Roundup
Games industry roundup: EU votes to pass Article 13, what art assets to use in marketing, and Blockchain Gamer Connects heads to Hong Kong
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Switch Prime
Twitch Prime members can grab up to a year's worth of Nintendo Switch Online
A free year of Nintendo Switch online will now be added to Twitch Prime
Hot Five
The good and the bad of Apple Arcade, how Raid: Shadow Legends monetises, and the top 10 selling Nintendo Switch indies
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Power Of The Cloud
Tencent is readying to test another streaming platform Start in China
Appears to be separate to Intel Instant Play partnership
East To West
Webzen eyes America launch for MMORPG MU Origin 2 after success in Asia
From China to America
Mansion Money
Matchington Mansion surpasses $100 million in global IAP revenue
50 million downloads
Unsubscribe
Why Apple Arcade is doomed to disappoint both players and developers
AppAgent CEO Peter Fodor believes Apple's new subscription service may have come too late - five years too late in fact
Done Deal
Animoca Brands invests $2 million in creative networking platform Talenthouse
Deal equal to 448,413 shares in art networking platform
The Future Is Now
What does Apple Arcade mean for indie games developers?
The Indie Mavens have their say on the new subscription service
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Double Coconut’s David Fox to share the secrets to success in hyper-casual at PGC Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th.
Beta Time
The Elder Scrolls: Blades swings into Early Access
Players can still sign-up for iOS and Android
Clash With Ash
Clash Royale YouTuber Ash CWA on the ever-changing mobile esports scene and dealing with influencers
"The biggest misconception I've seen from companies when it comes to making competitive games is that they need to act immediately"
Big Indie Pitch
Highkey Games returns to The Big Indie Pitch during GDC week and walks away as champion
The Big Indie Pitch heads to GDC for the 7th year in a row
Reality
Newzoo: Games are leading the augmented reality charge
But support for AR is still restricted to a handful of handsets
Special Offer
Last chance to save up to $250 on Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Early Bird offer ends tomorrow!
Gotta Clean’em All
Niantic launches second annual Earth Day utilsing Pokemon Go and Ingress
Incentives given in-game to promote global cleanup
No Monitisation
Indie Spotlight: Big Indie Pitch winner E McNeill on cutesy puzzler Squeelings and making it as a solo developer
"I'd love to keep making games as an indie for the rest of my life, but since I have no idea how the industry will change, I feel like I need to launch a hit game"
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent’s Perfect World dethrones Honor of Kings as China’s top grosser
Charts from March 11th to March 17th
Past Or Future?
Apple Arcade versus Google Stadia: Two very different visions of gaming
Considering two subscription services
Royale
PUBG Mobile celebrates its first anniversary with a $2.5 million live event
Live music premier provides a soundtrack to PUBG Mobile's big esports plans
More Job Losses
EA lets go 350 employees across marketing, publishing and analytics
“This is a difficult day”
Rest In Peace
Take-Two founder and former CEO Ryan Brant dies at 49
Brant oversaw the firm's initial IPO and the founding of industry juggernaut Rockstar Games
Everyone Is Here
A record 29,000 people attended GDC 2019, organisers say
Convention will return on March 20th, 2020
Jobs
Stillfront Group name eRepublik Labs co-founder Alexis Bonte new Group COO
Bonte will still act as CEO of eRepublik Labs until a successor is appointed
Stay And We Pay
Apple to fund exclusive games for Apple Arcade
Sims and Final Fantasy creators onboard
Moving On Up
Kabam snaps up Riposte Games & Co
Studio joining line-up of developers currently based in Vancouver, San Francisco and Austin
Special Offer
Speak at the first ever Pocket Gamer Connects in Hong Kong
Explore this new market with 125 speakers and two shows for the mobile and blockchain games industry
Extra Life
Apple Arcade subscription breathes new life into premium and mobile game creativity, but may worry developers not on it
Bold move by Apple, but will it pay off for the games industry?
Apple Arcade Partners
Ustwo, Annapurna, LEGO, Bossa, SEGA, Platinum Games and more making games for Apple Arcade subscription service
The key developers backing the new games service
Apple Arcade
Apple unveils premium games subscription service Apple Arcade for autumn 2019 launch
Aimed to helping paid apps perform better on the App Store
Nindies
Top 10 best-selling indie games on the Nintendo Switch so far
Overcooked 2's entry gives Ghost Town Games the unique position of holding two top-selling Switch indie games
Play
A win for accessibility: Google Stadia will support the Xbox Adaptive Controller
Google's open approach to input opens the door for less able-bodied gamers
Jobs
Two dozen new jobs open as Google ramps up Stadia development
Tech giant launches hiring spree across Canada, Germany, Taiwan and Japan
Show Time
It’s Show Time at Apple as it prepares to launch games subscription service
Could be announced tonight or later this year
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Google Stadia insights, Blockchain Game Alliance opens up, and TikTok explained
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Hot Five
WeChat Mini Games opens up, NetEase's new mobile shooter, and Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle makes $1.6bn
The hottest stories in the mobile games industry from the last week
Xbox Live
GDC 2019: 4.28 billion game hours played over Xbox Live across platforms every month
64 million monthly active users
That’s Walmart Price
Report: Walmart interested in games streaming service
Firm has been speaking with developers at GDC
Downloads
Nexon’s empire-builder DomiNations hits 50 million downloads
Mobile strategy hits the major milestone just in time for its fourth anniversary
Dead-ication
NetEase’s LifeAfter passes $125 million in revenue
97 per cent of revenue originated from China
Hole In One
GDC 2019: FoxNext Games picks up Big Indie Pitch winner What The Golf?
For people that hate golf
Slang And All
GDC 2019: Clinc unveils voice AI that is designed to understand natural language in games
Will it recognise Yorkshire though?
Rolling Out
GDC 2019: Facebook updates mobile app to include dedicated games tab
Social application looking to take games more seriously
Location
Irish AR developer WarDucks raises $3.75 million
Veteran-backed studio raises funds to expand and increase development efforts
New Tech
GDC 2019: Denuvo launches anti-cheat solution for games and esports
"It’s time to level the playing field"
You Spin Me Round
GDC 2019: Mobile performance platform HeadSpin partners with NetEase
Zynga, Jam City and Bandai Namco all signup to the platform
Hot Stuff
GDC 2019: Firelight Technologies releases FMOD Studio 2.0
“The release of 2.0 is a major milestone in our journey of innovation as we strive to create the definitive solution for adaptive audio“
Special Offer
Save up to $250 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Early Bird offer ends next Thursday. What are you waiting for?
Awards Season
GDC 2019: Florence takes Best Mobile Game at GDC Awards
Storytelling title took home Best Debut too
Investment
GDC 2019: Games for Change launches accelerator program aimed at games and XR industry
Partnering with i(x) investments and Quake Capital to establish program