Roles
Living the dream: CSR2 fan lands job designing cars for Zynga
Guillaume Mille's passion for cars and games turned into an incredible job opportunity at developer NaturalMotion
Taxes
UK budget ups tax relief for British game companies
The new credit will offer a 34% rate relief, up from 25% in its previous incarnation
Tiktok Trouble
TikTok banned on government phones in the UK
The social media app has faced criticism regarding security concerns
New Label
NetEase launches Exptional Global label for international releases
Games such as Dead by Daylight Mobile and Lord of the Rings: War have been shifted to the new label
Stocks
Hero Wars developer Nexters to resume trading on Nasdaq
The formerly Russian-based developer has divested nearly all its operations in the country
Mobile Mena
David Fernandez Remesal of Sandsoft Games: "Why MENA’s gaming growth isn’t just about business"
There's a bigger story at play in the MENA region, changing perceptions, fostering understanding and improving relations all around the world
Creation Operating System
Fragnova unveils Creation Operating System to revolutionise game creation
Fragnova unveils its network and exclusive games creation system that will shape how future generations create User Generated Content
Studios
UK developer Creative Assembly to open new studio in Newcastle
The longtime collaborator with mobile developer Feral Interactive is set to bring their new development studio North-East
Playstation Mobile
PlayStation Mobile continues its hiring spree
The company has been making a concerted effort to break into the mobile space
The Next Era Of Horror
Dead by Daylight Mobile launches The Next Era of Horror with a horror icon
Ringu villain Sadako has made her debut in the game’s mobile port
Stakeholders
Abu Dhabi firm G42 acquires $100m+ stake in Bytedance
The owner of Nuverse and TikTok receive a new stakeholder
Mobile Browser Gaming
AviaGames launches a new browser-based gaming service for phones
Pocket7Games WebGame allows players to access the company’s titles on their phones without downloading
Trends 2023
Mobile games industry trends for 2023: Publishing predictions: Part two
MobileGroove's Peggy Anne Salz looks at intellectual property and brands, social media, streaming, and esports
Updates
PUBG Mobile’s fifth anniversary brings custom build tools to the game
The mobile battle-royale’s new suite of tools will allow players to build custom modes and maps
Spreading Sustainability
10 Weeks To Save The Games Industry – Week 8
Matchmade CEO Jiri Kupiainen and GamesForest.Club's Maria Wagner's journey takes in Zürich and Munich and heads to the Baltics
Releases
Honor of Kings becomes Brazil’s most successful free mobile game
The game has been heavily pushed in Brazil with exclusive trailers and more
Time To Invest
Meet active investors at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle’s Investor Connector!
Find funding for your next project and meet your dream collaborators during May’s leading games industry conference!
Please Welcome Gamelight
Spotlight becomes Gamelight
Game marketing platform Spotlight rebrands as Gamelight as growth continues
New Partnership
S8UL partners with Krafton to launch Road to Valor: Empires in India
The new partnership aims to boost India’s gaming ecosystem
Acquisitions
Plug In Digital acquires FTP developers Celsius Online
The free-to-play mobile and web pioneers were acquired by the French publisher
Celebrating Success
Supersonic passes 3.4 billion downloads in three years
The publisher is celebrating its third anniversary this month with a massive milestone
Chinese Gaming Industry
Chinese games industry publishes draft of rules for self-regulation
The rules aim to address problems in the industry such as copyright disputes and gaming addiction without the need for government interaction
Adaptations
Raid: Shadow Legends is set to become an animated series
The billion-dollar mobile franchise is set to become a television series
Flexion X Netease
Flexion launches Vikingard on alternative app stores
The company has partnered with NetEase games for the launch
Google
Google Play Games for PC comes to Europe and Japan as service expands
Google’s cross-platform service will no longer require developers to optimise before submitting
Will Of The Industry
VOTE NOW: The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2023 Finalists are live
Inaugural industry-wide vote now open until April 6th
See You Next Week
Attending GDC 2023 next week? Connect with the Steel Media team!
