Podcast | Episode 86
The final word on GDC | 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 86...
New Offerings
Amazon plans smartphone comeback years after Fire Phone failure
The new device is less about hardware competition and more about controlling daily customer interactions
New Offerings
Epic Games opens Star Wars tools to creators as branded content push expands inside Fortnite
The release represents one of the largest IP integrations on the platform to date
Hot Five
Hot Five: GDC 2026, ByteDance to sell Moonton, and Candy Crush’s "incredibly valuable" feedback loop
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week In Views
ByteDance's Moonton acquisition, Fortnite's Google Play comeback and a $2bn milestone for Farm Heroes Saga | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Acquisitions
ByteDance to sell Moonton to Savvy Games Group in $6bn deal
The move marks another major expansion for Savvy Games Group
Squeezed Margins
Matthew Ball interview: Can new stores and D2C turn the tide on high UA costs?
A look at mobile gaming's discovery challenges and the pressure on profit margins as marketing and ad exchange expenses soar
New Games
New release roundup: Fortnite, Taimanin Squad, Goritaire, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
New Offerings
LinkedIn launches new logic puzzle game Patches
New title challenges players to complete grids with no gaps or overlaps
Environmental Impact
PlanetPlay rallies games industry for global “Battle for the Habitats” campaign
Industry-wide initiative aims to raise $1m for environmental conservation
Mobile Mavens
“A tale of two halves”: The Mobile Mavens weigh in on GDC 2026
From smaller attendance to a greater focus on meetings and side events, our Mobile Mavens discuss GDC 2026
Finding Fortnite
Fortnite is back on the Google Play Store today
Epic’s flagship returns after more than 5.5 years
Major Milestone
King’s Farm Heroes Saga officially hits $2 billion
PocketGamer.biz has learned that Farm Heroes Saga reached the $2 billion lifetime revenue mark
Funding News
Afrime Studios enters seed round after raising $400,000 to build afrofuturistic RPG Unyverse
The studio is targeting an estimated 670m gamers of African descent globally
Company Growth
Playstack profit jumps 59% as Balatro and Abiotic Factor drive record sales
Balatro gains momentum through 25 IP collaborations and a top-performing premium mobile version
New Offerings
Sustainable Games Alliance rolls out energy-saving tools across major engines
New plugins target Unreal, Unity and Godot to reduce power usage at scale
Industry Insights
The link between product and marketing teams in a competitive market
Evgenii Dobrelia examines how closer collaboration between product and marketing teams is becoming critical in an increasingly competitive games market
Milestone
Deluxe Creation’s Stickman Fight: Magic Brawl surpasses 300,000 downloads
International audiences drive the game’s strongest revenue performance
New Partnerships
Krafton signs strategic alliance with Hanwha Aerospace to develop real-world AI systems
The company will back a $1bn fund targeting AI, robotics and defence startups
Developer Support
Malmö boosts games industry with new funding push for startups
Nearly $400,000 annually will back new studios and early-stage developers
Service Disruption
Meta pulls Horizon Worlds from VR as platform shifts to mobile
Horizon Worlds will disappear from the Quest Store by March 31st 2026, with full shutdown on headsets by June 15th
M&a
Smartly signs letter of intent to acquire measurement platform Incrmntal
Terms of the deal were not disclosed
Alternative Marketplace
Epic Games Store opens up to mobile self-publishing in August
GM Steve Allison teases major publishers could release on the marketplace later this year
Epic Interview
Epic Games Store GM says Google deal marks a "meaningful reset" for mobile market
Steve Allison discusses why it made that Google deal, the challenges of overcoming incumbents, and its approach to discovery
Industry Insights
From CPI to LTV: How player motivations are powering hybridcasual’s big wins
Giacomo Maragliulo explains how player motivations are reshaping UA strategy and stronger hybridcasual performance
Fortnite Comeback
Fortnite set to return to Google Play on March 19th
The return follows a long legal battle with Google that saw the title originally removed from the Google Play Store in 2020
