New Offerings
Jam City launches WikiGameJam to create games inspired by Wikipedia
Projects will range from edit-feed browser games to Wikidata-powered trivia apps
Funding News
HYS Games raises $300k to accelerate development on upcoming flagship title
The project is described as a daring double-A game with triple-A ambition
Off To The Races
Umamusume: Pretty Derby: "To be honest, we weren't sure how a game inspired by Japanese horse racing culture would be received overseas"
We speak with an anonymous developer at Cygames about Umamusume: Pretty Derby’s global launch, localisation nuances and more
Developer Support
Ukie partners with Tencent for second year of the Video Games Growth Programme
Last year’s inaugural programme supported 27 graduating studios
Esports Growth
Fortnite crowns new Global Champions as Epic unveils major competitive updates
A $1m Fortnite Competitive mobile series launches later this year
Winners Revealed
Roblox reveals 2025 Innovation Awards winners
Steal a Brainrot was honoured for Best Creative Direction and recently surpassed 20m concurrent players
New Offerings
Nazara brings popular PC title Bodycam to Fortnite
The launch will feature two new modes, including Gun Game and Team Deathmatch
Milestone
SuperGaming’s MaskGun surpasses 100m players across Android and iOS
To celebrate, the publisher is running a two-week in-game event with rewards and recognition for players
New Offerings
Roblox creators will now earn 8.5% more from Developer Exchange
UGC platform reveals swathe of new tools including 4D object creation, real-time voice translation and speech-to-text APIs
Hot Five
Hot Five: Destiny Rising hits 1m installs, Firaxis layoffs, and how Screw Master 3D scaled to global markets
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
The Transmedia Train
Gaming continues its transmedia expansion
Call of Duty becomes the latest major games IP to get the film treatment
New Offerings
Code Maestro Launches in public beta as AI copilot for Unity developers
“Developers often spend more time fixing issues than making games,” said Code Maestro CEO Alexander Goldybin
Week In Views
India's real-money gaming layoffs, Call of Duty heads to the big screen, and Love and Deepspace hits $750m | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
New Games
New release roundup: The King of Fighters AFK, Riftbusters, Retro Bowl 26, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Layoff News
Firaxis confirms layoffs as part of a development restructuring plan
The number of affected staff was not disclosed
Crossovers
Scopely partners with Nickelodeon for a Stumble Guys and Avatar crossover event
Aang, Zuko, Toph, Sokka, and Appa all become playable characters
Accelerator Program
a16z Speedrun opens applications for its sixth accelerator program
The 12-week program starts January 2026 with up to $1m in funding
Adaptations
Amazon’s live-action Tomb Raider series to begin filming in January 2026
Sophie Turner confirmed to star as Lara Croft
The Long Game
Gameloft on adapting tools, tech and teams to sustain Minion Rush's 12-year run
Gameloft’s Kateryna Skrypnik shares how live ops, community feedback and a Unity migration have kept Minion Rush running for over a decade
Industry Insights
The ins and outs of retention in an idle game with merge and puzzle elements
Oleg Nalimov shares on Gold & Goblins the genre-blending mechanics, monetisation and live updates that turned the game into a $60m success
Pgc Helsinki
Rovio talks optimised ad placements, player segmentation and Beacon
Rovio principal product manager and team lead of Beacon product management Niina Ojala highlighted the uses of Beacon throughout a game’s lifecycle at PGC Helsinki 2024
New Offerings
Activision partners with Paramount to develop Call of Duty movie
Paramount will produce and distribute the live-action film, expanding the franchise to new audiences
Global Top Five
BIGO Ads marks five-year streak in IAB Tech Lab certification programme
BIGO Ads Achieves Five Consecutive Years of IAB Tech Lab Open Measurement SDK (OM SDK) Certification, Setting New Global Ad Transparency
Genre Strategies
FreePlay talks 2bn downloads and hybridcasual's rapid growth
"We consider creatives production to be one of our core strengths," says head of publishing Ivan Spijarskiy
Destiny Downloads
Destiny: Rising surpasses 1m installs on Apple’s App Store
NetEase Games’ latest release ranked as the third most-downloaded game on launch day on iOS
Changing Times
Navigating payment freedom: Gaining a lead in the new app store landscape
Ben Cousens shares on monetisation strategies in the new app store economy
Job News
Microsoft names Rare's Louise O’Connor as chief of staff at Xbox Game Studios
She will focus on driving collaboration across Xbox Game Studios while supporting its leaders and teams
Strategic Move
Nintendo rebrands Warpstar as Nintendo Stars to spearhead its transmedia strategy
Nintendo Stars will oversee merchandising, licensing, and events tied to the company’s film projects
New Offerings
Rooter launches AI-powered adtech tool rStream to allow creators monetise content
“For brands, it’s a matter of keeping that attention and not jolting gamers out of it,” said Rooter founder and CEO Piyush
Podcast | Episode 65
Gamescom insights and India's shock real-money gaming ban | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 65...
