Rival Bid
Paramount makes $108bn all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
The offer aims to outbid Netflix’s $82.7bn agreement announced last week
Milestone
PvX crosses $250m in committed UA financing for mobile games and consumer apps
The firm pitches cohort-based UA financing as a non-dilutive alternative to equity and traditional debt
Funding News
Qwacks secures $480,000 to advance game development and live ops technology
Investment will accelerate plans to scale its platform and expand across Saudi Arabia and the wider region
Job News
Stillfront names Emily Villatte CFO as early transition takes effect
Villatte joins the group's executive management team a month earlier than planned
Marvellous Mena
Steer Studios CEO Yannick Theler on Tom and Jerry Blast, building talent, and next year's ambitions
"I think AI will continue to be an important part of the conversation in the new year. It is nothing new in one sense, but AI is here to stay"
Winners Revealed
Pokémon TCG Pocket, Dredge, and What The Clash? named App Store Awards 2025 winners
Pokémon TCG Pocket takes iPhone Game of the Year
Game Jam
Thatgamecompany launches first independently organised game jam
The developer invites creators to build accessible, emotionally driven experiences
Milestone
Unico Studio surpasses 1.6bn mobile downloads and 750m web plays
The Brain Test developer added 1.1bn downloads in three years
Freedom Regained
Netflix sells Spry Fox back to founders
Spirit Crossing stays in development with Netflix handling mobile publishing
Market Growth
Asia and MENA games revenue set to hit $88.97bn in 2025
The regional gamer population is also set to reach o 1.7bn this year
Recognition
IGDA Foundation Names Margaret Gathoni 2025 Eric Dybsand AI Scholar
The program supports one AI student each year to advance the next wave of engineering talent
New Offerings
Social platform Stan launches Photon to reward users for their online attention
Users can now earn rewards for watching videos, scrolling feeds, interacting with creators or playing games
New Offerings
Gamez Quest launches to deliver premium Arabic localisation for global publishers
The studio provides localisation services across PC, console, mobile and VR
Banned
Russia bans Roblox over harmful content claims
The ban follows allegations of extremist content and LGBT propaganda
Regulations
Apple pushes back against India’s "sledgehammer" mandatory cyber app plans
Insider sources say Apple sees the mandate as a major privacy and security risk for iOS
Acqusitions
Saudi Arabia’s PIF set to own 93.4% of EA in proposed takeover
The transaction is expected to close within six to nine months
Layoff News
Outright Games lays off 27 staff across its UK and Spanish operations
Marketing, production, creative, QA, and OG Labs teams are among those affected
New Offerings
Discord launches wishlist feature for saving and showcasing cosmetic items
Friends can view a wishlist and gift items directly, with claimed gifts removed automatically
Streaming Surge
Twitch hits 21m streamers with billions of hours watched in 2025
Over a million creators streamed on Twitch from the UK alone
New Partnerships
Xsolla and HP launch global ecosystem to train and support future game developers
Pilot programs will roll out in Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and the UAE, targeting over 100,000 young creators
New Partnerships
Magicave partners with The Observer to bring Mindset GO! to print
The newspaper will publish a new Mindset GO! puzzle every week on its logic page
New Partnerships
Monopoly Go brings Harry Potter Magic to players in new limited-time event
The event launches December 10th 2025, celebrating iconic characters, locations and film moments
Job News
Ali Farha joins Nordic games investor Behold Ventures
He will support fundraising, guide portfolio studios, and help steer Behold’s mission
Regulations
India orders all new smartphones to ship with a mandatory cybersecurity app
Smartphone brands have 90 days to ship devices with the Sanchar Saathi app installed
Online Safety
Ofcom shares new guidance urging tech firms to boost protections for women and girls online
The regulator outlined nine priority areas for safer platform design and stronger user support
Tax Laws
Government updates VGEC rules as part of UK Budget
New guidance aligns games tax credits with the wider RDEC framework
Child Safety
UK launches mobile game child privacy review
Ten popular mobile titles will be scrutinised for data protection compliance
New Partnerships
Savvy Games Group and King Saud University team up to develop future talent for Saudi Arabia's games and esports sector
The MoU creates a framework for joint initiatives in skill development, knowledge exchange, and industry exposure
Job News
Jason Avent joins QA studio Six Peaks Games as founder and non-executive director
Six Peaks specialises in embedded QA teams that integrate directly with development pipelines
Milestone
Resident Evil Survival Unit surpasses two million downloads in under two weeks
The game has maintained strong momentum after crossing one million downloads last month
Acqusitions
Nintendo to acquire Bandai Namco Studios Singapore
The Switch maker will take an initial 80% stake in BNSS from April 2026
Ai In Games
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says AI-made labels on storefronts “make no sense”
He argued that AI will feature in “nearly all future production” across the industry
Layoff News
Thunderful to cut up to 60 jobs at Coatsink as part of major restructuring effort
The company said the layoffs are needed to bring costs in line with current contracted revenue
New Partnerships
Make-A-Wish teams up with IGG to launch Thanksgiving charity challenge in Lords Mobile
IGG will donate $50,000 to Make-A-Wish once 50,000 players claim the event decoration
Job News
Metacore taps ex-Rovio CTO Petri Hyökyranta and King's Daniel Lindkvist to lead tech efforts
The appointments aim to support Metacore’s long-term strategy and future scaling plans after the success of Merge Mansion
New Studio
Fat Rat Games launches to build Roblox games and support creators
The studio was founded and led by long-time Roblox creators
Possible Acqusition
Report: ByteDance is exploring the sale of Moonton to Savvy Games Group
The talks revive a previously paused plan to offload the Mobile Legends maker
Esports Tournament
Chess.com, Moonton and SNK join publisher lineup for Esports Nations Cup
Seven major publishers now shape the ENC’s structure, formats and qualification paths
Accelerator Program
Avalanche and Helika select five studios for their debut accelerator cohort
Selected studios receive $25,000 upfront, mentorship, and showcase opportunities
New Offerings
Tencent rolls out Hunyuan 3D engine for AI-driven asset creation
The tool is designed to generate 3D assets from text, images, or sketches in minutes
Funding For Games
Gear Games secures $5m to scale its new card battler Arcane Rush
Metica is providing non-dilutive financing alongside UA and monetisation support
Acqusitions
Roundtable Interactive acquires Auroch Digital to mark a new chapter for the Bristol studio
Auroch said the deal offers fresh opportunities after two challenging years for the industry
Job News
TikTok names former Boeing executive Ziad Ojakli as head of public policy for the Americas
The appointment comes as the video-sharing platform accelerates plans to separate its US operations from ByteDance
Epic Delay
Epic Games pushes in-island transaction publishing for Fortnite creators to January 2026
The delay is to allow more testing and bug fixes ahead of the full launch
Expansions
Plan A Games secures investment to build new engineering team in southeast Louisiana
The studio is developing its free-to-play analytics platform from The Shop in New Orleans’ Warehouse District
Expansions
Supercell to open new AI Innovation Lab in Tokyo next year
Opening in March 2026, the Lab expands a global network already operating in San Francisco and Helsinki
Interview
Fateless Games founders on Godforge, community-led development and raising $14 million
“At the end of the day if you aren’t making your game for the players, who are you making it for?"
Hackathon
Tamatem Games launches new Content Creator Hackathon for emerging talent
All winners secure a guaranteed three-month internship or contract alongside cash prizes
Acqusitions
Novelist Naomi Alderman reacquires Zombies, Run! from former owner OliveX
The fitness game has surpassed 10m downloads since its 2012 debut