The Power Of Pokemon
Pokémon Go celebrates ninth anniversary and $8.8bn in gross player spending
Total earnings are likely even higher when including alternative stores, Go’s web shop and more
Hot Five
Hot Five: Zenless Zone Zero's $442m year one, King reportedly loses 10% of staff, and Toca Boca hit by layoffs
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Zenless Celebration
Zenless Zone Zero celebrates first anniversary with $442.1m, just 23% of Genshin Impact’s year one
HoYoverse’s latest gacha game generated nearly one-third of its lifetime mobile revenue in its launch month
For The Throne
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad surpasses $1m on mobile after 36 days
Netmarble’s action-adventure RPG has taken a slower road to seven figures than Legends, Slot Casino or Conquest
Hot Five
Hot Five: Kingshot and SD Gundam G Generation Eternal shoot past $100m, and Grow a Garden hits 21m concurrent users
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Horse Girls Are Here
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby launches globally today after racing to $2.6bn on mobile in Japan
Cygames’ horse girl game has launched in English more than one year on from reveal, and four years after release in Japan
Sequel Strategy
Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond surpasses $20m in first week
Cygames’ strategy card game sequel quadrupled the original Shadowverse’s week one earnings
Major Milestone
Kingshot surpasses $100m in just 117 days
Century Games has blended strategy and survival genres once again, leading to another hit game growing month-over-month
Eternally Earning
SD Gundam G Generation Eternal surpasses $100m in two months
Bandai Namco’s recent release peaked at $3.5m in daily player spending
Milestone
Fable Town overhaul sparks growth to $5m revenue
Marketing spend in the title has doubled this year as it scales to over two million downloads
Solitaire's Secret Sauce
Why are the world's top games publishers making solitaire games and has Playtika already won?
As solitaire installs rise for seven consecutive years to a record-breaking 347m, we ask game design consultant Jakub Remiar for further insight
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: Direct-to-consumer strategies for an open App Store
We asked our Mobile Mavens how the latest policy shift could reshape the app economy and what developers should do to get ahead
Origin On The Way
The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin launching this year after Grand Cross surpasses $1bn
The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross generated its first $1bn on mobile in under five years
Squad Slump
Squad Busters makes $472,000 on Chinese App Store as version 2.0 is slow to ignite global fortunes
The global version has generated $1.8m in almost a month since the major overhaul
Hot Five
Hot Five: Wuthering Waves makes $317m in first year, Scopely closes $3.5bn Niantic deal, and Epic Games Store hits 40m mobile installs
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Floodgates Open
Wuthering Waves celebrates first anniversary with $317.3m on mobile and Los Angeles celebration
Kuro Games’ gacha RPG quickly sailed to its first $100m and has found a second wind since Version 2.0’s release
Hot Five
Hot Five: Apple’s dedicated gaming app, Minecraft's mobile revenue surge, and earnings per install rise industry-wide
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week In Views
FTC drops the Microsoft Activision antitrust case and mobile games have returned to growth | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Revenue Rise
Mobile games successfully "squeezing" more revenue per install as average player spending rises 11% despite 7% install fall
Appfigures’ latest report suggests average consumer spending per mobile game install rose to $1.52 in 2024
Revenue Rise
Nazara’s FY25 revenue up 43% to $190m after pivot to "high margin" games segments
The publisher’s games revenue increased by 95% year-over-year in Q4
Week In Views
Supercell's AI ambitions, Clash of Clans gets a Netflix series, and Pokémon TCG Pocket hits $1bn | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Unicorn Club
Pokémon TCG Pocket surpasses $1bn in just over 200 days
The trading card game has hit the $1bn milestone 78 days faster than Pokémon Go, based on player spending
Accomplished Anniversary
Dungeon & Fighter Mobile surpasses $1.3bn in first year on Chinese App Store
Nexon’s mega-hit bolstered franchise revenue by 162% in its release quarter and went on to be 2024’s biggest new mobile release
Mobile Milestone
Delta Force surpasses $100m on mobile
The tactical shooter earned $72.9m on mobile ahead of global rollout, with a further $33.8m earned since