Story-driven Games
Female-first UGC platform Dorian partners with Women’s Game Fest
The Boost Track gives developers the chance to compete for a $500 gran, 1:1 coaching and game promotion
Layoff News
MPL to lay off 60% of its India staff after government ban on paid games
About 300 of 500 employees will be cut
Hot Five
Hot Five: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby’s overseas victory, Destiny: Rising’s mobile launch, and India's games companies hit by real-money ban
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week In Views
Real-money ban hits India's growth, Destiny lands on mobile and Uma Musume shines overseas | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
New Games
New release roundup: Destiny: Rising, Acecraft, Hello Mario, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Marvellous Mena
Saudi Arabia’s games market projected to reach $1.64bn by 2028
Savvy Games Group's 2024 annual report shows the MENA region generated $5.62bn in 2024 and is estimated to reach $6.94bn in 2027
New Offerings
Duet Night Abyss removes all gacha elements just weeks before its October launch
The upcoming RGP has amassed nearly seven million pre-registrations across all platforms
Html5 Games For All
How H5 games are driving faster monetisation for publishers
No download & instant play - How HTML5 games are the emerging bridge between traffic and content
Growth Engines
2025’s unexpected games industry disruptor (clue it’s not AI)
Checking the state of the games industry by revisiting Matthew Ball’s 2025 growth engines
Funding News
Copa Fantasy raises $300k to scale football gaming platform in MENA
“We aim to become the region’s first true football super-app”
New Partnerships
Merak Capital signs MoU with HP to boost Saudi Arabia’s games and esports economy
Partnership to deliver events, workshops, and mentorship to build a sustainable talent pipeline
Franchise Insights
The first year of Zynga's Game of Thrones: Legends from launch to $24 million
Zynga’s Director of design Joe Canose discusses lessons from Game of Thrones: Legends first year
New Game Launch
NetEase Games launches Destiny: Rising globally on iOS and Android
Pre-registrations topped 10 million ahead of launch
Loads Of Layoffs
Rec Room lays off "roughly half" of staff as priorities shift away from broad UGC
Rec Room’s mobile creation tools have struggled to produce "impactful" experiences
Revolutionising Mobile Monetisation
GeeMee GamePlay: Revolutionising mobile monetisation with playable ads
Find out how GeeMee's playable ads integrate engaging game mechanics directly into the advertising experience across different industries and campaign objectives
App Store Changes
Google to require identity verification for all Android app developers from next year
Developers in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand face new verification rules from September 2026
Office Opening
Lightspeed Japan opens Osaka office to recruit talent, including Capcom veterans
This is Lightspeed Studios’ second office in Japan after a Tokyo office was established in 2024
Roblox Rising
Roblox’s peak concurrent user count hits record 47.4m as Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden compete
Steal a Brainrot has become the platform’s second experience to hit 20m concurrent users
Jobs Roundup
August 2025’s Movers and Shakers: Playtika promotions, Appcharge's senior hire, SayGames' new head of PR, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Funding News
FitNot Games secures $300k to expand development on culturally-inspired titles
Funding will accelerate work on ALI, a story-driven 2D isometric stealth game set in Egyptian folklore