Podcast | Episode 47
GDC 2025 final thoughts | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 47...
Investment News
Türkiye's Feraset secures $4.5m to expand AI-powered consumer apps
The funds will go towards scaling its marketing efforts and working towards increasing its global subscriber count
Investment News
Uthana raises $4.3m with open beta for AI-powered animation platform
The brand said its Motion Library offers over 10,000 animations searchable by natural language
Gdc Takeaways
Five takeaways from GDC 2025: A quieter year, AI was the big trend, and the engine wars go silent on the show floor
The impact of a challenging few years and an industry in transition was reflected in the show's attendance and on the show floor
Unity Update
Unity 6.1 will add large foldable Android screen support and other new platform options
Meta Quest and Android XR build profiles are also being added to the list of over 20 supported platforms
Storytelling Seed
PhilosopherKing raises $3m in seed funding to bolster AI-driven storytelling
The funding round was led by 468 Capital and 212
Ai Storytelling
Former Disney and Pandora execs launch Operative Games to create immersive experiences with AI
The company said its Story Engine gives game characters their own stories while letting players stay in control
Platform Power
90% of devs’ most recent games launched on mobile
Unity’s Gaming Report 2025 revealed a 34% year-over-year increase in developers targeting three or more platforms
Out Of The Zone
Zenless Zone Zero voice actors replaced following SAG-AFTRA strike decisions
Emeri Chase and Nicholas Thurkettle, who voiced Soldier 11 and Lycaon respectively, claim to have discovered they were replaced via patch notes
Speaker Spotlight
Filuta AI CEO: "The biggest opportunities lie in AI-assisted game development, procedural content generation and intelligent automation"
Filuta AI CEO and founder Filip Dvorak is set to discuss game testing with planning agents at PGC San Francisco 2025
Ai Automation
Nunu.ai secures $6m to scale AI Agents for game QA
This brings the platform's total funding to $8m after a $2m pre-seed round in 2024
Ar And Ai
Niantic Spatial spin-off nets $250m funding after Scopely acquisition
Monopoly Go developer is investing $50m into the tech firm
Funding News
Liminal raises $5.8 million to empower player creativity using AI
“A positive vision of the future should recognise the power of AI to ignite the imaginations of players of all ages,” said Liminal founder and CEO Brendan Mulligan
Ai Legal Guide
Smart AI use: A guide for game studios
Futura Digital's Alexandra Kurdyumova and Valeria Gziryan delve into the legal and development issues surrounding generative AI in games
Ai-powered Games
Activision promoting Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and Crash Bandicoot mobile games that don't exist
The publisher’s survey stated the titles are not real “but could be some day!’’
Ai-powered
New AI creative tool Flora launches to “transform" creative workflows
“Current AI creative tools are built by non-creatives for other non-creatives to feel creative," says Flora founder Weber Wong.
Better Outcomes Automatically
Smarter Ad Monetisation: How GeeMee Uses AI to Maximise Your Revenue
GeeMee explores the use of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to unlock new possibilities in revenue optimisation
Ai In Games
Ludo AI launches 3D generator for developers to create game-ready models
Ludo AI said that models can be exported “in industry recognised formats”
Ai In Games
KGeN and Mira Network partner to build AI agents in games
KGeN will also use Mira's APIs, like Generate, Verify, and Verified Generate to create gaming AI tools
Hot Five
Hot Five: AI content regulations, Love and Deepspace’s first anniversary, and Monster Hunter series hits 100m unit sales
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Ai Safety
U.S. Copyright Office rules AI-generated content without human input won’t be protected
An “extremely low” level of creativity is still needed
Storytelling Reinvented
Reimagining Storytelling: How AI Makes Narratives More Personal and Interactive
Storytelling has always been about connection - through books, films, or games - Talefy explains how AI can help make those connections deeper, stronger and more personal
Ai Advances
Practical AI: How Sifor Games harnessed genAI tools to build its games
"AI can help level the playing field for indie developers"
Pgc London Takeaways
Five takeaways from Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025: Optimism for the year ahead with mobile to lead the charge
We look at some of the most talked about topics as this year's Pocket Gamer Connects London
Pgc London 2025
A VC’s perspective on AI in games: "AI is going to change and replace lower development-effort work"
AI.Fund principle Maximilian Seeburg says its time to "make games smarter"
Speaker Spotlight
Crackle's Jaivir Nagi on the role of AI in maximising game revenue
"To navigate this complexity successfully, publishers must cultivate a deep understanding of adtech solutions, coupled with the strategic application of AI and ML technologies"
Power Of Ai
Nefta set to unveil new AI-powered ad platform at Pocket Gamer Connects London
Nefta’s AI agents categorises games based on their style and genre, making it easier for game makers to market them effectively
Speaker Spotlight
Layer AI's Joona Rahko on the transformative power of AI in game development
"Just as a brilliant game emerges from countless iterations and improvements, real success comes from the habits we choose and nurture."
