Live Ops
5 videos from Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019's Live Ops Landscape track
Featuring speakers from the likes of Wooga, PlayFab, Playkot, Keywords and A Thinking Ape.
Free Event
“Nobody should live in a bubble”: Why you should attend Helsinki’s free Leadership Day
IGDA’s Teemu Haila explains the vision for September’s games industry summit
Layoffs
NBCUniversal partner Endless Entertainment lays off seven employees
“It’s simply an unfortunate reality of a slow-down in our current development cycle”
Import Tax
Update: Nintendo withdraws some Switch production in China amidst US trade war
Production moving to Southeast Asia according to sources
Event
Last chance to save money on Blockchain Gamer and Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong
Mid-term ticket prices for two-day B2B games industry conferences end TONIGHT!
Shovelociraptors
Shovel Knight digs its way to 2.5 million sales worldwide
Title available across 12 different platforms
Indie Spotlight
Indie Spotlight: Simon Joslin on how The Voxel Agents has been thriving off puzzlers for 10 years
"It’s a good time for an indie if you have a killer idea, or a great track record because there’s a tonne of cash out there for cool projects"
New Hire
GameClub's new COO on the death of premium games and why subscriptions are the future
"I’d argue premium games died on mobile some time ago. We can’t ignore the changes to the mobile economy that have occurred over these last five to seven years"
Check This Out
DJ Marshmello debuts Joytime III album in new mobile game
Music artist partners with Gamejam on Marshmello Music Dance
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Scopely’s Liz Liu on how to get a job as a people business partner
"Gaming is the convergence of art and science, where creative people work together to build experiences for human connection"
Top 50
PocketGamer.biz to unveil Top 50 Mobile Games Developers this summer - Have your say
Submit your suggestions by July 12th
Ultimate Game Changers
Lion Studios launches $300k indie mobile games contest
Games new and old welcome; Submissions close on August 15th
Ua Party
Tilting Point to invest at least $20m in CookApps UA
Match-three game Toy Party gets marketing boost
Falling Into Place
N3twork signs exclusive deal for mobile Tetris games
First release is battle royale title Tetris Royale
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Wizards Unite hits top 10 US download charts but is not a top grosser
Rankings from June 17th to June 23rd
Spellbinding Stuff
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite enchants players with $3 million in first week
6.5 million downloads in seven days
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Top 50 PC developer submissions open, Dr Disrespect is back on Twitch, and Ubisoft's blockchain business
15 articles from PocketGamer.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockchainGamer.biz
Hot Five
The design choices behind Behaviour's Game of Thrones title, Candy Crush shoots down PUBG Mobile, and LEGO Tower diorama breaks record
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Award Winners
BIG Festival Awards 2019 winners revealed
Starlit on Wheels takes home Best Mobile Game
Industry Growth
Brazil’s games industry has more than doubled in size in four years
2018 saw 276 games companies employing 2,731 staff
Beta Success
DOTA Underlords public beta reaches 1.5 million mobile downloads in seven days
Russia garnered the largest number with approximately 210,000 installs
Government Backing
Uncertainty surrounds future of Brazil games funds
Ancine and Finep agencies may no longer provide grants for local games companies
That's Bananas
Devolver Digital's My Friend Pedro sells 250,000 copies in first week
Title launched on Nintendo Switch and PC
Job News
Jony Ive to leave Apple after 27 years to form independent design company
LoveFrom launches later this year with Apple as first client
Access All Areas
New platform Unity Learn Premium aims to help teach real-time 3D development
Available at no further cost for Plus and Pro subscribers or $15 a month
Ice And Fire
Game of Thrones gets another mobile game spin-off with Behaviour Interactive's Beyond the Wall
Behaviour Interactive creative director Justin Jones discusses game design and working with a globally recognised IP
Gotta Friend ‘em All
Pokemon Masters launches on mobile this summer
“The idea was to create a gameplay experience where you could not only befriend Pokemon but also trainers to battle alongside you”
Road To Hero
Oasis Games developing One Punch Man title for iOS and Android
First officially authorised game for Western countries
Live Long And Prosper
Scopely reaches $1bn in lifetime revenue
Six games have exceeded over $100 million
Survive Together
Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony unite against US tariffs on consoles
Joint statement addressed to US government asking to exclude consoles
New Pubg In Works
PUBG Corp opens new game development studio Striking Distance
Former Sledgehammer Games co-founder and GM Glen Schofield named as CEO
Big Festival
Brazil's Independent Games Festival 2019 kicks off today
PocketGamer.biz will be reporting from the show floor. Come say hi!
In The Red
Rovio files lawsuit against “Angry Birdz” chicken restaurant in California
A cease and desist letter was ignored by the owners in February
Acquisition
Gumi Cryptos acquires $1.67 million worth of shares in Double Jump.Tokyo
As part of this acquisition deal Gumi Cryptos received 891 non-voting shares
Reassigned
Google confirms it will no longer be making tablets
Though company will still support its Pixel Slate hardware
Collaboration
Niantic partners with AT&T and Simon to bring Wizards Unite incentives to retailers across the US
We’re excited to team up with AT&T and Simon to create a variety of custom Harry Potter: Wizards Unite gameplay experiences”
“we’ll Take The Lot”
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite on track to earn $10 million in first month
AR game brought in $1.1 million from opening weekend
Roundup
Games industry roundup: GAME Digital board pushes for Sports Direct sale, Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency, and FTC investigating YouTube
15 articles from PocketGamer.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockchainGamer.biz
Streaming
Streaming services not likely to take over the games industry as a whole, says WBIE president
"I don’t believe that it will automatically come together"
Job News
Blizzard's global esports director Kim Phan has left the company
Less than a month after Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer departed the firm for Epic Games.
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Candy Crush Saga shoots down PUBG Mobile’s chances of topping gross ranking in the US
Rankings from June 10th to June 16th
Galleons
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite makes $300,000 in first 24 hours from US and UK
Tops US App Store however can’t match the numbers of Pokemon Go
Ad Monetisation
How to monetise your IAP-based game with ads
IronSource VP of global partnerships delivers the lowdown on in-game ads
Hot Five
Women "underserved" in mobile games market, $1m potato artist joins Animoca Brands, and Empires & Puzzles hits 34m installs
The hottest mobile games industry stories from the last week
Trade War
Apple: New China tariffs will favour foreign competitors, not US
iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods and Apple TV will also be affected in new proposals are enacted
King Of Education
Roblox Summer Creator Challenge teams up with Godzilla to teach kids to code
The King of Monsters takes time out from his day job to incentivise children to learn programming
Games For Change
Games for Change: How students are leading the charge for positive social change
President Susanna Pollack discusses the organisation's mission and how it's enabling students to lead the charge for social change
Auto Chess
Valve’s first mobile game DOTA Underlords heads into open beta
Title based on the new Auto Chess craze
'busiest Lady In The Biz'
What’s Good Games’ Andrea Rene on the state of mobile, Apple Arcade and 12 years in the games industry
"If you don’t have the passion somebody will take your place"
Accio Wallet
Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite out now in the UK
Co-developed and co-published with WB Games San Francisco