Mobile Esports
Global Esports CEO Dr Rushindra Sinha weighs in on the state of mobile esports in India
The sector is ripe for disruption, but may be unsustainable
Legal
Yuji Naka admits to insider trading in Tokyo court
The console and mobile developer and producer most famous for Sonic was arrested on suspicion of insider trading
Acquivision Blizzard
EU unlikely to demand asset dump in Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard battle
The deal has come under scrutiny from regulators worldwide
Partnerships
Rovio announces IMG as their exclusive agent for books and more
The company will manage publishing deals with book and media companies on behalf of Rovio
Global Game Jam
Yahaha Studios’ Global Game Jammers created 80 games in 48 hours
Yahaha played host to 110 jammers in Helsinki to create the country’s biggest hybrid-jam
Olympic Esports
Mobile games included in inaugural Olympic Esports Series
The global competition will culminate in the live finals in Singapore this June
New Studio
Room 8 Group unveils trailer and cinematic production studio Heroic
The studio is led by Head of CG Sandy Heslop
Financials
Playtika to halt development of new games following rocky financials
Playtika’s Q4 2022 financials revealed a few key victories, and losses
New Studio
NetEase funds Studio Flare in Tokyo
Former Marvelous executive vice president Toshinori Aoki will serve as president and CEO
Industry Insight
Building on success: How to focus your expertise to create guaranteed hits
We all learn from our mistakes, but do we equally learn from our wins? Azur Games' Milana Gelmanova explains how they only go from strength to strength
Milestones
The Financial Times places Tripledot as fastest growing company in Europe
The UK-based mobile game developer has snatched the top spot
Ea Layoffs
Electronic Arts lays off around 300 QA workers
The team in Baton Rouge were all contractors working on Apex Legends
Event Latest
Power up your Business: Game Connection America 2023 is here
Game Connection returns on March 20th to 21st in San Francisco - tickets are still available
Milestones
My.Games’ Hustle Castle sees 80 million downloads
The game will also be celebrating its sixth anniversary this year
In It To Win It
Final 48 hours: Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2023 nominations close this Friday
Get your entries in before midnight March 3
Diving Deep
What’s going on with artificial intelligence in 2023? Here's everything you need to know
Get caught up on everything AI ahead of our next US event - Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle (AI edition) - in May!
Focus
“Hypercasual isn’t dead, it’s just overworked” - Kwalee pivots to hybridcasual
The UK-based publisher are putting their money on hybridcasual
A Heavyweight Event
Fortnite aims for a knockout with its Creed crossover
The Creed Quests event is the latest in a series of tie-ins for the hit game
Phil Spencer Interview
Xbox's Phil Spencer talks Microsoft's moves on mobile, plus Activision Blizzard and AI
“What we realised, and it’s painfully obvious, is that we don’t really have any capability on mobile”
Next Gen Mobile
Tencent’s Arena Breakout to enter global beta
The Tarkov-like mobile extraction shooter was announced in 2021
Financials
Azerion sees positive year of growth following acquisitions
The company will be cancelling the majority of treasury shares to concentrate on cash liquidity rather than stocks
New Acquisition
The Sandbox expands to Germany with acquisition of developer Sviper
Sviper will bring their expertise in development and engineering to the platform
Liftoff Report
Playable ads have the lowest cost per install of all gaming ad formats
Meanwhile native ads offer the highest Day 7 return on ad spend, according to new Liftoff data
Gotta Catch 'em All
Pokémon Masters EX gives players a free Champion of choice in 3.5 year anniversary celebration
Anniversary characters include Marnie, Hop and Bede
Education
Roblox virtual grief education experience has been played 100k times
Created by the nonprofit Experience Camps, the Roblox world is an example of effective education through games
Shoryuken
Tencent’s Street Fighter: Duel arrives in the West
Tencent’s plan to release China-exclusive games abroad takes shape as A Plus Japan take on its European release
Tech
Samsung wants to optimise ray tracing for phones
The graphical fidelity boost for mobile games would be substantial
Industry Report
Venture funding fell 83% in Q4 2022
Konvoy’s 2022 Gaming Industry Report reveals Q4 figures down dramatically year-on-year
Ukie Resignation
Dr Jo Twist OBE moves on from role as UKIE CEO
Sam Collins and Dan Wood will manage the trade body until a permanent replacement CEO is appointed
Global Releases
Tencent’s former China-exclusives go global
The Chinese game giant has gone on a spree of releasing previously Chinese-exclusive games to the West
Children In Gaming
Almost a quarter of children’s games in the UK violate the ICO’s age appropriate design code
The Children’s Code sets out standards which companies must follow in order to stick to data protection law
Releases
Pokémon reawakens Pokémon Sleep and mobile updates
Pokémon Presents 2023 covered a variety of new announcements for the franchise
Tiktok In Trouble
TikTok faces fresh regulatory challenges in the EU and Canada
The European Commission has banned employees from using TikTok, while Canada has launched an investigation into the platform
A Plus With Pikachu
Pokémon Go Plus + hardware works with your favourite Pokémon apps
The dedicated Pokémon accessory is back, powering up your Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sleep experiences this summer
Plans For Progress
Sky Mavis has "more aggressive" plans for Axie Infinity this year
Following a difficult 2022, during which $625 million was stolen from its Ronin Network
Releases
Nexon’s MapleStory M comes to China with Maplestory: The Legend of Maple
The spin-off from MapleStory M is being developed in partnership with Tiancity
New Hires
International Game Developers Association Foundation board appoints three new directors
Lisy Kane, James Lewis, and Sarah Spiers bring decades of experience to their roles
Artificial Intelligence Intrigue
Are AI chatbots coming to Tencent and NetEase games?
Many technology firms are considering services like that of ChatGPT
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 to talk all-powerful AI, enduring classics and why there's not enough horror in games
Awards
Marvel Snap wins Mobile Game of the Year at the DICE Awards
The mobile TCG saw rave reviews upon its release in 2022 and swept the boards for awards
Netease Expansion
Blizzard break-up strikes a blow to NetEase’s overseas expansion
The tech giant doesn’t expect to launch any new games from overseas studios until at least 2025
Releases
Huawei tempt users into their Appgallery with Epic Seven
The release of the “cult RPG” includes numerous AppGallery app store exclusives
Releases
Level Infinite announces new cross-platform title Undawn
The game comes courtesy of Lightspeed Studios with releases on iOS, Android and PC
Releases
Krafton's Road To Valour: Empire stands in for BGMI in India
While BGMI remains banned, Krafton seek to regain market share with a new India-specific title
Video
Pocket Gamer Connects London video round-up
Missed the show or simply want more content? We get up close with the big names at our PGC London event
Better Now Than Late
One week left to nominate for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2023
Is your company, game, team, service, or achievement in the running?
Interview
"Web3 is a solution in search of a problem." FunCraft’s CEO steps back from blockchain
After considering web3 and blockchain, FunCraft's Michael Martinez decided that the future lies elsewhere
Keep On Running
Minion Rush celebrates tenth anniversary
The sleeper hit has been running over a decade with over one billion app installs
Artificial Intelligence
Kwalee bring AI into game production
Employees will be able to use AI tools to pitch ideas via the company’s KAI programme
Quantic Dream Come True
NetEase reportedly paid $106 million for Quantic Dream
Last year’s acquisition highlights the company’s commitment to growth