Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: What should we expect from Disney's big $1.5 billion deal with Epic and Fortnite?
Our Mobile Mavens share their thoughts on Disney’s $1.5 billion investment and partnership with Epic Games
Funding News
Vibe.co secures $22.5M to for SMB streaming TV ad platform
The company plans to grow its employee roster from 40 to 110 in late 2024
Scuti Incentives
Scuti.ai raises $10 million to incentivise player spending
The AI platform looks to retain players through rewards on its platform
Empowering Players
Ex-Homa staff raise $1.5 million for UGC platform PlayMakers
Start-up aims to make suite of tools available to any developers looking to add user-generated content to their games
Investment News
XPLA secures funding from Play Ventures to foster Web3 innovation
The strategic investment signifies a milestone for XPLA by positioning the platform towards accelerated growth within the gaming industry
Mena Market
GameCentric secures $1.5 million angel investment to fuel growth in MENA
The gaming platform aims to add more features to extend its footprint beyond the GCC & MENA region
Hot Five
Hot Five: Apple and Roblox embrace AI, a Match Factory milestone, and Warframe mobile gets further funding
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Epic Deal
Disney invests $1.5 billion into Epic Games as it plots new "entertainment universe" with Fortnite
The Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger labels partnership the company's “biggest entry ever into the world of games”
Hot Five
Hot Five: Layoffs stack up, strategic investments are abound, and Nintendo finds cause for mobile celebration
Our quick-fix start-the-week roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
New Studio
Ex-Mojang and Toca Boca devs raise €1.5m for new studio Roro
Stockholm-based developer working on "3D digital dollhouse" for mobile
Strategic Boost
8SEC secures €1.5 Million investment from Kwalee
The move will see Kwalee’s CFO Matthew Farrow and VP of mobile publishing John Wright join the 8SEC board
Gaming In Africa
Sony Innovation Fund backs Carry1st with strategic investment
The African gaming industry boasts over 200 million players and is projected to achieve a market size exceeding $1 billion in 2024
Funding Round
Helsinki studio Order of Meta raises $3.3 million
Developer will use financing to finish development and soft launch Cargo Hunters
Esports Growth
True Gamers secures $45m investment for esports expansion in Saudi Arabia
True Gamers CEO says it's, "A significant step towards popularising cybersports" and democratising esports in the KSA.
Accelerator Funding
Narwhal Accelerator to support gaming and tech startups
The program only requests for a minor stake in company shares as part of the arrangement.
New Studio
Playdemic founders raise $10m for new UK mobile studio ForthStar
Paul Gouge and Alex Rigby head up the new Manchester studio following their $1 billion success with Golf Clash
Flagship Funds
Leslie Benzies' Build A Rocket Boy studio raises $110M for "flagship" trio of projects
RedBird Capital Partners leads investment in Build A Rocket Boy’s Everywhere, MindsEye and Arcadia
Pgc London
Pocket Gamer Connects London: The Show Me The Money track
Explore investment advice and funding ideas next Tuesday, January 23rd
Tencent Tumble
Tencent's external investments have dropped 87% in two years
From healthcare to AI start-ups, the number of Tencent investments in external companies decreased from 299 in 2021 to just 39 in 2023
Second Round
Marvel Snap dev Second Dinner raises $100 million
Studio to invest in Marvel Snap live ops and new game development
The Only Way Is Up
Investment in and around the games industry dropped by 79% in 2023
While in America it dropped 86%… But with profits and share prices on the increase, is the scene now set for a bounceback?
