Sunny Days
Netspeak celebrates fourth anniversary with more than 1.5 million Sunshine Days downloads
In-game milestones include 32 million harvested plants and over 1,000 items sold
Funding
UK video game industry to benefit from additional $5m boost
The boost comes as part of a larger plan to boost creative industries by $50bn
Teaming Up
Activision Blizzard piles in to support Microsoft’s CMA appeal
UK regulator to face Microsoft and Activision Blizzard together in cloud gaming appeal
Football Funds
Soccer Manager creator Invincibles raises £1m for two new games
Investment is the latest in repeat funding from Mercia
Executive With Experience
Debbie Bestwick to step down as Team 17 CEO after more than a decade
She will continue working with the company in a new role
Microsoft Merger
EU delays decision on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard
Relax. The $69 billion acquisition decision has been pushed back to May 22
Reported Restructuring
UK-based Team17 is supposedly laying off employees from art and design teams
The publisher is currently aiming to restructure
Diving Into Data
72% of UK adults play video games every day
ExpressVPN research delivers the state of play, with millennials playing more than Gen Z
Roblox Recap
70 new Roblox experiences surpassed 1 billion visits in 2022
With an incredible 15,900 new experiences being added daily
Uk Games Industry
UKIE releases new UK Games Map, indicates 31% increase in companies
The UK Interactive Entertainment trade association has released their newest version of their UK Games Map, including key info and insights
Aims Of An Acquisition
RuneScape creator Jagex acquires Croatian studio Gamepires
Acquisition aiming to enable open-world game Scum to be prepared for a 1.0 release
Mobile Monopoly
Apple and Google investigated by UK regulator over suspected cloud gaming and mobile duopoly
In the UK, 97 percent of mobile web browsing took place on Apple and Google browsers last year
Funds For Founders
Concept Ventures launches £50 million pre-seed fund with British Business Bank’s backing
Firm pledges 1% of the total carry pool to a founder’s chosen charities
Shifting Focus
Miniclip commits to mobile games publishing, pivots from web browser games
Only 8 Ball Pool and Agar.io will remaining on website after Summer 2022
Smith Retires
Women in Games founder David Smith retires from role
Founded the non-profit in 2009 to bring more women in the industry
Mobile Maintains
Ukie: UK mobile games generated $1.92 billion in 2021
Mobile games spending retains COVID-19 spending surge
Four Billion
Miniclip exceeds 4 billion downloads
8 Ball Pool is the studios most popular title with over one billion downloads
Hiring Now
Top 10 games industry jobs to apply for this week
Some of the latest games industry vacancies from Supercell, Netflix, Kwalee, and PocketGamer.biz
Ea-ducation
EA forms new partnerships to prepare UK children for computing careers
Preparing for careers in STEAM
Hr Hero
Exient brings on former United Nations specialist Hunida Busefi
Bringing experience from outside of the games industry to aid diversity programme
#raisethegame
Ukie: 56% of games industry professionals prefer a hybrid working model
The firm's second UK games industry census examines the effects of the pandemic on working attitudes and diversity of workforce
Social-first Games
Playwind Games raises $4 million, backed by Garena
Will use the funds to support development and future growth
Revenue Rise
Flexion sees 52% Q4 revenue growth to $13.8 million
Strongest quarter in company history
#breakthebias
Avakin Life launches #BreakTheBias in support of International Women's Day
All profits to be donated to Womankind Worldwide
Drawing An Audience
Kwalee’s Draw It surpasses 100 million downloads
The company’s most downloaded and lucrative game to date
Appointment Announced
Lockwood Publishing appoints Jon Goddard to senior management team
Prior roles at EA, Jagex, and more
Gouge To Jones
EA appoints Gareth Jones as vice president and head of Playdemic Studios
Following departure of studio head Paul Gouge
Triumvirate Hires
Lockwood Publishing expands leadership with three strategic hires
Brings on industry veterans James Cox, Rob Hendry, and Chris Tilston
New Directors
Amuzo appoints new Head of Studio and Head of Production
Two key players move up the ladder
Snapping Up Staff
Shortround Games staff and tech acquired by blockchain outfit Mythical Games
Will begin working on an unannounced sports game
Accessibility
UK games charity SpecialEffect launches new DevKit
Aimed at improving motor accessibility in games
Done Deal
Airnow and Lab Cave talk the importance of a shared vision for acquisitions
Both sides talk how the acquisition has given "new life" to Lab Cave
Ad Affinity
Anzu: 66% of UK gamers would welcome more ads in games
70% are positive or neutral towards in-game ads
Starting To Spread
AviaGames begins global expansion, starting with UK
Bringing Solitaire Clash and Bingo Tour to the App Store
Sumo's Sold
Tencent closes acquisition of Sumo Group
Will operate under Tencent subsidiary, Tencent Bidco
Airnow Acquires
Airnow acquires mobile growth firm Lab Cave
CEO Luis Bertó will continue to lead
Spearheading Subscriptions
Team17 acquires What the Golf? publisher The Label for up to $40 million
Foothold in mobile games subscriptions market
Mobile Moves Ahead
UK mobile games spending increased by 8.1% in 2021
21.9 percent above pre-pandemic spending
2021 In Review
Hutch's Shaun Rutland on being acquired and adapting to a new way of life
Hutch CEO on 2021's challenges and opportunity
More Monetary Choice
AppGallery partners with Revolut to offer additional financial choice
Accepting more options across its apps and games
Exclusive Partnership
Azerion signs exclusive two-year partnership with Bidstack to bolster ad reach
Gains access to around 40 million users
Marketplace Dominance
Apple and Google hold a "vice-like grip" on UK consumers, says competition regulator
Suggests actions to decrease the mobile marketplace duopoly
Redundancies And Redeployment
Lockwood Publishing makes 10% of staff redundant
Accused of unlawful redundancies by IWGB union
Passion To Start
Standing up for the female perspective through storytelling
Pixel Federation's Patricia Pribolova tells her story
Mega Milestone
Gismart surpasses over one billion mobile games and apps downloads
Over 450 million mobile games downloads since 2019
Don't Interrupt Me
Playstack launches Interact SDK for less interruptive mobile game ads
Offers three methods of non-interruptive ad monetisation
Breezy
Talewind raises $3.4 million for casual Roblox experience Breezy Bay
Animal Crossing meets Runescape in Roblox
There Was A Spark
Electric Manta partners with Sunday to create hypercasual games
Providing a one-stop-shop for casual, hybrid, and hyper games
Boardgame Boost
Marmalade saw UK sales increase 144% during lockdowns
Downloads climbed 678% during third UK lockdown
Hutch Hires
Hutch appoints three senior hires to further expand operations
Bringing experience from Sony, Fuse, Codemasters and more