New Name, New Games
Square Enix Montreal rebrands as Onoma
The new name follows the sale of the company to Embracer Group
Staff
Lewis Rees
About Lewis Rees is a journalist, author, and escape room enthusiast based in South Wales. He got his degree in Film and Video from the University of Glamorgan. He's been a gamer all his life.
Articles by Lewis Rees
Blockchain Gaming
Joyride introduces the Joyride Wallet
The new wallet aims to make the blockchain more accessible
Job News
Lulu Cheng Meservey joins Activision Blizzard executive team
Meservey will hold the positions of executive vice president of corporate affairs and chief communications officer
Job News
CyberAgent appoints new corporate officers
Norishige Nagase has been appointed as senior managing executive officer
Job News
Space Ape appoints Derek De Filippo as marketing lead
De Filippo previously served as business manager of games for the App Store
In-game Ads
Intrinsic in-game ads earn twice as much viewtime as other digital channels
Lumen and Anzu delve into the advertising space
Equity In Gaming
Take-Two highlights the LGBT+ community in new inclusion videos
The videos were created in partnership with Gay Gaming Professionals
Interview
Bandai Namco Mobile’s CPO on the mobile gaming industry
Massimo Caporale – “I still feel excited by the possibilities that advanced AI could mean in the world of gaming”
New Appointment
Fingersoft appoints Mika Reini to its board of directors
Reini previously held the role of CFO at Remedy Entertainment
Sensor Tower Report
Player spending forecast to fall 2% year-on-year in 2022
Google Play game revenue is predicted to fall 8.3%
Activision Unions
NLRB finds that Activision Blizzard withheld raises from union campaigners
The findings come as the National Labour Relations Board investigates anti-union activity
Mwm Expansion
MWM opens new business unit focused on US markets
The company aims to create a suite of creative apps for mobile devices
Playstation Expansion
PlayStation eyes new investment in mobile and PC
The company continues to expand its interests
The Science Of Stories
GameAnalytics on the importance of Narrative design
Why is gaming unique among art forms?
Microsoft Merger
Microsoft launch pro-merger website for Activision Blizzard bid
The merger is being challenged by competitor Sony
Helsinki Highlights
Building a company with vision
Jussi Tähtinen on how crystallising the company you want to be can help you succeed
Trouble For Tencent
Tencent loses status as China’s biggest company
The company’s stock price has fallen $623 billion from its peak
Get Ready For Liftoff
CPI for casual games has fallen, while ROAS has increased
Mobile gaming is now three times the size of its closest competitor
Mobile Streaming
Vodafone Idea partners with CareGame for India’s first cloud gaming service
The service will be previewed at India Mobile Congress 2022
Children's Code
One year on - how is the gaming industry dealing with the Children's code?
Companies are uncertain about age verification standards
Market Impact
Genshin Impacts celebrates its second birthday in style
The game was the third most profitable title of the past two years
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia eyes up acquisition of major publisher
The acquisition is part of a $38.7 billion games strategy
Download Or Delete?
Free-to-play games are downloading podcast episodes to phones without consent
Publishers are boosting their download rates for monetary purposes using this method
Cooking Up Success
Netflix and Tilting Point team up on three new titles
SpongeBob and Narcos get new games, with an unnamed title also in the works.
Newzoo Report
50% of Gen Z and Gen Alpha make in-game purchases
Mobile is the top platform in both demographics
Ad Fraud
iPhone recorded more ad-related fraud than Android in Q2
The higher LTV of iPhone users makes them a prime target for fraud
New Hire
Tripledot appoints Daniel Freireich as Chief Games Officer
The Scopely veteran will lead Tripledot’s portfolio of games
Socialpeta Report
Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga still at the top of the game
SocialPeta’s August report delves into the industry’s success
Rec Con
Rec Room is coming to PC
The company’s co-founder and CEO gave us a peek into the future at Rec Con
Metaverse Fashion
Carolina Herrera Dress sells for $5000 on Roblox
The virtual interpretation of the gown was one of 432 sold
The Growth Of Mena Gaming
Saudi Arabia launches gaming and esports strategy
The scheme is expected to create 39,000 jobs by 2030
Microsoft And Activision
Microsoft CEO confident about the Activision Blizzard Acquisition
“We feel very, very confident that we’ll come out.”
New Hiring
Animoca Brands expands executive team
Jared Shaw joins the team as Chief Financial Officer, among other appointments
Job News
Top 10 mobile games industry job vacancies this week
Sybo, Niantic, Zynga, Voodoo, and Kwalee
Augmented Reality
Niantic brings Lightship to browser
Lightship VPS aims to make AR more accessible than ever before
Israeli Gaming Market
Israeli gaming market worth $9 billion
74 percent of the country’s mobile gaming workers specialise in social and casual games
Feature
Upstream: the mobile games streaming and esports digest – September 20 2022
PocketGamer.biz and Stream Hatchet break down the monthly stats on mobile games making waves on streaming platforms and esports events
Rmg Gaming
50 percent of genZ gamers in India actively participate in real money gaming
A report by Newzoo and MAAS delves into the Indian mobile gaming industry
Play-to-earn
Newzoo on the evolution and future of play-to-earn
A new report delves into the play-to-earn market, and discusses how it may evolve
Interview
Luis de la Camara: “ I wouldn't be surprised if ten years from now the industry is primarily made up of a handful of big companies.”
Rovio’s VP on Marketing discusses monetisation, cloud gaming, and industry trends.
Collaborative Working
Calypte on creating a collaborative environment
The studio’s leadership team discuss their vision
Relocation
Zynga opens new headquarters in San Mateo
The new offices were designed to optimise the company’s hybrid Connected Workplace model
Chinese Licenses
NetEase and Tencent subsidiary receive game approval in China
Allstar Streetball Party and Defense of Health have been approved for release
War In Ukraine
Azur Games sells Russian and Belarusian assets
The sale comes as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine
Unveiling A New Partnership
NetEase and Shueisha Games partner up on unVEIL the world
The RPG will launch on iOS and Android
New Partnership
Assemble Entertainment will distribute for Mixtvision Games
The new partnership will drive the success of Mixtvision's catalogue.
Racing To Success
Animoca Brands begins acquisition proceedings of WePlay Media
The intended acquisition is largely due to the success of the MotoGP™ brand
Big Prizes
ironSource Supersonic bring back Superstars contest
The world’s biggest hyper-casual contest has a $2 million top prize
Market Dominance
1% of publishers are responsible for 91% of app revenue
The publishers also generated 79% of downloads in H1 2022
Interview
Aleksander Larson: A 100 percent player-owned, real-money economy is the way forward for the games industry
We spoke to the Sky Mavis co-founder and COO about the future of monetisation in the game space