Indie Opportunities
Indie developers unite! Pitch your game to experts at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto
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Join The Collective
Game economics platform Machinations.io raises $3.3 million
Machinations.io has announced a $3.3 million Series A funding round led by Hiro Capital
Making Of
Square Valley dev Ryan Becijos: "It definitely was challenging to stay motivated working on a project part-time"
Rycekube founder Ryan Becijos shares the tabletop inspirations for his first title and former PocketGamer.biz Game of the Week, Square Valley
Loot Box Lull
Activision Blizzard is not releasing Diablo Immortal in Belgium and the Netherlands
Both countries have banned loot boxes in games via gambling laws
Breaking The Habit
Force of Habit co-founder dives deep into the studio’s closure
Twitter woes, commercial failures and porting issues, and fighting burnout among influences towards the one-man studio’s closure in May 2022
Awards And Achievements
Mobile wins big at the Finnish Game Awards 2021
Pako 3, Kitka Games, and HypeHype celebrated for Small Screen Game of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Creative Achievement, respectively
The Lion's Share
Mobile gaming to exceed 60% of entire games market in 2022
More than $1.6 billion spent weekly on mobile games in Q1 2022 alone
Get In The Sea
Infinite Arcade partners with blockchain gaming community YGG SEA
Collaboration with Southeast Asia subsidiary of Yield Guild Games intended to bring half a million players to Web3 gaming
Plans For Pride
Zynga donating $50,000 for Pride Month
Employee resource group zPride donating to Brave Space Alliance, LGBT Foundation, and Gay Gaming Professionals
Ua Eye
Should you use a countdown – or Pokémon – in your TikTok ads?
Rovio's Claire Rozain explores the impact of limited time bonuses and IP infringement on TikTok ads in her new weekly column, UA Eye
Join Us
Niantic wants you in its social AR network
The Campfire social app, currently live in Ingress, and Lightship VPS was revealed at Niantic Lightship Summit
Diverse & Dynamic
Expand your network and connect with a diverse mix of professionals at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto
Introducing the location for our upcoming July Pocket Gamer Connects conference – learn more about what this dynamic, diverse city has to offer
Double Digit Development
Huuuge announces Q1 2022 results with $84 million in revenue
Adjusted EBITDA percentage increase reaches double digits
Independent Thought
Japanese manga publisher Shueisha is taking different inspiration for its mobile games: the indie scene
Michiharu Mori discusses how Shueisha’s new games division is looking at the indie model, and why there is so little movement in mobile gaming’s most popular titles
Roblox Role
Roblox hires former Zynga and Twitter exec Nick Tornow
Former Zynga CTO joins Roblox as vice president of technology
Community Currency
Former Gameforge CEO launches Web3 publisher Eleet Games
Carsten van Husen to lead
Island Go
Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield: "My only resistance to blockchain gaming is tied up in speculation"
The father of TCGs discusses his first blockchain games venture with WAX Studios' Blockchain Brawlers
Flames On The Side Of My Face
Paul Farley’s Firestoke raises $2.2 million
Mobile games industry luminary’s indie games publisher to bridge gap between triple-A and mobile experiences
Under A Union
Employees from Activision Blizzard's Raven Software form the first gaming union
Accepted by the National Labor Relations Board with 19 votes to 3
Big Fish Focus
Former Amazon gaming manager Larry Plotnick appointed president at Big Fish Games
Supporting innovation and development of casual games
Taken By The Demogorgon
Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales removed from app stores
Titles to be revamped for exclusive Netflix Games release
Sign Up Today
Let us match you with the ideal publishers, investors and developers at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto!