Industry Enthusiasm
90% of developers plan to launch at least one game in 2025
Metaplay’s The Game Development Renaissance report suggests more than two in three devs are optimistic about the industry this year
Speaker Spotlight
Filuta AI's Filip Dvorak on the rise and rise of AI
Filuta AI founder Filip Dvorak explains why generative AI is not the holy grail of artificial intelligence and why composite AI may offer developers even greater opportunities
Startup News
Meta and Creative Assembly vets form AI engine startup Studio Atelico
Tech aims to help developers build games powered by generative AI
Free Ebook
Free AI Gamechangers ebook: Essential industry insights on AI in games
Download our 29-page collection of interviews with CEOs and experts sharing real-world insights on making AI work for your business
Best Of 2024
Aaron Astle’s top stories of 2024: 7 years of Fire Emblem Heroes, the art of Farm Heroes Saga, and Pokémania's return
From ongoing legacies to smash-hit new games, PocketGamer.biz news editor Aaron Astle revisits his top stories from 2024
Roblox And Ai
Roblox Studio chief on how AI will revolutionise UGC
Stefano Corazza reveals how AI-powered tools are transforming UGC development economics and scaling creator content
Year In Review
The biggest mobile games industry trends of 2024
A look back at the stories and trends that shaped the year
Funding News
Databricks raises $10bn to bring company valuation to $62bn
The funds will go towards acquisitions, expansions and developing new AI products
Podcast | Episode 40
Games industry trends 2024 review | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode 40...
New Partnerships
WHO teams up with Goodville to launch new virtual health assistant ‘Sarah'
Players can interact with Sarah through an in-game chat
Ai In Games
Google’s AI Genie 2 brings images to life by transforming them into playable 3D worlds
“Games play a key role in the world of artificial intelligence research”
M&a Advice
Acquiring and selling games: Trends and strategies in 2024
ZiMAD’s M&A manager Yana Vesnina shares on M&A strategies that have shaped 2024
Ai Ads
Reforged Labs begins open beta for generative AI-created mobile game ads following $3.9m investment
The open beta allows developers to upload gameplay and automate animated, voiced game ads
Waves And Workflows
Niantic to offer AR services outside games with Niantic Spatial Platform
The Pokémon Go maker is combining technologies to deliver new "spatial experiences"
Layoff News
AMD cuts 1,000 staff as it pivots to AI
“As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps"
Game Design
Ludo.ai evolves into complete game design hub with major update
Ludo says the new update supports “every stage of game design."
Netflix Ai
Netflix appoints Mike Verdu as VP of GenAI for games
Streaming giant eyes potential for AI to power its games business
New Partnerships
SAG-AFTRA and Ethovox partner to build AI voice replicas and empower actors
The Ethovox model creates digital voice replicas based on extensive voice data
Developer Tools
Unity's Supersonic launches new AI-powered Game Idea Generator
The tool will generate and refine game ideas to provide key building blocks and initial code for development on the Unity engine
New From Ncsoft
NCSoft to establish four new subsidiaries developing games and researching AI
The corporate split-off was approved during a board meeting but awaits green light from shareholders
Negotiations Underway
Negotiations resume as over 120 games sign SAG-AFTRA's interim contracts
“We’ve had over 120 contracts signed and there’s no sign of things slowing down."
Unity 6 Unveiled
Unity 6 goes live: Under the hood of the game engine's latest AI, web and mobile tools
We sit down with Unity VP of product Ryan Ellis to talk everything Unity 6, the Runtime Fee and more