Week That Was
Space Ape raises $7M, Monster Strike bests Puzzle & Dragons, and should wearables be subsidised?
The past 7 days in bite-sized portions
Staff
Jon Jordan
Job Title
Contributing Editor
Contact jon@pocketgamer.co.uk
About A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Articles by Jon Jordan
Jobs
Tag Games is hiring senior and junior roles for coding, artist and design
Dundee outfit is in full-on mode
Solving UA: Pocket Gems hopes its Night at the Museum game will ride third movie's coattails to success
Hidden Object game out now
Jobs
GREE is looking for a director of engineering
Level up its RPG studio in San Francisco
Jobs
Rovio shuts down Tampere studio as it confirms 110 job losses
Consolidates in Espoo
Interview
Biodroid on the need to balance innovation and investment
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Jobs
Analytics outfit deltaDNA is hiring
Looking for scientists and managers
Jobs
Vainglory looks to Twitch, hiring George 'Zekent' Liu as video community manager
Building community
Jobs
PlayQ is looking to hire a creative director
Sunny Santa Monica is calling you
DeltaDNA drops price of its analytics for indies at launch by 90% to $100 a month
No excuses not to segment
Interview
Is your game unique enough to breakout, asks Pixel Toys' CEO
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Interview
As UA extends from launch into lifecycle, you need sharper analytics, says Adjust's Japanese MD
Shawn Bonham on the influence of re-engagement
Jobs
Innogames looking for community managers
Hamburg publisher hiring
Mobile Mavens
Can promotional events like Red and Black Friday drive monetisation?
Our Mavens debate charity, sales and engagement
Interview
Speaker spotlight: Albert Marshall, Marshall Media
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Hothead, Zynga, Space Ape, 5th Planet and Pixowl amongst those F2P companies incentivising big on Black Friday
Splashing it over the Tapjoy offerwall
Interview
Several small games are far better than an all-in project for indies, says 80 Days dev Inkle
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Interview
Indies need to be experiemental to survive and prosper, says Byron Atkinson-Jones
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Shanda Games' NASDAQ buyout moves from the convoluted to the ridiculous
Control now split between acting CEO and textile company
Monetizer Mavens
Carrots and sticks: How F2P designers should balance wither and daily rewards
Our Monetizer Mavens talk appointment gaming mechanics
Interview
Prepare for a new arms race over mobile game graphics, predicts Lumo's Jonathan Evans
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Investment
Digital insight outfit SimilarWeb raises $15 million for aggressive mobile expansion
Tracking app store traffic
Ouya now 1,000 games strong
The unconsole thinks it still can
Financials
Despite delays, KongZhong sees FY14 Q3 mobile game sales up 8% to $11 million
Gross profits up 19%
Deal
Gamevil levels up, acquiring Korean RPG dev Waplesoft
More content for its global publishing arm
Interview
Indies need to create a great story around their games, says AppLift's Michael Puriz
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Chart Of The Week
How TinyLoot increased Smash Bandits' retention 50% and doubled ARPU
Engaged players spend more
Interview
Chorus' Shin Kanaoya questions, Who are you making your game for?
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Interview
Playing your cards right: How Tequila Games hopes Earthcore's unlimited crafting will shake up CCGs
Building on Hearthstone's success
Adways, Latis and Ncloud24 partner up to provide global launch pad for Korea devs
One-stop-shop for Korean devs
Investment
Pushing synchronous multiplayer mobile gaming, Flow State raises $1 million
SparkLabs Global lead the round
Interview
Make the best possible game you can. Everything else will follow, says Gamevil's Europe GM
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
How is the mobile games business changing? Make your voice heard by 23 Nov
And maybe win an iPhone 6 or Lumia 930
Interview
Self-publishing indies need to focus on niche markets, says Mediatonic's Croft
What to expect at PG Connects London 2015
Investment
Rumour: Alibaba to invest big in Com2uS
Making up for lost time
Having paid out $2 million in 2014, Skillz says that its mobile eSporters aren't just kids
Growing sector
Investment
Rivals collaborate: Tencent and Alibaba both invest in film/TV outfit Huayi Brothers
Tencent gains IP for game development
Data
With a conversion rate of 10%, ustwo's Monument Valley IAP has paid off
Update has driven strong top grossing performance
Jolla's crowdfunded Android compatible tablet raises over $500,000 in hours
Sailfish OS-powered hardware is go, go, go
Investment
Disruptor Beam raises $3.2 million for Star Trek Timelines and other projects
Midverse Studios and GrandBanks Capital boldly go
Charticle
100 million strong, but how has Angry Birds Go! found its audience on Google Play?
Checking out Angry Birds Go!, Epic, Stella and Transformers
Spacetime's MMOG Arcane Legends coming to China courtesy of Golden Gate Games
Will be culturalised for local tastes
Apple releases WatchKit as part of iOS 8.2 beta SDK
A new way to play?
Nokia Store will shut in mid-2015, users redirected to Opera Mobile Store
Microsoft twists the knife
Next Games plays its ace, announcing four game Compass Point series
It's a Wild West themed character-based card-battler
For future success, Sweden's next generation of games gurus go back to the Cabin
Stugan program starts in summer 2015
Financials
Focusing on single player games, SkyMobi sees FY14 Q3 sales up 24% to $34 million
Counter-intuitive bet is playing off
Toyze adds Talking Tom to its customisable 3D printing portfolio
Your own personal Tom
Kakao-centric
WeMade sees FY14 Q3 mobile game sales rise 4% to $16.5 million
Focused on local market
Interview
Make the game you want to make and make it unique, says Rodeo’s Ben Murch
And don’t forget to launch it properly