Interview
As Top Drives turns five Hutch’s top devs tell us what makes a hit
The developer’s pivot to racing games revived their fortunes with Top Drives the jewel in their crown
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
Reports
China game market forecast to hit $57 billion in 2027
Was $45.5 billion in 2022
Interview
Behind the scenes with “Indo-Futurism” battle royale game Indus
SuperGaming CEO Roby John goes in-deep on their upcoming BGMI-beating shooter
Interview
Why hit developer Nordcurrent is moving to publishing
The Vilnius based developer has pushed into publishing with mobile an increasing focus for the company
Interview
CEO of SuperGaming: “Battle royales are a frictionless entry point for Indians to play games”
The developers of homegrown battle royale game Indus hope to show off what domestic developers can do
Privacy
Apple to introduce Privacy Manifests, the "Destroyer of fingerprinting"
The new manifests will deliver information to developers of what their SDK’s gather and why
Awards
Apple’s Design Awards winners 2023
The company awards programs for excellence in technical achievement
New Tech
Will Apple Arcade be enough to push the Vision Pro?
At least 100 titles will be available on launch. But is that it? And where's the metaverse in all this?
New Releases
Payday: Crime War launches on iOS and Android
The title had troubled development which was halted in 2019
New Titles
Space Ape Games announces Chrome Valley Customs in cross-promotion with Beatstar
A song inspired by the game features in Space Ape’s hit rhythm game
Esports & Charity
S8UL Indian mobile esports raises $18,000 for rail disaster victims
The group commonly play a number of titles such as BGMI
Reports
GameRefinery says the best time to push ATT notifications is the first 6-30 seconds
Latest research shows this is the most popular, and most effective
Soft-launch
Supercell's Thunderdome: Flood Rush vs Squad Busters
Why're we keeping an eye on Supercell's back-to-back release this month? Find out.
Funding
Turkish studio Spektra Games receives $1.25m investment
The funding round was co-led by Ludus Ventures and The Games Fund
Partnerships
SYBO to run “biggest activation yet” for Pride Month
The developer will be partnering with numerous charities for the event
Layoffs
EA mobile developer Firemonkeys Studio hit with mass layoffs
The studio worked on Real Racing 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Reports
Apple does not collect commission on 90% of $1.1 trillion in app store sales
Apple seems to be missing out on a sizeable slice of the pie
Milestones
Indian shooter Battle Stars passes two-million players within three weeks of launch
Yet more evidence of the thriving Indian market for mobile games
Redundancies
Gwent team sees 30 employees axed after ceasing of updates
Though CD Projekt Red stands by its commitment to community tools intended to help keep the game alive
Legislation
Brazil's app store tax takes aim at foreign developers
New tax laws mean that the Brazilian government gets a bigger slice of the pie, with Apple holding back cash in order to adhere
Milestones
Bleach: Brave Souls surpasses 75 million downloads
The title is based on the popular manga and anime series
Interview
Noah Rosenfield talks Addagrams: “People enjoy investing in the betterment of themselves.”
The word game recently released on iOS and Android
Advertising
Bidstack brings its intrinsic advertising to two new mobile racing game studios
The company's platform for adding themed, unobtrusive ads to games has just gained two new partners
Events
Devolver Digital showcase to return this month as part of Summer Games Fest
The event will see Devolver’s usual eccentric style on full display
Aquiblizz
South Korean regulators approve Activision Blizzard deal
The approval puts further pressure on the UK CMA
Survey
Apple’s VR headset will be “iPhone moment” say industry professionals
Attention is currently focused outside of games, but if the price comes down the scene may be set for another App Store explosion
Research
UK video games research set to explore economic value of game industry
The research will cover all platforms including mobile
New Launch
Supercell launches new title Flood Rush into beta
The game surprise-launched at the end of May
Collaborations
BGMI goes all-in on esports with new voice pack collaboration
The collaboration features popular Indian esports personalities from the team S8UL
Back For Good?
BattleGrounds Mobile India is back: So what happened?
With the game set to return to storefronts, how exactly did Krafton get into so much trouble in India?
Alternative Storefronts
Razer adds Supercell titles to in-game rewards programme
Razor Gold is the first third-party storefront to sell in-game currency for Supercell titles
Collaborations
PUBG Mobile to collab with Colombian music star Karol G
The international artist has collaborated with the likes of Shakira, Nicki Minaj and Bad Bunny
Roundup
Revenue Report: Games financials roundup: May 2023
Who's up? Who's down? Here's the latest quarterly financial results from around the world of mobile games, all in one place
Ai Arrives
ChatGPT’s official iOS app releases in the UK
The AI generation tool is now available on iOS devices
App Store Regulation
Google removes “Slavery Simulator” game from Play Store
The app had attracted acute controversy, particularly in Brazil
Collaborations
BMW to launch in-car gaming in partnership with AirConsole
Will allow players to use their phone for games in-car
Redundancies
Kabam to lay off 12% of workforce
The Marvel Contest of Champions developer undertakes restructuring
Financials
Embracer financials see lukewarm Q4 performance
The latest figures come alongside news of the collapse of $2bn deal
No Deal
Embracer loses out on $2bn deal at the eleventh-hour
The deal, according to CEO Lars Wingefor, was in the verbal agreement stage before being unexpectedly scuttled
Showcase 2023
Sony teases push into live service and cross-platform publishing
The first information of future plans lands prior to tonight's PlayStation Showcase 2023 event
Q&a
Cygames' Euro and US branches make new connections with the West
“Our new branches will enable us to further strengthen our Western marketing approach”
Expansion
AppsFlyer keeps pace with cross-platform marketing and measurement tools
Game makers can get the stats they need and feel the benefit across multiple platforms
Breakthrough Gaming
Asset 15 is a new AR game from the director of The Bourne Identity
Studio 30 Ninjas was founded by director-producer Doug Liman
Collaborations
Outfit7 brings Talking Tom to in-car entertainment
The studio will partner with Google for their first in-car collaboration
Financials
Ten Square financials sees company announcing new “strategic priorities”
Company will be focusing on core games
Financials
Tencent announces positive 2023 first quarter financials
A tantalising glimpse into the goings-on behind the scenes at Tencent
Anniversary
Hutch celebrates fifth anniversary of Top Drives with new short film
The studio published the automotive card-collector game in 2017
Expanding Markets
My.Games to establish new regional hub in Abu Dhabi
The European publisher takes a step into the MENA market
Legislation
BattleGrounds Mobile India to be ‘unbanned’
Just as Krafton promised, the PUBG spin-off will once again be “available for download soon”
Regulations
Major mobile titles not compliant with South-Korean gacha laws
Mobile games are part of a list of 16 titles not compliant with voluntary guidelines