Mobile Mavens
Broken trust, a dark 12 months, but a positive sign: Developers react to Unity axing the Runtime Fee
Our industry experts share their thoughts on the big news, which comes one year after the Runtime Fee was first announced
Staff
Paige Cook
Job Title
Deputy Editor
Contact paige.cook@steelmedianetwork.com
About Paige is the Deputy Editor on PG.biz who, in the past, has worked in games journalism covering new releases, reviews and news. Coming from a multimedia background, she has dabbled in video editing, photography, graphic and web design! If she's not writing about the games industry, she can probably be found working through her ever-growing game backlog or buried in a good book.
Articles by Paige Cook
Big Plans
“Treating what we are building not just as a game but as a social platform is very rare"
Social First’s CEO Kim Soares on securing funds to fuel the development of a new cross-platform MMO title that champions social connectivity
Ai Integration
Kinetix launches its $1 million fund initiative to accelerate AI-UGC in games
The AI emote creators will offer selected developers up to $75,000 to bring its user-generated emote technology to their games
Jobs Roundup
September's Mobile Movers: Asmodee appoints CEO, Nintendo of Europe shake-up, 1Up's new venture partner, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Fueling Expansion
In-game audio advertising platform Odeeo secures $5 million funding round for global expansion
The new funds will aid with expansion in key markets such as North America, Asia and the MENA region
Games Industry Service
Hub and Spoke Games launches to offer specialist games business development services
The new agency has been founded by industry veteran Chris Buckley and offers a range of services
Tag Team
Brawl Stars teams up with WWE star John Cena to kick off its SpongeBob SquarePants collaboration
The collaboration sets in motion the celebration of SpongeBob SquarePants 25th anniversary with an in-game takeover of the hit Supercell game
Indie Insights
Incredible Indies: Planting The Green Book for cross-platform pollination
Developer Eugene Lazebny on the challenges of being an indie and how Tapteek’s latest green-fingered project came to life
Rebranding
“We’re one of the only platforms that enables mobile developers to publish their web3 games on app stores”
READYgg recently rebranded to PLAY with a continued focus on bridging the gap between web2 and web3 gaming
Engaging Audiences
How to engage with a broader audience in today’s tougher games climate
Proxima AI’s CEO Alex Song on how developers should adapt to market changes and the increasing role of social media
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: How to survive to '25: Part two
Our mobile mavens are back to discuss the tough year of 2024 and whether the worst will be over in 2025
Industry Spotlight
Developer Stories: Zynga’s Katie Ites on getting into games and working on Game of Thrones Legends
In our developer stories series, we highlight the talented team members currently working in the games industry
Crushing It
King’s Todd Green on how the Candy Crush Saga has remained on top for 12 years
From the evolution to Candy Crush to the potential of IPs and tournaments we get the latest on one of mobile’s biggest franchises
Ai Impact
Xsolla's Chris Hewish on the impact of AI for creative workflows
“To ensure that real creative jobs aren’t lost it’s important to establish measures that balance AI integration with human oversight”
Gamescom Tips
Mobile Mavens: The expert's guide to surviving Gamescom
How to avoid the crush, be at the best party, and make all the best connections. Our Mavens give their tips and tricks for getting the best out of Europe's biggest games show
Test Of Time
SYBO’s CEO Mathias Gredal Nørvig on Subway Surfers 12 year run
Subway Surfers recently celebrated its 12 year anniversary with a return to its classic look
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: How to survive to '25
Our mobile mavens discuss the tough year of 2024 and whether the worst will be over in 2025
Winter Is Coming
Working with world class IP: How Zynga made Game of Thrones: Legends a hit
Executive vice president, Yaron Leyvand discusses the recent launch of Game of Thrones: Legends, working with big brands and that advertisement with Kit Harington
Anniversary Celebrations
Nine years of Seekers Notes and 43 million downloads across 195 countries
Seekers Notes core producer Anastasiia Vorobeva on keeping competitive in the hidden object genre and the impact of community
Battle Royale
Celebrating seven years of Garena Free Fire's success
Free Fire's global marketing lead, Cindy Chen talks to us about what has kept the game going over the past seven years
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: How is the trend for cross-platform changing the state of gaming?
Our Mavens share their thoughts on appeal of taking your game cross-platform and what the current trend means for the future of the games industry
Awards Season
BAFTA's Tara Saunders on mobile gaming's awards snub and how the event is evolving for 2025
BAFTA's chair of the games committee discusses the importance of the awards as entries for the 2025 edition open
Stories To Tell
How Netflix Stories drives new fans into the streaming giant's TV shows
Netflix Stories director of story Sarah Springwater shares details on the platform's interactive fiction games and how they engage fans and new players
Hypercasual Web3
“Hypercasual might be dead in web2 but it’s a money pit in web3”
CEO of Mirai Labs Corey Wilton discusses bridging the gap between web2 and web3 games and how hypercasual may be the key
Funding Round
Artificial intelligence tools creator X&Immersion raises €1.1 million in funding
The funds will go toward international grown and a new AI content creation platform
Full Circle
Monopoly GO! Goes full circle as Scopely and Hasbro launch a new board game
The board game will feature unique qualities from the hit mobile game
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: Are games able to capitalise on cultural sporting moments?
