Data
ATT opt-in rates for gaming climb to 37% as users grow more data savvy
Adjust data shows acceptance is becoming more widespread thanks to user knowledge and publisher communication
Big Festival
Live from the BIG Festival: Day three of Latin America’s biggest gaming event
Thousands of gamers and industry professionals have descended on São Paulo, Brazil for the state of play 2023, and we’re here live at the show
Big Festival
Live from the BIG Festival: Day two of Latin America’s biggest gaming event
Thousands of gamers and industry professionals have descended on Sao Paulo - and we’re here on the show floor
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news including EA's big break up, new looks, new opportunities and new challenges…
Collaborations
Angry Birds to collaborate with US National Parks Service for 4th of July
The Independence Day celebrations begin on July 3
Milestones
Football Manager 2023 & Touch was SIGames’ most played title ever
The Football Manager series covers PC, console and mobile
Legislation
South Korea could enforce an approval system for Chinese games
The Game Industry Promotion Law may soon be amended based on overseas practices
Milestones
Rush Royale hits 63 million installs and doubles growth in the US thanks to… Jake Paul?
Publisher My.Games credits the game's success to a two-month long collaboration event
Sonic Speculations
Microsoft acquiring Sega? Rumours get extinguished by COO Shuji Utsumi
The Federal Trade Commission’s suit against Microsoft reveals notions of acquiring Sega… Which went precisely nowhere
Feature
Is this the end of GAM networks on mobile?
Ad Monetisation Manager Felix Braberg explains GAM networks and what publishers should do as the end is in sight for GAM resellers
Alternative App Stores
Meta to get into the app store game as Facebook allows app downloads
The EU's Digital Markets Act is opening up app store monopolys and big players are getting ready to reap the rewards
Pride Month
The power of Pride and the state of inclusivity in gaming
As Pride Month ends we discuss why representing the queer community is important. And where companies still need to improve
Squad Building
Formation Games appoints new advisory group, including Wargaming and Riot veterans
The studio is the developer behind upcoming football game Club
Ai
Unity pulls the plug on Atlas AI generation tool less than 24 hours after launch
Atlas was released as part of a suite of new, approved, third-party tools offered by the company
Flash Sale
Happy Fourth of July – enjoy 20% off Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto and join us in 2 weeks!
PG Connects returns to Toronto this July 19-20, secure your ticket with 20% off today!
Feature
Using AI in games development: Part Two
In this second part of the series iLogos Game Studios founder Alexander Goldybin explores AI based game mechanics
Big Festival
Live from BIG Festival: Day one of Latin America’s biggest gaming event
Thousands of gamers and industry professionals have descended on São Paulo, Brazil for the state of play 2023, and we’re here live at the show
Redundancies
Niantic lays off 230 employees and cancels Marvel AR game
Shock news. The augmented reality gaming giant shutters a studio and games
Stock Crash
tinyBuild stock crashes 78% after profit warning and CFO departure
The crash has been branded “Worse than Embracer”
Sprouting Seeds
Pikmin Bloom introduces crossover content promoting first mainline game in ten years
Nintendo and Niantic promote new Switch game Pikmin 4 with special costume in Bloom
Barbie On Board
Barbie hits Stumble Guys in mass-multimedia promo campaign
It's getting harder to miss the arrival of the Barbie movie with mobile a prime promo target
Finding Funds
Mythical Games raises a further $37million, hitting a valuation of over $1billion
Investors include Animoca Brands, MoonPay and veterans from Activision Blizzard
Results
Slovakian games made €77 million in 2022
That number only a slight dip from the €80m in 2021
Investment
Scriptic raises $5.7m in funding for AI-driven narrative mobile games
The round was led by perennial investor Bitkraft Ventures
Ranking
AppLovin takes downloads top spot for US companies worldwide
Data.ai's latest shows mobile-first beating the big names to take pole position
New Deals
Scopely acquires Dundee-based Tag Games
Doubling down on 2021’s investment, the firm have now made Tag Games a Scopely Studio
Meet The Experts
Get an exclusive look at the stellar speakers of Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto!