Netease Numbers
NetEase Games revenue rises 12% Y/Y to $3.3bn in Q1
Eggy Party, Where Winds Meet, Infinite Borders and more were named among the quarter’s successes
Mystery Opportunity
Ubisoft reveals new Asia mobile games deal as platform accounts for 22% of bookings in Q4
CEO Yves Guillemot refuses to elaborate on new "opportunity"
Reboot Results
Square Enix claims "a familiar list" of mobile games reduce odds of success as net sales fall 9% to five-year low
Its digital entertainment business saw net sales decline by 17%, though profit rose through reduced expenses
Revenue Rise
Tencent game sales up 24% Y/Y to $25bn in Q1 with Honor of Kings, Delta Force and Brawl Stars pulling their weight
Games accounted for nearly $6bn in Q1 revenue, or 24% of total earnings
Dungeon Driver
Nexon’s revenue surpasses $780m this Q1 as Dungeon & Fighter Mobile China drives 60% franchise growth
The developer’s operating income increased by 43% YoY, though quarterly profit fell by 27%
Revenue Rumble
Sega still aiming for Sonic Rumble 2025 release after last-minute delay
Net revenue was down by 9% in FY2025, though Entertainment Contents grew marginally
Royal Revenue
Royal Kingdom surpasses $100m after record month
Dream Games’ Royal Match sequel has seen 12 consecutive months of player spending growth, when including soft launch results
Week In Views
Epic spends $100m fighting Apple and Pokémon TGC Pocket rules Golden week | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Golden Week Glory
Golden Week 2025: Pokémon TCG Pocket dominates, Fate/Grand Order falls, and a 2012 title makes a surprising rise
The 10 best-performing mobile games in Japan generated $81m this Golden Week, up from $44.9m in 2024
Revenue Result
Mobile accounts for 15% of EA’s FY25 net revenue, but net income falls 12% YoY
EA generated $1.1bn from mobile games in its latest fiscal year
Market Growth
Middle East fastest-growing market for game revenue and downloads in 2024
The region was the only games market to see downloads growth last year
Hot Five
Hot Five: Game over for "Apple tax", Overwatch Mobile distribution plans, and Pokémon TCG Pocket beats Go in first six months
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week In Views
Dream Games lands CVC investment and Pokémon TGC Pocket nears $1bn | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Milestone
My.Games' Castle Duels surpasses $1m monthly revenue
The game's lifetime earnings is now over $6m since it launched in 2024
Pokemon Prime
Pokémon TCG Pocket usurps Pokémon Go launch as it closes in on $1bn after six months
Pocket made $915.3m in its first half-year, beating Go’s $800.7m by 14%
Monster Milestone
Monster Strike surpasses $11bn in 11 years with Japanese dominance
Mixi’s flagship has surpassed $1bn in annual player spending five times, twice since Western shutdown
Resilient Growth
Flexion grows revenue 9% in 2024 by doubling down on alternative app stores
“We’ve already moved beyond the era when Google and Apple controlled everything,” said Flexion CEO Jens Lauritzson
Mo.co Milestone
Supercell’s Mo.co surpasses $2.5m in under a month
The Clash of Clans maker’s latest title launched globally on March 18th
Done Deal
SayGames’ idle arcade games portfolio surpasses $300m
SayGames is publishing LoadComplete’s Chainsaw Juice King as the "first of many partnerships" with South Korean studios
Minecraft Mobile
Minecraft’s daily mobile revenue hits three-year high at $969,000 after A Minecraft Movie’s release
The mobile version has its most lucrative day since Christmas 2021 on April 12th, 2025
Minecraft Money
A Minecraft Movie earns $301m in first two days, double its production budget
Celebrities continue to cash in on games, with A Minecraft Movie stars including Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Danielle Brooks
Shiny Surge
Pokémon TCG Pocket’s first shiny cards trigger 265% spending surge
The Shining Revelry set is cashing in on fan-favourite Pokémon with elusive colour variations
Modest Metrics
Supercell’s Mo.co hits 2.5m downloads and $570k in first week
By comparison, Squad Busters accumulated 30m downloads and $11.8m during its first seven days
Spending Star
Honkai: Star Rail rockets past $2bn on mobile in under two years
The gacha RPG has taken 10 months longer than Genshin Impact to hit the milestone, but now frequently outperforms HoYoverse's flagship
Mobile Majority
Double-digit games industry growth labelled "a fantasy" as revenue forecast to hit $237bn in 2025
Mobile game predicted to earn $110.9bn this year, over half of all games software revenue
Lucrative Legendaries
Pokémon Sleep's big revenue strategy returns with first Legendary event of 2025
Previous Legendary events have raked in $16.5m over a combined six weeks