Live Ops
Disruptor Beam unveils live ops platform for mobile games developers
New chief product officer and first chief financial officer appointed
Keeping Lean
How Kolibri went from minimum viable product to 70 million installs for its Idle Tycoon games
A look at the development process from concept design stage to post-release
Predicting Trends
SuperData launching digital game forecasting tool
The Forecaster can predict metrics such as MAUs, revenue and in-game spending
Software
Epic Games unveils simultaneous multi-user editing for Unreal Engine 4.22
Google Stadia support out now
You Spin Me Round
GDC 2019: Mobile performance platform HeadSpin partners with NetEase
Zynga, Jam City and Bandai Namco all signup to the platform
Hot Stuff
GDC 2019: Firelight Technologies releases FMOD Studio 2.0
“The release of 2.0 is a major milestone in our journey of innovation as we strive to create the definitive solution for adaptive audio“
Developer Tools
GDC 2019: ARM launches Android analysis tools via ARM Mobile Studio
Studio’s starter edition is available to download for free now
Acquisition News
GDC 2019: Unity acquires texture streaming tools firm Graphine
Company develops Granite toolset
Stacked Up
Xbox Live comes to iOS and Android as Microsoft brings tools and services under Game Stack banner
PlayFab, DirectX, Azure, Simplygon, Mixer, Havok and more get brought closer together
Scaling Up
N3twork launches new user acquisition platform for third-party mobile games
Tool was previously used on Legendary: Game of Heroes for iOS and Andorid
Investment Reality
Mixed reality technology firm Cooperative Innovations secures $650k in funding
Leeds-based outfit raises $652.741 to bring on more staff and find licensing partners for its animation tool
Substance Deal
Adobe picks up Substance Designer firm Allegorithmic
Tools to be integrated into the creative cloud
Oh Snap
Tenjin named Snapchat mobile measurement partner
Marketers can use tool to optimise install campaigns through Snap Ads, Lenses and Story Ads
Yo-yoing Between
Why GameMaker Studio's YoYo Games is getting into indie publishing
"This comes from something that is an extension of what GameMaker has been trying to do for years, which is making the next generation of games developers"
User Ad Revenue
IronSource unveils new tool to measure ad revenue sources
User Ad Revenue tool tracks which marketing channel user came from to help developers identify the top performing networks
Social Asset
GetSocial partners with Unity to bring sharing tools to Asset Store
Company offers social analytics and publishing tools
Upgrades
YouAppi's 360 mobile marketing platform releases new SDK and improves fraud detection
SDK lets companies gain direct access to programmatic advertising inventory
Learning Tools
Epic includes a nifty tutorial for creating high-end mobile games with the latest build of Unreal Engine
'Action RPG' sample project aims to help get developers to grips with high-quality mobile production
Victory Royale
After Fortnite's success Epic aims to make cross-play more accessible to all devs with Unreal Engine 4.20
Arjen Brussee discusses the latest update and features
Adjusted
Adjust launches open-source performance benchmarking tool for mobile apps
Free tool should help publishers track app performance
About Time
Report: Telltale Games to ditch its own its own tech for Unity game engine
Follows 15 years of using Telltale Tool
Realer Than Real
Unity drives deeper into augmented reality with Project MARS
“Reality is our build target”
Development
Unity ARKit update includes persistent mapping and improved tracking
Apple and Unity worked closely in the latest update for the ARKit 2 plugin
Campaign Boost
Ad tech start-up WeQ wants to power burst campaigns for apps with Boost
Tool supports campaign management and optimisation
Karma
Can charitable platforms support good causes and also be a driver for player retention?
"Asking your player base to join you in making the world a better place and putting the decision-making in their hands a very powerful message to send to your player community"
Publishing Support
Fingersoft's Round Zero on its data-driven approach to mobile games publishing
CEO Daniel Rantala dishes the details on how it aims to help developers release on the global stage
Zoom
PacketZoom launches new mobile networking tools for real-time multiplayer games
Mobile Connect aims to eliminate a game developer’s need to deploy resources in-house
Free-to-manage
Project management tool Hansoft goes free for small indies
Available for teams of up to five
Tech Line-up
Line launches new mobile games developer tools to combat clones and track player behaviour
Also includes automated QA and testing platform
Kitted Out
Tools firm The Game Creators launches AppGameKit AR
The updated AR tools come with additional features and bug fixes
User Interface
Tech talk: Can Coherent Labs rise as the new standard for game UI?
We take a peek at the mobile-friendly Hummingbird
Cheers Guys
YoYo Games to hand out free licences for GameMaker Studio 2 during GDC
Games developers can use the suite at Train Jam, The Heart Jam and the Not Going to GDC Game Jam
Automated Offers
New machine learning-powered app monetisation tool Game of Whales launches
Data from tests claims 25 per cent increase in daily revenues
Mapping Reality
Softbank-backed Mapbox launches location-based augmented reality platform
Toolset designed to enable developers to create Pokemon-Go like experiences
Calculated Adjustments
CrossInstall launches new ad spend insights tool for user acquisition campaigns
Opportunity Forecast Tool helps predict how changes in CPI bid rates will affect user acquisition
Technology Unite
Pokemon Go studio Niantic set to become more than just a games developer with Escher Reality acquisition
Plans to make AR technology more widely available later this year
Perforce Acquires Hansoft
Perforce acquires agile planning tools developer Hansoft
Version control tools firm adds planning tools to its portfolio
Data Quest
Overcoming data hurdles to develop a mobile game for a worldwide audience
VC Mobile Entertainment on development journey of Creature Quest
Scaled Down
Autodesk kills off game middleware products
Scaleform, Beast, Human IK and Navigation all given the chop
Free Sdk
Cross-platform framework Corona goes free for all app developers
Move follows Appodeal acquisition
Winding Down
NaturalMotion winding down commercial tech licensing business for third-party developers
Focusing on live operations and new game development
Tighter Targets
Tapjoy adds new ad behavior targeting and A/B testing features
Deeper granularity
Successful Unity
Hall of Fame: The hinterland of thoughtful entrepreneur and Unity founder David Helgason
The co-founder of the game engine firm on his entrepreneurial beginnings
Know Your Audience
Nielsen's TalkingData-powered Games IP Evaluator will "quantify game potential" for China
Using data to understand, and maximise, an IP's potential
Always On
Why changing gaming habits are fuelling the rise of BaaS
Griffin Parry is connected
Unity Plus
Unity updates Unity Plus subscription model in response to developer backlash
Increased revenue cap and additional features
Say No To Code
Are codeless development tools making the mobile indie development scene stronger?
Opening development to a new generation
Cash In
NetEase leads $2.5 million round in integrated analytics, attribution and aggregation outfit Tenjin
Integrated approach
Ua Xp
UA MegaTrends guy Eric Seufert on setting up Heracles, a boutique agency providing CMO smarts
Partnering for success
Unity Plus
Unity announces new Plus subscription package, and more collaborative features
$35 a month for a heap of bonuses