This Is Not Fair Use Of Fortnite
Fortnite cryptocurrency “a scam”, states Epic’s Tim Sweeney
Fortnite Token’s clear visual connection with the battle royale invokes ire of Epic Games CEO, stating “Epic’s lawyers are on it”
A Wealth Of Winners
Apple Design Awards 2022 crown six mobile game winners from inclusivity to innovation
Marvel Future Revolution, Star Wars: Castaways, Overboard!, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Wylde Flowers, and A Musical Story awarded at the annual celebration of design
Director Deluge
Annapurna Interactive makes multiple hires to internal development studio
Helmed by game director Chelsea Hash, the new additions – Brett Lajzer, Evan Hembacher, and Cosimo Galluzzi – will push forward with an unannounced project
Wwdc
Apple unveils iOS 16, but no substantive games updates
WWDC keynote is low on games announcements, but new Metal 3 API coming to iPadOS 16 and family sharing of Apple Arcade subscriptions
Apple Core Out
Apple Arcade’s senior team keeps shrinking
Apple Arcade execs Mark Bozon and Kathy Astromoff leave to pursue very divergent paths
Hot Five
Hot Five: Playtika layoffs could reach 250, Supercell invests $60mil into Love & Pies, and Square Enix commits to NFTs
The hottest news articles on PG.biz
Pitch Me Baby
Thanks to Outfit7’s internal pitching system, my idea turned into our new game
Žiga Sedovnik, Principal Data Scientist at Outfit7, shares how his idea for a new strategy RPG turned into the company’s newest game, Mythic Legends
Prospering Pikachu
Pokémon GO celebrates lifetime player spending of $6 billion
Sensor Tower data reveals the game has averaged $1 billion per year since launch
Supercharged
Exclusive: Supercell breaks ground with first investment in NFT gaming
Oxalis Games has raised $4.5 million in a seed round led by Blocore and including Supercell, Animoca Brands, and Sir Ian Livingstone
Committing To Casual
Turkish mobile puzzle games developer Cypher Games raises $3.2 million
Investment will be used to expand the team sixfold, open a new office in Berlin, and create the firm's first casual title
Co-development Deal
Mighty Kingdom and Lion Studios partner to develop unnamed title
Partnering for 12 months of co-development
How To Say "welcome" In Simlish
Playstack acquires Magic Fuel Games, reunites EA veterans
The deal brings Magic Fuel's exec team, including Kevin Shrapnell, together with Playstack CEO Harvey Elliot, following previous collaboration on the SimCity franchise
Apple And Apps
68% of mobile games devs find marketing more difficult following Apple ATT
Tenjin and Growth FullStack speak to PocketGamer.biz on their latest report which states 99% of developers plan to use alternative Android stores this year
Hit Publish
Funday Factory's Jeppe Kønig: "I see a clear shift towards cross-platform distribution, subscriptions, and social platforms"
Funday Factory's new head of publishing shares his thoughts on the latest challenges in the mobile games industry, and gazes into the cross-platform future
Esports Everywhere
Toronto’s the up-and-coming esports capital of the world – join us there to learn all about it firsthand!
Esports are taking over the world, join us at PG Connects Toronto to learn how to get in on this growing industry.
African Opportunities
Developing games in Africa: “a 500 million-user market by 2030”
Olivier Madiba, CEO of Cameroon’s Kiro'o Games, speaks to PocketGamer.biz about opportunities in Africa
Take Pride
Zynga’s Dr Vijay Pendakur: “It’s nice to think about diversity. It’s better to change your behaviour.”
Zynga vice president and chief of DEI details the murky act of international progressivity as the mobile mogul celebrates Pride Month
News
Update: Lawsuit alleges Activision Blizzard sexual harassment led to employee suicide
Lawsuit alleges “wanted sexual harassment” in a “hostile, intimidating, offensive, oppressive, and abusive” workplace
4dww
Hutch begins four-day working week trial
Mobile games developer Hutch has now begun its four-day working week trial, as part of a pilot organised by 4 Day Week Global.
Tracks On Tracks On Tracks
Explore the hottest industry topics at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto, July 6-7
Get all the details on our upcoming Toronto conference’s 15 tracks, and take advantage of our Early Bird discount to save up to $350 on your conference ticket!
Celebrating And Saving
It’s time to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! Get 30% off your Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto ticket for a limited time only
You have five days to take advantage of this incredible flash sale – don’t wait to enjoy 30% off your PG Connects Toronto ticket.