Hot Five
Hot Five: Tencent’s newest gameplan, PlatinumGames’ pullout, and investing into Indian Esports
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Quids In
New Zealand devs hang onto 20% tax rebate perk after three-way-tie election
With a new three-way coalition government in place doubts had arisen as to how long the existing tax break could continue
Mena Focus
Savvy Games Group: “Approximately 75 percent of our capital allotment has not yet been invested”
We speak to Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward about the accomplishments of the past year, what we can expect to see next from the MENA region and Savvy’s new games ambitions
Esport Support
Marcos Gaming completes pre-seed round to bolster Indian Esports
Funding from India Accelerator, Finvolve and SucSEED Ventures will support content creation, community growth and more
Sprouting Seeds
Barnyard Games raises $3.4m in seed round to make games for Fortnite
Menlo Ventures led the round with participation from BetaWorks, Alumni Ventures, Charge VC and others
Here We Go
W4 Games raises $15 million to boost Godot engine development and services
Irish start-up aims to double headcount over the next 18 months
Support From Supercell
Supercell co-founder supports $1.6M funding round in Chinese publisher MyGamez
Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja, Small Giant Games co-founder Timo Soininen, Reworks co-founder Ilkka Teppo and former Riot China head of operations Daniel Wang are on board
Venerable Ventures
Laton Ventures is a new venture capital firm investing in early-stage game makers
Founding partner Görkem Türk has started the firm after more than six years at Google
Platform Power
KEK Entertainment raises $8M in seed round to build "platform-agnostic IP"
The round was led by Korea Investment Partners with participation from Woori Technology Investment Co, Kona Venture Partners and others
Nft Now
NFTs incoming: Matr1x doubles funding to $20M ahead of its debut Web3 mobile launch
Matr1x Fire is an upcoming NFT shooter on mobile, bolstered by new $10 million funding round
Production Power
Layer AI seed round raises $1.8M to bolster generative game art production
The AI-powered productivity tool sees support from The Games Fund, GFR Fund and others
Web3 World
SBI Holdings reveals ¥100BN fund to bolster Web3 in Japan
Sega and Square Enix are already well underway on their blockchain journeys, and up to 200 other devs could join them through SBI’s support
Very Noice
Games livestreaming start-up Noice raises $21 million
New company aims to blend multiplayer gaming with livestreaming
Saudi Foresight
Animoca Brands partners with Saudi Arabia in $50M deal to bring Web3 to NEOM
The future of NEOM just got a Web3 update
First Round Funding
Istanbul-based game studio SuperGears successfully completes first investment round led by TMRW foundation
SuperGears first investment round is based upon a valuation of $10 million and will add Crytek founder Cevat Yerli to the board of directors
Hot Five
Hot Five: Web3 tactics gaming, FunPlus’ latest soft launch and a bunch of new investments
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Investment Round
Casual games hub Playbite nabs $1 million in funding
US-based company aims to expand on its userbase of "several hundred thousand" monthly active users
Investments
Developer Funstop secures $1.5 million funding from Indian investors
InfoEdge continue their investment in home-grown talent as part of India's increasingly vibrant mobile tech scene
Finding Funds
Riot veteran MJ Wong prepares Web3 AstrArk for gamers who "should be better treated"
$5.4 million has been raised in funding towards the launch of two Web3 games
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell’s mo.co launch, Netflix’s gaming strategy, and an AI seed round
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Ai Advancement
Harmony Games raises $3M in seed round to build an AI puzzle game
The seed round was led by Griffin Gaming Partners
Market Moves
Merger and acquisition deal value exceeds $11 billion for 2023
Some of the biggest names in gaming restarted their acquisition strategies in Q3
Vc Funding
The games industry drew $454 million in VC funding in the third quarter of 2023
The figure represents a 9% decline from the previous quarter
Invest To Win
AppQuantum’s Core is the King will invest up to $1M in selected hybridcasual mobile devs
Core is the King is their new programme to support developers making hybridcasual games
Forge Finds Funding
Riot-backed Forge raises $11M to launch a platform rewarding gamer communities
Makers Fund, Animoca Brands and Bitkraft Ventures led the round
Alternative App Stores
PUBG maker Krafton invests $14.8 million in alternate app store One Store
The South Korean store aims to expand in the West and take on big tech
African Advancement
Sony Ventures to invest $10M via new fund for African startups
Fintech may be Africa’s biggest funding category, but Sony’s focus is on entertainment
Studio Seed
Krafton invests $7M in former Riot and Blizzard artist’s Studio Sai
The Seed Round comes after the success of Eternights and will support development of Sai’s next game
Investment
Krafton launches India game incubator with $150k potential investment for local studios
The company is going all-in on the Indian market previously despite BGMI's withdrawal and subsequent reinstatement