Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Niantic head of developer relations Kellee Santiago on empowering others to make unique games
"I know how to empower developers to make games no one has seen before"
A Good Cause
Google Play opens up donations for coronavirus relief efforts on its store
100 per cent of donations go to the cause
European Take Over
European mobile games revenue expected to reach $12.9 billion in 2022
Games will be responsible for 55 per cent of the revenue
Magic Number
Update: Shadowgun War Games rolls out worldwide following one million pre-registrations
Doubled in less than a month
"more Negotiation Power"
Chinese mobile companies partner up to take on Google Play
Huawei Technologies, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo all involved
Stadia Downloads
Exclusive: Google Stadia mobile downloads have halved since November
550,000 installs to date, according to Sensor Tower
Higher And Higher
Mobile games revenue increased by 13% to $61.7 billion in 2019
Honor of Kings tops the list for worldwide spending at $1.43 billion
Big Numbers
Google Play handled 2 billion MAUs and 115 billion downloads in 2019
The most popular distribution store ever
Money For Not Much
Google's Play Points reward program launches in US
Reward system already live in Japan and Korea
Download Drivers
Say Games, Voodoo and Good Job Games the most downloaded gamecos
Sensor Tower's Q3 2019 data
Google Play Rival?
My.Games could launch its own Android store
Publisher is holding internal discussions about the marketplace following the announcement of its PC storefront
Design Refresh
Google Play rolls out visual redesign to aid discoverability
Two distinct sections for apps and games
Sensor Tower
India tops worldwide mobile downloads for Q2 2019 with 5.4 billion
13 per cent increase from Q1 2019
Deuces Wild
KamaGames expands portfolio with new social casino title Video Poker
“A core focus for us in 2019 was to create a diverse portfolio of standalone apps that would complement our already existing titles”
Be Connected Be Discovered
Facebook tops mobile app publishers worldwide for Q2 2019
Google dominates the App Store however
App Shutdown
Niantic is shutting down its first app Field Trip
Field Trip has already been removed from app stores
Crushes Candy Crush
Pokemon Go generates $2.65 billion in first three years
Worldwide catch ‘em all is on track to cross $3 billion in 2019
Whole Lotta Cash
Mobile game spending for the first half of 2019 reaches nearly $30 billion
20.1 billion downloads showing a 3.2 per cent increase year-on-year
And The Winner Is
Ordia, Photographs and G30 - A Memory Maze win big at European Google Play Indie Games Showcase 2019
20 finalists arrived from 10 countries for the awards show in London
New Policies
Google Play developers must now disclose loot box odds
Details surrounding “randomised virtual items” must be clearly shown
Indie Mavens
Does Apple and Google's 70/30 revenue share model work for indies?
The Indie Mavens have their say on the platform's revenue share policy
Safe
Google Play introduces new target audience features to make the platform safer for kids
All apps will need to meet the new standards by September 1st 2019
Awards
Here are this year’s nominees for the 2019 Google Play Awards
This year brings a number of new awards for Most Beautiful Game, Best Living Room Experience and Most Inventive Game
Banned
Google is wiping a Chinese developer with half a billion installs off the face of the Play store
DO Global has been accused of committing widespread ad fraud
Grow
Global mobile gaming revenue hit $14.6 billion in Q1 2019
Gaming accounted for 76 per cent of all app revenue last quarter
Blood And Truth
Google Play home to numerous inappropriate games aimed at kids
36 games submitted to Google for violent or inappropriate content
Huge Growth
Global mobile user spending to reach $156 billion by 2023
Latin America and Africa were both noted as most likely to see the biggest increase in growth revenue
Squeeeee
Former Big Indie Pitch winner Squeelings launches on Android completely free
Colourful-puzzler took home award at E3 2017
Teen Titans Goal!
Cartoon Network launches new games app Cartoon Network Arcade
Largest library of Cartoon Network games in one place
Playable Demos
Delving under the hood of Synative's Try Now demo tech as it partners with Google Play
Synative gives us the lowdown
Cut
Google won’t be dropping its 30 per cent revenue split in the wake of Epic’s Fortnite antics
"I think there's a value exchange there and it's been the industry standard"
Family
Consumer group complains to FTC over 'inappropriate' kids apps
Children's games and apps were found to breach federal privacy laws in the United States
In An Instant
CrossInstall’s Instant Playables tech powers Google Play app demos
Latest ad tech firm to support Google Play Instant
Time To Recalculate
Why the 70:30 App Store revenue split is doomed
The old order is passing
Winner Winner
Tencent’s PUBG Mobile crowned best game of the year on Android by Google
King’s Candy Crush Friends Saga and Team Alto’s Odyssey also given nods
Crash Course
Google Play removes 13 phoney apps from a single developer for installing malware
But not before the racing games accumulated over half a million downloads
Girl Power
Google’s Change the Game winners are now available on the Play Store
$10,000 Grand Prize goes to Washington student for her game, Mazu
Toll
Google will charge phone-makers if they want to use Google Play following European Commission ruling
Following a European Commission ruling earlier this year resulting in a $5 billion fine
Hit
Subway Surfers is the most downloaded game of all time on Google Play
App Annie has released a report on the most popular games of Google Play’s first 10 years
Top Stuff
Here are the longest-serving number one games and apps on Google Play since 2012
Sensor Tower reports on the high flyers over the last six years of the Android storefront
Play
Google Play improves support for app bundles and subscriptions
It has also launched Academy for App Success interactive courses for developers
Apponboard’s Tech Is Taking Off
Google Play’s Try Now demos are boosting retention and monetisation by more than 29%
AppOnboard’s tech is taking off
Play Bigger
The surprising successes of PC-based Android gaming platform BlueStacks
Mobile games flourish on PC
Click To Play
How Google is boosting Play Store by adding AppOnboard’s Try Now demos
CEO Jonathan Zweig explains all
Fort-not
Google Play now warning Fortnite fans that the game isn’t on its Android store
Despite best efforts, clones are likely to flood the Google Play store
Is It Worth It?
Is it time for the App Store and Google Play to ditch the 70/30 revenue split?
The mobile mavens offer their opinions
Salty Springs
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney labels Google Play 30% revenue share “disproportionate” as Fortnite bypasses Android store
Developer goes direct to consumer in bold move
Fortnite Android
Battle royale hit Fortnite may bypass Google Play for Android release
Rumours suggest there will be timed exclusivity for Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Co-op
App Store and Google Play game revenues hit combined $26.6 billion in first half of 2018
The combined total is a 28 per cent year-on-year increase from last years $26.9 billion
Hub
Google Play testing news and trending hub features with Google Play Games
News and trending features make up the new additions