Making Of
How SMG Studio fought Animal Crossing and a global pandemic to launch Moving Out
SMG Studio founder Ashley Ringrose speaks on the crazy year of 2020
Down Under
Epic Games is taking Apple to court in Australia
"It's another set of laws under which Apple's practices are clearly in violation. And another chance to get this issue really thoroughly examined"
Pgc Digital
PGC Digital: "A publisher is crucial to the process," says hypercasual studio Spunge Games' Mark Fludder
Comment was made during a Fireside Chat on the differences between casual and hypercasul
Down Under
Melbourne International Games Week starts 3 October with a host of online content
Taking place from October 3rd-11th
Honest Work
Playrix soft-launches match-three puzzler Farmscapes
New mobile title is available across Canada, Australia and the UK
You Have My Download
NetEase soft-launches The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War
"First regional beta test" available in Australia and the Philippines
Not So Dumb Now
Dumb Ways to Die surpasses 360 million downloads across its games catalogue
500,000 to 600,000 daily average users
15 Million Tiktok Views
Live and Kicking: Seven years on, Dumb Ways to Die has turned from a marketing campaign to a standalone business
"360 million downloads across all our games and still counting"
Restrictions
A parlimentary committee in Australia is calling for loot box restrictions
One of six recommendations
International Women’s Week
Women in Gaming: Rooster Teeth’s Alanah Pearce on making the leap from Australian to US games media
"I wrote a paragraph in this old diary saying I was going to move to San Francisco and work for IGN"
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Panda Arcade studio manager Alicia Jakovich on why the middle ground can be beneficial
"You can enjoy making games and make a moderately good living out of it."
#avankinsforaustralia
Update: Lockwood Publishing raises $20,000 via Avakin Life to help aid Australia bushfires
All profits go to WIRES, a New South Wales charity
Give Back
House House to donate at least 1% of its profits to Australia's Indigenous groups
It's part of the Pay The Rent initiative
Indie Spotlight
Studio Zero creative director William Mesilane on wanting to create "stories that subvert the genre"
"I want to make smaller-scale games that tell more meaningful stories that subvert the genre"
Rake In The Lake
Untitled Goose Game scares up over one million sales
Just three months after launching on Switch
Growth
Dutch Games Association strengthens ties with Australian games industry
Netherlands prime minister Mark Rutte visited Melbourne International Games Week 2019
Jobs In Games
How Hollow Knight composer Christopher Larkin got the gig
From film to games
Raskulls Face Off
Jetpack Joyride studio Halfbrick returns with fast-paced PVP Magic Brick Wars
First game in three years
Honk Honk
Success of Untitled Goose Game shows devs can find their own 'sustainable bubbles'
House House developer spoke to PocketGamer.biz at this year’s Australian Game Developer Awards
Gcap Recap
Mighty Kingdom wins Studio of the Year at Australian Game Developer Awards 2019
Untitled Goose Game is Game of the Year
Escapism
Games like Pokemon Go can be therapeutic tools, according to Child’s Play program director
Child’s Play charity looks to improve the lives of children through games
Strewth
While Canada's game industry has boomed, Australia has flatlined
Mighty Kingdom CEO Philip Mayes wants more
Mental Health
"Play games that make you feel good," says CheckPoint community manager
Pritika Sachdev shared advice for what employers in the industry could be doing to combat the issue
Lighting The Way
With over 150 studios, Melbourne accounts for half of Australia’s games industry revenue
State’s minister for mental health Martin Foley opens GCAP with Keynote and commitment to growth
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Simon Joslin on how The Voxel Agents has been thriving off puzzlers for 10 years
"It’s a good time for an indie if you have a killer idea, or a great track record because there’s a tonne of cash out there for cool projects"
Crash
Call of Duty: Mobile soft-launched in India and Australia
Tencent-owned Chinese studio Timi handling development
Market Value
Australia and New Zealand games markets worth combined $3.1 billion in 2018
Former worth $2.8bn; the latter $355.6m
What A Rush
Pokemon Rumble Rush revealed for iOS and Android
Evolution of 2017 Pokeland title that was in the works
Vote
Australia's Labor party courts devs with pledge to reinstate the Interactive Games Fund
$25 million fund will be reinstated pending the results of elections this Saturday
Soft Launch
Playrix soft-launches new match-three puzzler Wildscapes
Available in Australia, Canada and New Zealand
Job News
Animoca Brands hires former Sony managing director Michael Ephraim as head of partnerships
Will oversee Australia and New Zealand region
Britain Bound
Nintendo’s Dragalia Lost launches in UK across iOS and Android
Ireland, Canada, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand see release too
Job Losses
Huge layoffs strike staff at Australian studio EA Firemonkeys
As many as 50 staff could be affected
Restart
The indie spirit behind the rebirth and growth of the Australian games industry
"We have to share the knowledge that we keep to ourselves and the things that scare us. We have to connect"
Indie Spotlight
How Super Entertainment's Spin Rhythm is designed to combine flow with flare
“Spin Rhythm makes use of all the available inputs and gestures of a touch screen to make players feel like they are inside the music, almost composing as they play like some interdimensional DJ”
Lessons From Down Under
5 things we learned from the Melbourne International Games Week
No amount of jet-lag can stop us learning enough to write this feature
Gcap
“In 2018 one of the most punk, transgressive, brave and bad-ass thing you can do is to care about each other”
At Melbourne International Games Week, Mountains creative director Ken Wong delved into the new revolution that the industry needs
Gcap
“We shouldn't see similarity as a requirement for helping each other"
At Melbourne International Games Week, The Working Lunch director Ally McLean delved into how mentorship can better the industry
Expansion
How the esports landscape will change in Australia and New Zealand over the coming 12 months
ESL managing director and EGAA chairman Nick Zanzetti gave a talk on the topic at the Melbourne International Games Week
Cherry On Top
Hollow Knight dev Team Cherry snags Studio of the Year accolade at Australian Game Developer Awards 2018
Mountains also got a nod for mobile narrative game Florence
Woah
Fortnite developer Epic Games to open new Australia and New Zealand branch
GDA Australia CEO Anthony Reed will be stepping down from his role to help start it up
Whoot!
Alien Path publisher iCandy buys Indonesian Hollywhoot developer Joyseed
Deal worth up to $263,000
Redundancies
Report: Fruit Ninja developer Halfbrick lays off half its team
The number of employees laid off could push past 30 before the end of the week
Cooking Up Something
Animoca Brands working on blockchain-based MasterChef mobile game
Powered by NOX
Animoca Game Sale
Animoca Brands sells entire portfolio of 318 casual games to iCandy Interactive for $3.8 million
Performance-based incentives and potential profit shares also thrown in
Hidden Treasures
Indie game funding scheme Treasure Hunters FanClub launches
Up to $350,000 available for each project
Mighty Recruit
Melbourne developer Mighty Games hires Dots designer Ariel Magnes
First task will be working on fantasy game Charming Runes
Crash-tastic
Not Doppler's Crash of Cars smashes 10 million downloads four months after launch
Over 750 battles have taken place
Run For Your Money
Millionaire's Run has players competing for a real-world $1 million cash prize
Launches July 13th, now in beta
Australian Funding
Film Victoria awards $500,000 to nine Australian developers to help finish their games
Mobile titles include Joko's World: Pocket Planet and Paper House's Paperbark