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Wizards of the Coast’s John Eberhardt on the importance of a wide a variety of perspectives in the game making process
Get to know the thought leaders of Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto, June 6-7
Player Power
Sky Mavis reveals player-generated games using Axie Infinity IP
Selected games from the Builders Program granted a minimum of $10,000 in AXS
Ua Eye
How Puzzle Combat's playable ads bridge the gap between puzzle and RPG fans
Rovio’s Claire Rozain casts a meticulous lens over Zynga's Puzzle Combat, and breakdowns the key points in her weekly column, UA Eye
Skulls For The Skull Throne
Games Workshop partners with PocketGamer.com at the Warhammer Skulls Mobile Showcase
The wargaming behemoth will reveal its upcoming slate of mobile releases at 18:00 BST today (June 1) in a co-production with PocketGamer.com
Blockchain Breakthrough
Square Enix is creating an NFT ecosystem with Animoca Brands
Partnering with Animoca Brands to develop Web3 plans
Locational Layoffs
Playtika to lay off 250 employees as it closes three development studios
London, Los Angeles, and Montreal studios are closing, Helsinki studio considered
Ash Cashem
The Pokémon Company celebrates a record fiscal year
Net profit increased by 123%, with sales reaching $1.6 billion
Remote Control
"Flexible working is now a requirement, rather than a nice-to-have" for games industry professionals
Amiqus' Liz Prince discusses how the games industry has responded to the enduring pandemic and the rising demand for flexible and remote working
Metaverse Motoring
Infinite Drive is steering towards the metaverse
The Tiny Digital Factory has revealed its next racing game with Web3 and NFTs
Heaps Of Holiday
tinyBuild is trailing limitless paid time off until end of year
Mandatory minimum of two weeks remains in place
Greener Games
Gamigo Group joins Playing For The Planet Alliance
The European and North American publisher is the latest in the 43-strong games industry environmental advocacy group
Subscription Service
3 Network operator, CK Hutchison, and Gameloft to launch "All You Can Play" service
Titles like Asphalt Nitro 2 and Sonic Runners Adventure included
Welcome Aboard
Homa Games appoints Brice Vinocour as VP of marketing & communications
Homa Games will leverage Vinocour's experience and leadership skills to build the scaleup’s marketing & communications strategy, increase brand awareness, and grow gamers and developers' communities
Meet The Speakers
From Google to Netflix, get a sneak peek at the incredible speakers of Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto and their companies
Find out some of the fantastic names we have lined up to speak at our Toronto conference this July 6-7
Hot Five
Hot Five: Mobile to exceed 60% of games industry, Diablo Immortal won't be released in Belgium, the Netherlands, and EA pursues merger with Apple, Amazon, Disney, NBC
The hottest news articles on PG.biz
Alternative App Stores
Android games make $50 million through alternative app stores, states Flexion
“Essentially a bonus for games that already do great in Google Play,” claims CEO Jens Lauritzson
Vamos Celebrar!
Updated: Kwalee's Pedro Caria details why Portugal was the right choice for Kwalee's fourth international office
Winner of Best Publisher at the Mobile Games Awards has opened its first office in Almada, Portugal
Design For Life
Creating something out of nothing: coming up with visuals for a new IP
Eran Alboher, studio art director at Outfit7, explains the company’s process for designing and creating the visuals for its new strategy RPG, Mythic Legends
Be Seeing You
Founded by Rovio and Zynga veterans, Village Studio has raised €2.1 million
Will Luton, Cyril Barrow, and Tak Fung's Village Studio aims to confront the issue of interoperability in blockchain and Web3 games
Latest Lawsuit
Apple loses bid to dismiss app store lawsuit
Alternative app store Cydia originally accused Apple of continuing an unlawful monopoly in January 2020
Supercharged
Supercell acquires majority stake in Trailmix with $60 million investment
Majority stake follows 2018 investment of $4.2 million in the London studio
Gaming And Golfing
New PGA golf game utilises Niantic Lightship AR tech
Developer by Trigger as an educational, utility game
We Gucci
Gucci forms permanent presence in Roblox with Gucci Town
Gucci Town, a “virtual piazza in the landscape of Roblox” follows Spotify, Gap, McLaren, the Brit Awards, and near-countless others
Readjusting To Remote
Gismart is shifting to remote-first working as of June 2022
Flexibility to work from anywhere in the world
Boost Your Brand
Elevate your brand at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto’s Ads x Brands x Games Summit this summer!
Join us in Toronto this July to discover the latest trends and biggest opportunities when it comes to advertising and branding your game!
Bolstering The Ranks
Former King, Wargaming exec joins Kwalee as head of casual mobile games
F2P specialist Callum Godfrey will lead on all internal and external casual games projects for the UK-headquartered publisher
An Apex App
Apex Legends Mobile player spend reached $4.8 million in first week
The most downloaded game in 60 countries following initial launch
Mobile Manoeuvre
20% of all first-party releases will be mobile by 2025, says Sony
Playstation CEO Jim Ryan also stated that 10% of first-party releases will be mobile within 2022
Pg Connects Seattle
Solsten's Josh Rivers: "You need to know who your audience is, and why might they come to my game"
Getting an in-depth understanding of the psychology of your active and potential players brings out their – and your – best, says Solsten's Josh Rivers