Get a sneak peek at the star-studded lineup of PG Connects Toronto, sharing their insights with us this July.
Feature
Case Study: How Jackpot Party Casino keeps on winning
Oxana Fomina shares the winning formula of Jackpot Party Casino’s continued success
Celebrating Canada
Celebrate Canada Day with us and enjoy 20% off your Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto ticket!
PG Connects Toronto is just around the corner, don’t miss out on taking advantage of our limited time flash sale this holiday weekend!
Redundancies
Montreal-based Ludia lets 45 staff go in new round of layoffs
The company has clarified the impact its restructuring will have on its employees
New Features
Niantic adds Campfire to Pokemon Go in social gaming push
The new feature aims to draw players of their biggest game into their social ecosystem
Shock Report
Google accused of misleading its advertisers on over 80% of ad placements
“Repackaging shitty, brand-unsafe outstream as instream is a big problem," quotes a new report with potential refunds running into billions
Data & Research
Skrmiish announces new Head of Data, Dr. João Pela
Bringing CERN-style data analysis to the world of play-to-earn
Unmissable Savings
Ten reasons why you need to attend Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki this September!
Book your ticket to PG Connects Helsinki ahead of time and save up to £330 using our Early Bird offer!
Updates
Unity goes deeper into AI as it announces two new tools
The game creation platform has positioned the use of generative AI as increasing focus of its offering
Financials
MAG Interactive sees in-app purchases soar 54% year-on-year in latest financials release
The company is known for titles such as Wordzee
Report
Midcore makes up 35% of total gaming revenue on iOS in the United States
The findings come as part of a report from analytics firm Liftoff
Feature
Five tips for scaling your mobile game in a post-ATT market
SuperScale CEO Ivan Trančík offers advice on running effective user acquisition campaigns and improving monetisation in a challenging market
Let's Get Gaming
YouTube gets into games with new Playables product
Employees are starting to test the platform's first steps into games as it moves beyond video
Series Surge
In-game Ads solution Anzu raises $48M in Series B funding
Funding round led by Emmis Corporation and supported by many new high-profile investors
Finding Funds
Pixion Games raises $5.5 million for Web3 RPG Fableborne
Investments come from Blizzard, Shima Capital and more
Restructuring
Hi-Rez announces layoffs in studios, dissolving Rogue Company: Elite developer First Watch Games
Right now it's not entirely clear who will take over development of the mobile title
Investment
SuperScale raises $5.4m in Series A funding round
The scaling firm raised €5 million as part of the funding
Documentation
Zynga, Playrix and Niantic were all potential entries on Microsoft’s shopping list
News comes as part of the revelation Microsoft considered buying Sega
Thanks For Coming
The Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by PG Connects was our biggest and most successful debut event in a new territory – here’s what you missed!
1300+ attendees, 800+ leading companies, 60+ countries represented and over 100 expert speakers congregated in Dubai at our first event in the city
Features
Subway Surfers to introduce first AR features into the long-running title
Sybo introduced the “Subway Studio” feature as part of their latest update
Roblox On A Roll
Stefano Corazza: Roblox’s generative AI has seen a "promising start" but is only just beginning
Roblox Studios head Stefano Corazza reveals progress in Roblox AI usage
Metaverse
Roblox is introducing experiences for users 17 and over
Users over 17 accounted for 38% of Roblox’s daily active users in 2022
Q&a
King's Vanesa Tate on re-crafting the soundtrack to Candy Crush Saga
After a decade of Candy Crush the team decided to revamp its soundtrack. But with a game this popular any changes required an expert touch
Coming To Kwalee
Kwalee hires Adrian Garton as VP of HR in mission to find the industry’s "best talent"
Garton has more than 25 years’ experience in HR