One In Four
Devcom 2019: 26% of the US has a disability that affects them playing games
46 million players across the country
Npd Numbers
Nintendo Switch remains the best-selling console of 2019 in the US
Fire Emblem: Three Houses was the highest selling game on the Nintendo Switch in July
Job News
Activision Blizzard recruits new chief marketing officer and chief people officer
Firm brings new chief people officer and CMO on board
Partnership
Animoca Brands and Winfinite firm Versus Systems sign $500k mutual investment deal
Hong Kong publisher may leverage ad tools through its existing partnerships with other firms
$$$$
GPU revenue down 20% year-on-year at Nvidia
While games revenue saw a 27 per cent drop from 12 months ago
$$$$$
Investor bails Loot Crate out after company goes bankrupt
Money Chest chips in up to $10m to keep the firm afloat
Global Game Jam
Global Game Jam names Kate Edwards as executive director
Edwards will lead fundraising and community outreach
Ua Partnership
Tilting Point partners with Slyon Studios on P2R Power Rev Racing UA campaign
Deal is part of the publisher's $132 million annual UA Fund
Event
Four brand new tracks for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Bringing you widely requested content for October’s two day B2B games industry conference.
Sensor Tower
Good Job Games’ Fun Race 3D tops downloads for hyper-casual games in July
Voodoo’s Aquapark.io slides to second spot
Event
New B2B games conference for Newcastle Upon Tyne this September
Northern Exposure: a meeting of games industry minds
Cloud Gaming
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer thinks it’s a long while before the cloud replaces traditional consoles
"I think this is years away from being a mainstream way people play”
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Fortnite’s mechs send the battle royale hit to number one in the US
Rankings from July 29th to August 4th
Event
Animoca Brands, Nutaku, Pixel Federation and Remedy Entertainment to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Speaker lineup for the two day B2B games industry conference shapes up to be something special
Lawsuit Dropping In
Epic Games struck with class-action lawsuit over Fortnite account hacks
More than 100 class members have filed the document against battle royale phenomenon
Gun Violence
Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick says it's "disrespectful" to blame entertainment for US gun violence
Games exec says that mass shootings are "uniquely American"
Event
Check out the Big Screen Gaming track in association with Games Helsinki at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Brand new track featuring PC console, XR and blockchain at the two day B2B games industry conference in October
Trump Tariffs
US video game console and mobile tariff delayed until December
“As part of USTR’s public comment and hearing process, it was determined that the tariff should be delayed to December 15 for certain articles”
Moving On
Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell leaves virtual reality company
“Virtual reality is still on the bleeding edge of technology, and this community continues to pioneer the way forward”
Whoops
Twitch CEO apologises to Ninja for pornography recommendation on his old channel
The platform was using the Ninja landing page to push other streams
Prize Payment
New esports payment solution Prize Payments launches
Company estimates that $300 million will be paid out in prize money in 2019
Bomb Threat
Bandai Namco investigates potential bomb threat at Santa Clara office
This follows recent acts of violence across the US
Event
Pocket Gamer Connects returns to London in 2020!
Two-day games industry expo featuring Big Indie Pitch, Investor Connector, party and more
Counterpoint
Counterpoint: Offerwalls still deliver enormous value in 2019
As Apple enforces bans on offerwall-based CPI and CPE campaigns, CPA campaigns are still an option for developers
Top Publishers
Tencent was the top grossing global apps publisher in July
Tencent grossed $679 million in revenue
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Hangar 13 wants to "surprise and disrupt", Blockchain Cuties launches, and Ninja hits 1m Mixer subscribers
The biggest stories of the last week from the PC, mobile and blockchain spaces
Legal Advice
Update: Annapurna Pictures seeks bankruptcy protection
The company owns Annapurna Interactive, publisher of indie titles such as Florence and Donut County
Hot Five
Roblox on track for $100m dev payouts, Fyber launches FairBid, and Angry Birds Movie 2 is the highest-rated video game film
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Roblox Developers Conference
$100m dev payouts, 1.2 billion hours of engagement a month: What we learned at the Roblox Developers Conference
The Roblox team discussed the game’s growth, the latest developments on the platform and its predictions for the future
Winner Winner
Sensor Tower: PUBG Mobile is making more money than Fortnite
July saw sales increase by 748 per cent year-on-year
Twitch Studio
Twitch launches first-party streaming software Twitch Studio
Previously, streamers had to use third-party software such as OBS and XSplit to power their broadcasts
Cool
Epic to disclose loot box odds following ESA pledge
Meanwhile, THQ Nordic refuses to put name to list of publishers as it says it has no plans to use this business model
Event
Discover the secrets of South Korea’s games industry in a FREE games mixer near Gamescom
Speakers revealed from G-STAR, Samsung, Kunlun, Gameforge and Lucrion
Guns Or Games!?
Walmart orders its staff to remove signage for violent video games following mass shootings
But, of course, stores are still selling guns and ammo
Event
Just one week left to save up to $350 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Early Bird prices for October’s two-day B2B mobile games industry conference ends next week.
Market Value
The US will overtake China as world’s most lucrative games market this year
Global games market estimated to be worth $152.1 billion by the end of 2019
Loot Boxes
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony will now require developers to disclose loot box odds
Agreement has been made for odds to be shown by the end of 2020
Under Investigation
Report claims Activision Blizzard has avoided taxes on billions
The Candy Crush publisher moved $5.59 billion to subsidiaries in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013 to 2017
Closing Doors
Square Enix shutting down Star Ocean Mobile
Less than two years into game being available worldwide
Game Time
Google to share fresh Stadia game details in August livestream
Stadia Connects returns on the opening night of Gamescom
Financials
Take-Two wants to increase its presence in mobile as Social Point makes “meaningful” impact on sales
'PC and other' contribute to around 20 per cent of sales for the quarter
Blockchain
nWay launches new blockchain application allowing devs to implement monetisation solutions
“We believe this will allow games developed on nWayPlay platform to run game economies in a far more flexible way”
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Dragon Raja helps Tencent claim top four highest grossing spots in China
Rankings from July 22nd to 28th
Foldable Phones
Fighting the foldable phone design challenge: The impact on games development
Perfecto chief evangelist Eran Kinsbruner discusses QA for foldable phones
Fair!
"Blaming video games distracts from the broader issues at hand": IGDA and IGDAF react to Trump mass shooting statement
Meanwhile, US trade body the Entertainment Retailers Association remains silent
Milestone
Roblox hits 100 million active monthly users
Over one billion hours of engagement are recorded in the game each month
Indie Mavens
What monetisation models work best for indie developers in the current mobile games market?
The Indie Mavens share their thoughts on the different monetisation models on offer to small studios
Header Bidding
Fyber launches new ad mediation platform FairBid
Marketing tech firm says it's in discussions with all major ad networks about gradually migrating from the waterfall to bidding
Event
Win FREE expo space in the Big Indie Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Get the chance to showcase your game to the global games industry FREE this October, worth $650
Roundup
Games industry roundup: The future of conversational games, DragonGlass pauses operations, and Ninja drops Twitch for Mixer
The biggest stories of the last week from the PC, mobile and blockchain spaces