European Gaming Market
52 per cent of Europeans play games reveals recent report
45 per cent of gaming revenue in 2021 came from apps
Battle Of The Brands
Unity and ironSource’s merger moves ahead
The companies have moved closer to finalising the deal – and leaving AppLovin out in the cold
Hot Five
Hot Five: August 29th. The biggest stories from the last seven days, in a bite-sized digest
The HOTTEST stories on PocketGamer.biz in the last week
Open Beta
Google Play Games for PC enters open beta in five countries
The open beta catalogue is now available in Thailand and Australia and will come with over 50 titles, which can be played on Windows PCs via a standalone application built by Google
Guest Post
A complete guide to collaborating with a hypercasual publisher
Daria Udodova on how to find the perfect partner, pitch a game, and reach top charts together
Data.ai Report
Data.ai breaks down the Australian mobile market
Engagement for entertainment apps is climbing steadily while fresh installs decline
More Acquisitions
TinyBuild Games acquires Konfa Games and Bossa Games IP for a total of $8.4 million
"Today's deals are a unique opportunity to bring both Konfa’s talented team of developers in-house and to add the amazing Bossa intellectual property to the tinyBuild portfolio,” says tinyBuild CEO
Green Gaming
Ex-Disney, Kabam, and EA staff reveal climate friendly studio
Carbon Counts is developing EverForest, which will result in real trees being planted as users play
Possible Biggest Acquisition
Amazon is allegedly making an offer to acquire EA
After weeks of speculations, the American multinational technology company Amazon is rumoured to announce its deal to acquire Electronic Arts today
New Studio
Square Enix to launch new western studio
Studio Onoma announced following the sale of western studios to Embracer Group
Maybe It's Zynga
Zynga teams up with Maybelline for in-game advertising
Maybelline becomes the first beauty brand to enter the hypercasual market
New Aaa Studio
NetEase Games invests $13.2 million in Jeff Gardiner's new studio, Something Wicked
Former project lead at Bethesda will use the $13.2 million from NetEase Games to develop Something Wicked's debut title Wyrdsong
Cloud Gaming
Benjy Boxer: I think games need to be designed around the idea that people are playing it from the cloud
Parsec's general manager on the future of cloud gaming
Big Savings
Secure your seat at Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan today for the lowest possible price!
Don’t miss the chance to save up to £300 on your ticket to PG Connects Jordan this November – prices are rising soon!
Microsoft Acquisition
Phil Spencer: "I'm always thinking about things that add to our capability"
Microsoft Gaming's CEO discussed the Activision Blizzard acquisition with Bloomberg
Successful Investment Round
Stratosphere Games raises $3 million in recent investment round
1Up Ventures, Skycatcher, and developers of League of Legends, Riot Games, invested 3 million euros in the Berlin-based development studio
Investing In The Future
njoyKidz receives first investment round on a $5 million valuation
The round was led by WePlay Ventures
Blockchain Rumours
Everywhere developer remains coy about blockchain implementation
“We do not like dismissing new technologies”
Journey To Jordan
MENA games market expected to reach more than $5 billion by 2025
Get to know the fastest growing games market in the world ahead of Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan, November 12-13.
Spanish Gaming Market
Newzoo report covering Spanish gaming market shows 83% of the nation are gamers
The Spaniards have contributed $2.3 billion to the gaming industry's revenue in 2022, with a reported 48% of players spending money on games this year
A New Way To Work
Rogue Games announces a new and permanent four-day work week for all employees
"We're doing it for our people, because life is too short, and because quality of life is really damned important," says Rogue Games CEO
A Downhill Battle
Jay Fernandes: We experimented with a lot of different layouts. I mean a lot. Like even more than you’re thinking.