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Regulate This
US to tighten advertising guidelines against “fake reviews” and manipulative advertiser behaviour
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking to strengthen its guidelines in an effort to stop advertisers from posting fake positive reviews and abusing social media platforms
Hot Five
Hot Five: Axie Infinity's utility currency value hits $0.004, Apex Legends is the most downloaded iOS game, and former King team raises $3mil for Bitcoin gaming
The hottest news articles on PG.biz
Welcome To The Family
Zynga acquisition by Take-Two now completed
Acquisition completed on May 23
Acquisition Interest
Ubisoft holders want €60+ per share for potential sale
At the time of writing, Ubisoft’s share price is €48.29 (roughly $51)
Developer Dash
Liniad Unleashes Playable Dashboard
New 'power dashboard' enables app marketers unlimited variations across all channels
Alleged Acquisition Aspirations
Electronic Arts sought acquisition from Disney, Apple, Amazon, NBC
NBCUniversal came closest to deal thus far
Play Store Policy
Google to permit third-party payment systems for Match Group
Following lawsuit from Match regarding payment systems and revenue share
Soulful
Former Codemasters, Jagex execs establish new studio
Soul Assembly will explore games for VR and the metaverse
Cites Regulatory Crackdown
Tencent revenue growth slows to a crawl following China’s crackdown on tech companies
Net profit fell to 23.4 billion yuan in Q1 2022 – down 51 per cent year-on-year from 47.8 billion yuan
Pinpointing Popularity
Deliver It 3D, Angry Birds Classic, and Football Manager are the fastest-growing iOS games in 2022
Mozillion reports on data for fastest-growing App Store mobile games
Collaborate And Cooperate
Developing the metaverse must prevent harm, Meta's Nick Clegg states
Former UK deputy prime minister shares outlook from virtual glasses to practising surgeries
Backing Blockchain
Azra Games raises $15 million for former Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes exec's blockchain gaming project
Azra Games has secured $15 million in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz from both its games and crypto funds
Tiktok Testing
TikTok wants to release in-app games this year
Testing may be in progress in Vietnam
Live Action Appointment
Former Disney and Sony exec appointed president of Genvid Entertainment
Andrew Schneider also appointed chief marketing officer of Genvid Holdings
Join The Coven
Can we create a more equitable mobile games industry? Niantic’s Karla Reyes may have the answer
Code Coven and Niantic’s Karla Reyes details how she found her place in the games industry, and her extensive efforts to make sure the door didn’t shut behind her
Directors And Developers
Dr Jakin Vela appointed new IGDA executive director
Founder of Games For Me, CEO of Astral Interactive, and more
Gearing Up For Germany
Microids opens a new office in Germany in expansion plan
Opening in its "second most important" European market
Hypercasual Heights
Pangle and Newzoo’s hypercasual report explores the eastern and western market divide
Audience variation between US, UK, Japan and South Korea highlighted
600 Million Reasons
Andreessen Horowitz launches $600 million games VC fund
GAMES FUND ONE established to invest in games infrastructure and technologies as “key building blocks” of the metaverse
Taking The Subway To The Factory
Former Kiloo director joins Funday Factory
Jeppe Kønig, former Subway Surfer director of publishing, joins Danish multiplayer studio
Time To Save
Five reasons why booking your ticket to PG Connects Toronto today will be the best decision you make
There’s only hours left to save up to $475 on your ticket to our Toronto show this July – act now before time runs out!
Mamma Mia
Saudi Arabia’s PIF acquires 5% stake in Nintendo
Third major investment in Japanese games companies made for “investment purposes”
Network Test
N3TWORK Studios secures $46 million for Web3 games
Independent company formed following Forte’s acquisition of N3TWORK technology platform
Ua Eye
How Playrix mastered appealing to their players' anchoring bias
Rovio’s Claire Rozain casts a meticulous lens over Playrix’s user acquisition strategies, and examines their manipulation of anchoring bias in her new weekly column, UA Eye
Alternative App Store Agreement
Flexion to publish FunPlus’ King of Avalon on alternative app stores
Releasing on Huawei App Gallery and Samsung Galaxy App Store Q2 2022
Gameloft Grows
Gameloft’s newest studio opens near headquarters in Paris
Developing free-to-play elements in console and PC games
Coasts And Climates
Unity founder David Helgason launches climate initiative Transition Labs
Partnering with oceans solution platform Running Tide
Apex Predator
Apex Legends Mobile is the most downloaded iPhone game in 60 countries
Entered the top 10 most downloaded in 89 countries