Book a meeting with the Steel Media team ahead of GDC next week. We will be in San Francisco for GDC, let's discuss how we can best support your business in 2023!
Regulations
Call of Duty: Mobile team attempt to clarify Warzone confusion: “We are committed.”
The team behind CoD Mobile clarifies their position and reiterates their commitment to the title
Gdc 2023
Brazil Games delegation announced for GDC 2023
More than 43 companies will showcase Latin American innovation at the conference
Unity Report
Unity Report: More players are turning to mobile, but paying less
The median game saw an 8% increase in daily active users worldwide in 2022
Unity Gaming Report
Marc Whitten of Unity: "There are more players… But payers are in decline."
Released today, the 2023 Unity Gaming Report serves up both solutions and challenges for developers both big and small
Appointments
Sybo appoints new CMO Philip Hickey
The Seriously veteran will take on the role of chief marketing officer
Startups
App Radar wants to use AI to make advertising easier
The startup wants their AI tool to make analysing reviews and understanding player sentiment easier
Cryptotheft
FBI warns that fake games are stealing cryptocurrency
The agency has issued a PSA to address the issue
Appsflyer Report
RPG ad spend surged in 2022 amid massive rise across platforms
The genre saw a 177% increase on iOS and 101% on Android in the USA
Appsflyer Report
India saw a 32% rise in hypercasual installs in 2022
Google’s ban on interstitial ads caused ripples in the market, while India surged ahead
Creatives
Pedro Pascal joins the Merge Mansion creative campaign
Following on from other major Hollywood stars, the Last of Us star has joined the Metacore creative campaign
Web 3 Ip
Brazilian Web3 dev Jungle raises $6 million in funding round
Web3 mobile shooter expected to launch later this year
Finance
Silicon Valley Bank - What happened and how does it affect mobile?
One of America’s biggest venture capital and startup banks failed over the weekend. Here’s what it could mean for mobile
Tech Trends Talks
Eight fireside chat interviews with the industry’s best and brightest at PGC London 2023
Hear from the creators, leaders, movers and shakers from across the mobile games world about the tools, trends and tech at Pocket Gamer Connects, with the team from HyprMX
Second Wind
Second Life is coming to mobile
The world’s first and best-known metaverse platform makes the leap to iOS and Android
Roblox Reveals
Stefano Corazza: AI will enable new Roblox users to create much faster
Roblox Studios head Stefano Corazza discusses the future of AI on Roblox
Back On Track
Genshin Impact revenue reached an 11-month high in February as Chinese devs flourish again
Sensor Tower data found 40 of the top 100 revenue earners last month were in China
Appointments
Vancouver studio A Thinking Ape appoints new CEO
Founder and former CEO Kenshi Arasaki will move to role of chair
Join The Webinar
Retargeting Masterclass: How to retain and retarget players
How can developers and publishers keep their users, reduce churn and increase retention?
find out more in this expert webinar from Adikteev and PocketGamer.biz
Views Week
Week in Views - What caught our editorial eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news and discuss loot boxes, mobile moves and giant slaying…
Acquivision Blizzard
Microsoft, Activision, and Sony: The story so far
As the deal inches towards a conclusion Microsoft still face opposition in both the mobile and console spaces
Alternative App Stores
Epic has apps for iOS and Android ready to go
The Epic Games Store may see an appearance on mobile sooner than we think if Tim Sweeney’s predictions come true
Next-level Inclusivity
Scrapping stereotypes in the metaverse with Dubit's Regine Weiner and Steph Whitley
The face of gaming is changing and if the metaverse really is to take hold we need to work together to make it a great place for everyone
All About Indies
Seven reasons why you, as an indie developer, need to be at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle!
Don’t miss your chance to sign up for an exclusive competition for indie developers! You can win free tickets to PG Connects Seattle and demo