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
Welcome Explorers
GDC 2019: Tencent’s WeChat opens doors for developers to create games on the platform
Mini Games program boasts 400 million monthly active users
Developer Tools
GDC 2019: ARM launches Android analysis tools via ARM Mobile Studio
Studio’s starter edition is available to download for free now
Report
Mobile gaming brought in 20 per cent more revenue than PC and console in 2018
"That’s what happens when technology improves and mobile becomes ubiquitous"
Unreal Deal
GDC 2019: Epic offers Online Services powering Fortnite to all developers for free
Available for developers working on any platform, store or engine
Another Zelda
GDC 2019: Nindies Showcase reveals Cuphead, Blaster Master sequel and Zelda spinoff
New Double Fine game Rad given spotlight too
Epic Investment
GDC 2019: Epic launches $100 million MegaGrants funding initiative for creators
$5,000 to $500,000 available for successful applicants
Speed
GDC 2019: Google advises a 25 megabit internet connection for Stadia
Phil Harrison also revealed that the Stadia system will adjust its output based on your bandwidth.
Three Colours
GDC 2019: Google’s new Stadia controller connects directly over wifi
“The data centre is your platform”
Music Musings
GDC 2019: Music is going to be more important as mobile games get more immersive, Laced and Cord chief says
"Over the next few years, with how mobile gaming is going, music is should and will be a big part of it. That's definitely something we're approaching about"
Influential
GDC 2019: YouTube head of gaming Ryan Wyatt and YouTuber MatPat discusses Google Stadia creator experience
YouTube's Ryan Wyatt and YouTuber MatPat took to the stage during Google's GDC reveal
Big And Small
GDC 2019: Google launches new first-party studio Stadia Games and Entertainment
Headed up by former Ubisoft and EA executive Jade Raymond
Gather Around
GDC 2019: Google reveals cloud streaming platform Stadia
Ubisoft, ID Software and Unity all partner with the firm.
Board
25 years of the IGDA brings about new board members
"Our new board of directors will carry that mission forward as we expand on 25 years serving game developers around the globe"
Education
GDC 2019: Danny Bilson named new director of USC Games program
Succeeds award-winning game designer Tracy Fullerton who oversaw the program from 2014 to 2018
Grab Your Ray Gun
GDC 2019: Magic Leap teams with Weta on new AR multiplayer experience
Grordbattle was revealed during Unity’s keynote
Cloud Tech
GDC 2019: Unity partners with Tencent to help bring more developers games to China
The service will become accessible later this year.
Unity Foundation
GDC 2019: Unity AR Foundation ties together ARKit and ARCore development
Creators can target both SDKs through one framework
Acquisition News
GDC 2019: Unity acquires texture streaming tools firm Graphine
Company develops Granite toolset
New Realities
GDC 2019: Unity "investing heavily" in augmented reality tech
"We’re really keen on AR and we’re seeing a lot of the big partners release a lot of products in this space, and we’re excited to see where it’s going"
Call Of Duty
GDC 2019: Activision partners with Tencent for Call of Duty Mobile set for release in Western markets
Pre-registrations open on Google Play
We Hungry
Limited time Fast and Furious event cruising to CSR Racing 2
Iconic cars from the series debut this month
Communication
GDC 2019: Cross-platform social app Evasyst offering early access
20 people can stream simultaneously
Indies Time To Shine
Nintendo streaming Nindies Showcase this Wednesday
30 minutes of content
Interactive Media
GDC 2019: Genvid partners with developers to introduce new interactive games for streaming
Pipeworks, Katapult and more studios are first to sign-up
Event
Lucky for some: Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle’s 13 conference tracks
May’s two-day, two-show tracklist revealed
Camera Play
Report: Snapchat launching games platform in April
Unveiling to take place at company’s first summit on April 4th
Automated Future
How automated reports helped Futureplay and Webedia improve ad monetisation
Why developers are turning away from manual admin to focus on deeper insights and strategy
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent's Perfect World debuts top in China while Dragon Ball Z falls
Charts from March 4th to March 10th
Existing Fans
Game IP versus entertainment IP: Which is best for mobile games?
We ask our Monetizer Mavens
Specific Sharing
Mobile gamers prefer to share achievements and fails over chat apps than social media
70 per cent iOS users share through messaging apps
Real World Gaming
Lessons from a year of location-based games with Google Maps
Real world gaming said to drive engagement; most successful when integrated with AR and social elements
Gdc 2019
How can indie games developers make the most out of GDC?
The world's biggest industry conference is just around the corner - we speak to our Indie Mavens on how to best utilise the event
Marketing
Google introduces new ad campaign tools aimed at re-engaging lapsed players
App Campaigns for engagement and smart segregation look to hone your advertising efforts
Event
EA, East Side Games, Spry Fox and Nexon M to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Katherine de León, Kate Edwards, Ed Fries and Chris Taylor join the speaker roster for two-day event in May
Instant Demo
AppOnboard Studio is a new codeless toolkit for creating app demos
“Our easy to use tool-set completely eliminates all barriers of entry to app development"
Stacked Up
Xbox Live comes to iOS and Android as Microsoft brings tools and services under Game Stack banner
PlayFab, DirectX, Azure, Simplygon, Mixer, Havok and more get brought closer together
Arsenal.gg Acquisition
Lightstream acquires livestreaming analytics platform Arsenal.gg
A number of game publishers and other companies are already part of Arsenal’s list of clients, including 505 Games, PUBG Corp, and Discord
Cause And Action
Jump Holdings raises $1 million to launch interactive choice-driven game Inventure
Backing was led by A3 Education as firm looks to empower students
For The Tech
Fyber partners with Game of Whales to predict user lifetime value based on IAPs and ads
Solution designed to help optimise user acquisition campaigns
Events
Going to GDC? Check out the Pocket Gamer Party, Indie Pitches and blockchain games mini-summit
Make space in your schedule for three incredible FREE side events in San Francisco
Jobs
Pole To Win promotes Deborah Kirkham as its new CEO
Eight-year executive takes over the CEO seat as Teppei Tachibana steps down
All In
2019 is the year of performance programmatic buying - are you ready?
MobileGroove's Peggy Anne Salz speaks with Playrix lead UA manager Sergey Grytsuk to get the lowdown on its user acquisition strategy and tips
Legal
Ousted Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer takes his former company to court for $100 million
Jaffer is seeking compensation after being cleared of assault and sexual abuse charges
Global Branding
WeQ launches influencer marketing agency for campaigns on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok
Led by former Live.me senior director Elena Kutsopal and Playcom chief sales officer Olga Wese
Ranked
Tencent and NetEase top App Annie's Top 52 app publishers list for 2018 as APAC companies dominate
33 of the top 52 companies hail from APAC
Jobs
Former Ubisoft and EA exec Jade Raymond joins Google as VP
Raymond may be involved with Google's soon-to-be-announced big push into gaming
To Gringotts
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery conjures up $110 million in less than a year
45 million wizards have downloaded the title worldwide
Xbox On The Go
Microsoft’s xCloud streaming service lets you play Xbox One games on your smartphone
Public trials will begin this year