Brazil Games
How Brazil is accelerating games as a cultural export
Brazil Games' Patrícia Sato discusses why the organisation set up an accelerator program and the importance of games as a cultural export
Apple Troubles
US Appeals Court reverses Apple's stay of mandate in Epic Games case
Epic Games calls ruling the end of Apple’s delay tactics
Dma Review
EU's Digital Markets Act has "not yet reached its full potential"
Cloud and AI markets are next in the Commission's enforcement crosshairs
Mobile Mavens
“Burnout is essentially design failure”: The Mobile Mavens weigh in on player burnout
The Mobile Mavens discuss how studios manage player burnout and build long lasting player relationships
Stillfront Stats
Stillfront’s net revenue declines 14% to $143.9m, but Big Farm: Homestead drives organic growth
Stillfront significantly reduced investment in games outside its "key franchises"
Unionisation
Magic: The Gathering Arena team unionises under CWA
Workers are demanding protections on layoffs, AI adoption and remote work
Market Growth
UK studios face heavier workloads as 62% report pressure from skill shortages
TIGA calls for stronger education and policy alignment in new report
Milestone
Ludus surpasses 10m downloads as new Divisions system drives competitive play
Ludus records 74.6% year-over-year revenue growth
Industry Outlook
European studios increased freelance spending 63% in 2025 as hiring shifts toward contract work
New study from Mellow shows remote talent demand is rising across every major role category
Acqusitions
Atari acquires Implicit Conversions to expand retro game preservation efforts
The deal expands emulation capabilities particularly for 32-bit era games
Cafes Incoming
Square Enix confirms official cafe and shops for Los Angeles and Shinjuku
The venues will feature themed food and drinks inspired by multiple game franchises
Going Public
Modern Times Group's PlaySimple files for $350m IPO in Mumbai
The Swedish firm will retain majority ownership post-listing
Milestone
Torn RPG surpasses 100,000 daily players after 22 years of growth
The game’s daily player count has more than doubled since early 2024
Vietnam Vitality
Over 50% of Vietnam population plays mobile games as MMORPGs and 4X dominate spending
Vietnamese mobile gamers spent $825m in 2025, averaging 2.5 hours of daily playtime
Hypercasual Evolution
What happened to hypercasual? The market’s evolution over the past year
Eugene Tatonkin explores how hypercasual games have changed over the past year and what the latest market data reveals
Global Ambition
Afrime Studios founders on funding Unyverse and building for 670m players of colour
“We've been in rooms where the vision is clear, the opportunity is clear, and you still feel the weight of scepticism that isn't evenly distributed"
Cloud Coins
Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy makes $6.7m in first month
Cloud Strife and other fan favourites are appearing in Square Enix’s new gacha
Company Rebrand
Test Tropic rebrands to Tropic QA as company targets global expansion
The move signals expanded capabilities and a more global-facing strategy
Industry Outlook
Germany's games company count hits 956 but total employees fall for the second consecutive year
Funding programmes helped drive the creation of 75 new studios
Surfer Spending
Subway Surfers City runs towards $2m in player spending in two months
The endless runner more than doubled the original Subway Surfer’s player spending over the same period, but the classic has far higher ad revenue potential
Apple Attitudes
What a new era could bring for Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down, shifting to the role of executive chairman
Africa Is Mobile
"If players are not consistently returning and genuinely enjoying the experience, no payment model will succeed"
Maliyo Games’ founder Hugo Obi on mobile monetisation in Africa, execution gaps and why retention matters more than pricing
Legal Proceedings
Papaya Gaming ordered to pay $420m in landmark false advertising verdict
Verdict marks largest Lanham Act award in history
Funding News
Metasports Interactive secures $20m non-dilutive user acquisition funding
Capital will be used to scale marketing and global user acquisition
Funding News
Soloband Games raises Series A led by Zubr Capital to scale flagship title
Funding will accelerate user acquisition and global market reach
New Offerings
Finland confirms stock option tax reform aimed at strengthening startup talent competition
Tax now applies only when shares are sold, not when options are exercised
Layoff News
Behaviour Interactive confirms layoffs amid declining external development demand
Declining mobile and casual development work cited as key driver of layoffs
Hot Five
Hot Five: Arknights: Endfield approaches $100m, Xbox mobile store still in development, and government support becomes a priority
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Podcast | Episode 90
Tim Cook's Apple legacy | 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 90...
Next Stage Game Challenge
Supercent launches Next Stage Game Challenge, open to all mobile games worldwide
“NEXT STAGE is designed to give both new prototypes and live games the opportunity to scale globally through Supercent’s publishing capabilities”
Week In Views
Game Pass price cuts and Super Mario Galaxy’s box office dominance | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Strategic Move
Microsoft says Xbox mobile store “not dead” despite stalled rollout
Xbox also outlined a new strategy in a recent blog post
New Games
New release roundup: Dragon Quest Smash/Grow, Dicero, MapleStory R- Evolution, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Game Closure
Niantic Spatial to shut down Peridot mobile as AR ambitions shift beyond smartphones
The game will be removed from app stores on May 14th
Acqusitions
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount Skydance merger
The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2026
Funding News
PvX raises $10.5m as user acquisition financing scales
The firm has now committed over $750m in user acquisition financing
Layoff News
Meta to reportedly cut 8,000 jobs as AI spending surges to $135bn
Hiring freezes will leave thousands of roles unfilled
Mario Milestone
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie races past $755m to become highest-grossing film of 2026
The film earned $34.5m in the US on opening day, beating the original's $31.7m debut record
Roblox Revs Up
Roblox hires Joost Hagesteijn as first general manager for Europe
The newly created position has been established following significant growth in Europe
New Partnerships
Amanotes partners with Balancy to scale live ops across music game portfolio
Amanotes' 4bn downloads portfolio now managed through unified system
Funding News
Spill Games raises $3.1m seed round to scale systems-driven mobile games studio
The studio plans to expand its team and test over 20 prototypes in the next 18 months
New Partnerships
Playtika expands into microdrama with Bingo Blitz and Shortical collaboration
An original short-form drama series will integrate Bingo Blitz directly into its narrative
Tech Insights
"Put your own stamp on the game, not on the plumbing"
Developers, Skillz and Beamable discuss the pros and cons of building your own infrastructure or licensing tech to power your game
Market Report
India's mobile in-app purchase revenue tops $300m in Q1 2026
Non-gaming apps generated over $200m, growing 44% YoY and driving monetisation
New Offerings
Microsoft cuts Game Pass price and drops Call of Duty day-one releases
The changes come under new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma
New Offerings
VGW launches Monopoly Match as it enters match-3 puzzle market
The title is currently in phased rollout across North America
Industry Outlook
Games industry M&A hit 15-month high in Q1 2026 with over $100bn in deal value
Savvy Games' $6bn acquisition of Moonton was among the quarter's biggest deals
Africa Is Mobile
Deluxe Creation Studios’ Shola Edu on monetisation in Africa, global audiences and what actually drives revenue
“The goal is to build something that feels genuinely African and is good enough that the rest of the world wants in”
Staff Surge
Roblox workforce grows 24% to over 3,000 full-time staff
The platform had a "banner year" in 2025 with hits like Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden
Hello Kitty Games
Sanrio launches in-house publishing label Sanrio Games with $62.9m investment
First title targets Switch and Switch 2 hardware in 2026