Taxes
UK budget ups tax relief for British game companies
The new credit will offer a 34% rate relief, up from 25% in its previous incarnation
Staff
Iwan Morris
Job Title
Staff Writer
About Iwan is a Cardiff-based freelance writer, who joined the Pocket Gamer Biz site fresh-faced from University before moving to the Pocketgamer.com editorial team in November of 2023.
Articles by Iwan Morris
Stocks
Hero Wars developer Nexters to resume trading on Nasdaq
The formerly Russian-based developer has divested nearly all its operations in the country
Studios
UK developer Creative Assembly to open new studio in Newcastle
The longtime collaborator with mobile developer Feral Interactive is set to bring their new development studio North-East
Stakeholders
Abu Dhabi firm G42 acquires $100m+ stake in Bytedance
The owner of Nuverse and TikTok receive a new stakeholder
Updates
PUBG Mobile’s fifth anniversary brings custom build tools to the game
The mobile battle-royale’s new suite of tools will allow players to build custom modes and maps
Releases
Honor of Kings becomes Brazil’s most successful free mobile game
The game has been heavily pushed in Brazil with exclusive trailers and more
Acquisitions
Plug In Digital acquires FTP developers Celsius Online
The free-to-play mobile and web pioneers were acquired by the French publisher
Adaptations
Raid: Shadow Legends is set to become an animated series
The billion-dollar mobile franchise is set to become a television series
Google
Google Play Games for PC comes to Europe and Japan as service expands
Google’s cross-platform service will no longer require developers to optimise before submitting
Regulations
Call of Duty: Mobile team attempt to clarify Warzone confusion: “We are committed.”
The team behind CoD Mobile clarifies their position and reiterates their commitment to the title
Appointments
Sybo appoints new CMO Philip Hickey
The Seriously veteran will take on the role of chief marketing officer
Startups
App Radar wants to use AI to make advertising easier
The startup wants their AI tool to make analysing reviews and understanding player sentiment easier
Creatives
Pedro Pascal joins the Merge Mansion creative campaign
Following on from other major Hollywood stars, the Last of Us star has joined the Metacore creative campaign
Finance
Silicon Valley Bank - What happened and how does it affect mobile?
One of America’s biggest venture capital and startup banks failed over the weekend. Here’s what it could mean for mobile
Appointments
Vancouver studio A Thinking Ape appoints new CEO
Founder and former CEO Kenshi Arasaki will move to role of chair
Alternative App Stores
Epic has apps for iOS and Android ready to go
The Epic Games Store may see an appearance on mobile sooner than we think if Tim Sweeney’s predictions come true
Trade Bodies
TIGA calls on UK government for new video game investment fund
They predict a new investment fund for the UK video game industry would provide an economic boost
Esports
PUBG Mobile Super League reveals first teams and the importance of SEA region
The new league's teams include notable esports names from all around the world
Creatives
Playtika takes potshots at Candy Crush with new Best Fiends ad campaign
“Download free, play sugar free”
Regulations
Microsoft: Acquiring mobile portion of Activision Blizzard is “key strategic objective”
The comments were made in the response to key CMA remedies for the merger
Q&a
Early Morning Studios' Daniel Lagergren talks new game Vendir: Plague of Lies
Behind the scenes on the inspiration and difficulties the team had in bringing the dungeon-crawler to mobile
Phasing Out
Call of Duty Mobile to be phased out when Warzone Mobile releases
The battle-royale game will supercede its predecessor as the sole CoD mobile title
Reports
UK attracts $545m in ad spend in 2022 and role-playing games top for growth
A new report suggests that 2023 will see increased scrutiny of marketing strategies
Independents
Redemption Games breaks from Applovin
The studio behind Sweet Escape will now operate independently
Q&a
Tom Van Dam on the success of Marvel Snap and what’s next for Nuverse
The senior director of global business offers his thoughts on the reason for Snap’s success and how they helped
Q&a
World of Tanks Blitz’ Roman Kuzmichev on bring bigger and better cosmetics to mobile
The 3D artist from World of Tanks Blitz’ creative team answer our questions on making a mobile port and pleasing players
Analysis
Angry Birds was delisted due to its effect on search, not sales
Rovio says Rovio Classics: Angry Birds pushed other games from the spotlight
Appointments
Frameplay appoints Tencent veteran Jurgen Post as chairman of board
Post also previously served as CEO of Miniclip after its acquisition by Tencent
Analytics
Apex Legends Mobile was trailing heavily behind CoD Mobile prior to its axe
New data indicates that EA’s culling of Apex Legends Mobile may be more warranted than was previously assumed
Hires
Playtika makes two new senior hires
Gili Brudno and Darlan Monterisi join the Israeli publisher and developer
Closures
Ubisoft to shutter some European subsidiaries
Anonymous sources indicate that regional distribution centres will fall victim
Releases
World of Tanks Blitz brings 3D skins to mobile
The new dinosaur themed cosmetics are the first in a new wave of more graphically demanding add-ons
Stores
Supercell to bring Clash Royale to web store
The web-based storefront allows users to make purchases for apps directly from Supercell
Lists
Unity named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative
The publication lists 540 companies in a number of categories
Charity
British Racing Greats event to celebrate racing games for charity
The charity event will feature studios from across the racing game spectrum
Users
Roblox users rose 20% from 2021 to 2022
The block-building game has slowly edged to the forefront of the metaverse
Publishing
Marvel Snap publisher Nuverse follow up with Dragonheir: Silent Gods
Will be working with recently established SRGA studios
Legal
Yuji Naka admits to insider trading in Tokyo court
The console and mobile developer and producer most famous for Sonic was arrested on suspicion of insider trading
Partnerships
Rovio announces IMG as their exclusive agent for books and more
The company will manage publishing deals with book and media companies on behalf of Rovio
Financials
Playtika to halt development of new games following rocky financials
Playtika’s Q4 2022 financials revealed a few key victories, and losses
Milestones
The Financial Times places Tripledot as fastest growing company in Europe
The UK-based mobile game developer has snatched the top spot
Milestones
My.Games’ Hustle Castle sees 80 million downloads
The game will also be celebrating its sixth anniversary this year
Focus
“Hypercasual isn’t dead, it’s just overworked” - Kwalee pivots to hybridcasual
The UK-based publisher are putting their money on hybridcasual
Next Gen Mobile
Tencent’s Arena Breakout to enter global beta
The Tarkov-like mobile extraction shooter was announced in 2021
Financials
Azerion sees positive year of growth following acquisitions
The company will be cancelling the majority of treasury shares to concentrate on cash liquidity rather than stocks
Education
Roblox virtual grief education experience has been played 100k times
Created by the nonprofit Experience Camps, the Roblox world is an example of effective education through games
Tech
Samsung wants to optimise ray tracing for phones
The graphical fidelity boost for mobile games would be substantial
Global Releases
Tencent’s former China-exclusives go global
The Chinese game giant has gone on a spree of releasing previously Chinese-exclusive games to the West
Releases
Pokémon reawakens Pokémon Sleep and mobile updates
Pokémon Presents 2023 covered a variety of new announcements for the franchise
Releases
Nexon’s MapleStory M comes to China with Maplestory: The Legend of Maple
The spin-off from MapleStory M is being developed in partnership with Tiancity