Our Mavens share their thoughts on how sporting events can benefit the wider games industry
Indie Devs
Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida and Greg Rice dish the do’s and don'ts of indie games development
Day two of Develop: Brighton opened with plenty of advice for indie games developers
Unreal Engine Tips
How Ripstone developed The Queen’s Gambit for Netflix: “Unreal can do mobile and it can do it well”
Ripstone’s head of partnerships Jamie Brayshaw takes us through the journey of working with a big IP and developing a mobile game in Unreal Engine
Design Tips
How to make your games perfect for mobile
At Develop: Brighton, V Buckenham, creator of mobile games creation platform Downpour, gave some great tips on designing for "the lump in your pocket"
Industry Insights
How mixing science with creativity can boost your game's success
At Develop: Brighton The Experimentation Group’s Tom Storr explained King's approach to iteration and experimentation and how you can do the same
Going Cross Platform
For Super Evil Megacorp cross-platform development is all about "the three C’s: controls, camera and character"
Director of product management Tom Westall gave his cross platform dev tips during day one one Develop: Brighton
Mobile Moments
"Without a shadow of a doubt the launch of both app stores that year was game-changing"
AdInMo's COO Joanne Lacey reflects on the early days of mobile and delivers her pick of its biggest breakthroughs
Mavens
Mobile Mavens: The industry wades in on sexist ads, aiming to “drive meaningful change”
Our industry experts discuss why sexist ads are being created and what we can collectively do to combat them
Growing Catalogue
"Games are a long-term bet for Netflix"
VP of External Games Leanne Loombe discusses the entertainment company's plans for its games division
Treasure Hunt
Bringing real life adventure to mobile with augmented reality game Swords
Future House Studios' Adam Sidwell shares development challenges and vision for the fantasy mobile title Swords, featuring real life treasure hunting and grand prizes
Interview
Five years of My.Games: From new releases to finding success in the Asian market
We caught up with Elena Grigorian who reflects My.Games’ first half of the year and shares on upcoming plans after celebrating the company's five year anniversary
The Dawn Of Mobile
“Almost overnight we went from an extremely fragmented market to one where everyone was aiming for a single device”
Mobile Entertainment Magazine’s former editor and executive editor reflect on the beginnings of mobile
Global Launch
Can Honor of Kings make it in the West? Meet the team going for global glory
We spoke with Honor of Kings chief designer, Dean Huang, head of localisation, Henry Li and its head of esports, Feng to find out why now is Honor of King's time to strike
Hot Topics
Mobile Mavens: Are today's everlasting, live ops games holding back new innovation?
Our industry experts weigh in on the power of long, and enduring games. Do endless liveops keep the market ticking? Or stop new devs from breaking through?
Road To Helsinki
Kinoa's Hen Gelberg on “The true power of LiveOps”
Kinoa's chief business development officer and co-founder discusses the core components of live ops and how to best unlock their true potential
Rising Stars
Squad Busters is this month's breakout star amidst a slate of anime themed mobile spin-offs
Sensor Tower's monthly gaming pulse for May reveals which games are the ones to watch
Out Now!
A galaxy far, far away… Why Star Wars: Hunters took six years to hit the target
Upon the games release, we get the inside story on the long awaited game from Zynga’s executive vice president Yaron Leyvand
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: The industry has its say on Squad Busters ability to draw in “untapped audiences” with its “influence from a range of genres”
With Squad Busters set for a global release at the end of the month we asked the industry what it thinks of the Supercell's soft-launched sixth game
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: The industry wades in on Squad Busters from its “transformative impact” to being “corporate box ticking”
We asked the industry what it thinks of the sixth Supercell game to get a global launch
Mavens
Mobile Mavens: The Unity aftermath… Can it reignite the faith or are doubts only growing?
Our industry experts discuss the current industry sentiment toward Unity after last year's Runtime fee farrago
Skills Gap
Evolving the leadership at Sumo to bridge the industry skills gap
Jenny Muhlwa shares her insight into the gaming industry's skills gap and how Sumo’s Evolve leadership programme aims to deliver the goods
Interview
"Merge Mansion is a very young game. We still have big plans and many surprising twists in store"
Metacore’s CBO Tapio Tuomola on four years of success for Merge Mansion and what's coming next…
Web3 Wonders
"Web3’s promise of decentralisation offers a fresh perspective on how games can be developed, played, and valued"
READYgg’s Christina Macedo tells us about creating new standards in the gaming industry through the evolution of web3
Battle Royale
Creating the next Battle Royale hit with NetEase’s Blood Strike
We speak with the game's lead game designer and operation planning executive to discuss the development of Blood Strike and what comes next