Payout
Melon Sandbox surpasses $1m payouts in 2025
Melon Sandbox has accumulated 150m downloads across platforms
State Of Gdc
GDC 2026 rips off the band-aid
A look at the challenges facing one of the industry's largest annual gatherings of developers
New Offerings
Apple cuts App Store fees in China after regulator talks
Developers in the Small Business Program and Mini Apps Partner Program will see fees drop from 15% to 12%
Layoff News
Meta planning layoffs that could affect 20% of workforce
The potential cuts would be the company’s largest since its 2022–2023 “year of efficiency” restructuring
Gdc 2026
GDC Festival of Gaming draws 20,000 attendees as industry gathers in San Francisco
GDC took place in San Francisco from March 9th to March 13th, 2026
Nominations Named
No mobile games nominated for Best Game at BAFTA Games Awards 2026
Nominations are now public, and mobile’s appearance is sparse
Funding News
Quicksave Interactive secures HyperScope Ventures investment for Playables.ai
Playables.ai enables advertisers to create playable ads using simple prompts rather than traditional development workflows
Industry Insights
How the role of the marketing analyst is changing in the age of AI
Iaroslav Kobozev discusses how AI is reshaping the skills and workflows for marketing analysts
Strategic Move
Nodwin Gaming appoints MTG gaming executive Arnd Benninghoff as board member
The company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round to support global expansion and strategic acquisitions
Tencent Tech
Tencent showcases AI lighting tech MagicDawn at GDC
Open-world MMO Roco Kingdom: World was used as a demonstration of new capabilities
Building Accessible Social Worlds
From e-commerce to social ecosystems: Hardy World Studios on building for the mobile-first frontier
Khaleem Solomon, the founder of Hardy World Studios discusses how culturally grounded design and low-code accessibility are reshaping player retention across both VR and mobile
Hot Five
Hot Five: Loom Games' $1bn exit, Scopely’s 15th anniversary, and Kingshot’s $800m first year
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week In Views
PEGI revises ratings with loot boxes among key changes, and Angry Birds marketing strategies | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
New Offerings
Google Play rolls out Game Trials so players can try full paid games before purchasing
New “buy once, play anywhere” model lets players access supported games on both mobile and PC
Company Growth
Mobvista reports $2.05bn revenue for 2025 as Mintegral drives growth
Mintegral generated $1.96bn in revenue, remaining Mobvista’s primary growth driver
Market Report
Study shows 77% of mobile gamers spend $100 or more per month on online purchases
92% of gamers who bought a product after seeing an ad said they were satisfied with the purchase
New Offerings
Razer reveals AI tools to speed up game development pipelines
The company’s “Future of Play” showcase introduced tools designed to accelerate game development pipelines
Leadership Change
Stillfront announces change to Nomination Committee ahead of AGM
Roger Storm of Handelsbanken Fonder has stepped down from the Nomination Committee with immediate effect
Expansions
Sega Sammy plans to expand transmedia strategy as mobile and live service titles take centre stage
The company is using games as the starting point for broader entertainment expansions across multiple platforms
New Games
New release roundup: Nova Drift, Subnautica: Below Zero, Overcooked! All You Can Eat, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Six Fabulous Fireside Chats
From large language models to learning languages - Seven more fabulous fireside chats from PGC London 2026
HyprMX spoke to many of the pioneers and business leaders at PGC London 2026. Here are seven more of the very best conversations from the event
New Offerings
Google Cloud unveils autonomous AI agents as next phase of game development
The company said the games industry is entering its biggest shift since the move from 2D to 3D graphics
Rating System
PEGI expands age ratings to cover loot boxes and in-game spending
Games containing paid random items such as loot boxes will now default to a PEGI 16 rating
Online Safety
UK government votes against blanket social media ban for under-16s
The government is consulting on whether games, AI chatbots and social media should face stricter controls