Plastic Fern Studios' Jay Fernandes on the struggles of adapting The Descenders to mobile
Financials
Netmarble reveals financial earnings for second quarter of 2022
South Korean mobile giants earned $535.95 million in revenue, but saw its EBITDA decrease by 48%
New Project
Sybo is hiring a senior producer for an undisclosed project
The company is looking for a candidate with experience in the puzzle genre
Guest Post
Humiliation in advertising — why it won't be working long term
Claire Rozain on the effects of harmful advertising on user acquisition
Best Of 2022
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2022
The movers and the shakers of the last 12 months
Industry Report
71% of H1 2022's total deal value came from just 5 deals
A new report breaks down the biggest deals, acquisitions, and mergers of the first half of 2022
Guest Post
How level design saved a game with a 20% R1
Taxi Run developers Azur Games discuss the process they took to increase player retention and profits.
Live In London
Mark your calendars – Pocket Gamer Connects is returning to London in January 2023!
Start the year off right and join us in London this January 23-24 for our flagship Connects conference! Get ready for an all new year of networking, learning and skyrocketing your business.
Ambitious Expansion
Hasbro digital gaming expansion is on the move to making its own video games
The manufacturer of Monopoly aim to develop a number of new and original video games and make some games to tie to fantasy and science fiction-themed game developer WotC franchises
10th Anniversary
Game lead at Supercell reflects on Clash of Clans 10th anniversary
"We don't patronize our players. We give them lots of options, and we try our best to make those options clear to understand," said Clash of Clans game lead
Guest Post
The difference with mobile: How to market and pitch your mobile game to media and influencers
Big Games Machine co-founder James Kaye discusses steps that mobile developers can take to increase their profile
New Investment
Azur Games invests in French studio Pinpin Team
The company has acquired 30% of Pinpin Team
Quarterly Report
Flexion Mobile announces new growth record in Q2
The company hit a $20 million revenue milestone
Speaker Spotlight
Quicksave Interactive’s CEO Elina Arponen on the importance of comradery for web3 developers
Learn from Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki’s brightest minds as we hear from our speakers ahead of the September conference
Guest Post
Cruise to the East: How to successfully localize a game into Arabic
Inlingo and Belka Games discuss the unique struggles that come with adapting games for the MENA region
Twitch Vs Youtube Gaming
State of the Stream's report reveals Fall Guys reaches over 42 million watch hours on Twitch
Fall Guys and Monster Hunter Rise have the highest per cent of growth in streamers on Twitch and Youtube Gaming respectively, according to data from StreamElements and Rainmaker.gg
Augmented Reality
Eight UK Studios selected for possible Niantic Lightship partnerships
The studios will pitch their AR experiences later this summer
Casual Gaming
7Seas Entertainment has announced a new platform for short games available on Google Play
Gamer Shorts already has 25 short and easy mobile games in place
Gender Equality In Gaming
Women in Games launches free guide to gender equality in gaming
Building a Fair Playing Field is out now
Big Business
Saudi Arabia approves Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard
The Middle Eastern country is the first to recognize the acquisition
New Position
Reko Ukko joining Next Games as Chief Creative Officer
This is Next Games' first leadership team announcement since its acquisition by Netflix Games
New Hire
Roblox appoints Steve Park as Asia-Pacific head of public policy
The Meta veteran joins the Roblox team this week
Make Your Cash Flow
Level up your monetisation and finance strategies with expert insight at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki!
Hear from the leading monetisation and financial experts at our Helsinki show this November 27-28
Hot Five
Hot Five: August 22nd. The mobile games industry's unmissable news, features and more
The HOTTEST stories on PocketGamer.biz in the last week
Interview
Aviram Steinhart: We knew that RAID: Shadow Legends was going to be special
We spoke to the Plarium CEO about the success of the company’s flagship title
Big Trouble In Little China
Tencent lays of 5500 staff members
The Chinese company posted its first ever year-on-year decline in the latest quarterly report
New Studio
Virtuos launches new studio in Kuala Lumpur to bolster Southeast Asian presence
The new studio was founded by a team of veterans with over 20 years of experience in AAA game development
Quarterly Reports
NetEase sees a 12.8% year-on-year increase in net revenue
The company has dodged the current trend of decline
Job Openings
Mattel to grow its digital gaming sector with new job openings
New managerial positions include head of business development and licensing, senior manager of mobile licensing, and senior manager of PC/Console licensing