Job Losses
Activision Blizzard to cut eight per cent of workforce despite "record revenue"
Firm says development workforce to increase by 20 per cent
Changes
App monetisation platform Tapjoy appoints new CEO
Jeff Drobick takes the reins
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Coin Master continues to dominate Great Britain and Ireland
Charts from January 28th to February 3rd
Going Public?
Report: Unity eyes up 2020 IPO
Firm eyes first half of 2020 for flotation, sources claim
Swipe Right
HQ Trivia dev Intermedia Labs adds Tinder CEO to board
Joins co-founder Rus Yusupov and investor Jeremy Liew on the board
Hot Five
Diving into TabTale's hyper-casual business, Miniclip acquires Masomo, and Apex Legends could get mobile cross-play
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Why Introversion sold Prison Architect, blockchain's EverDreamSoft rethinks business, and Machinima shuts down
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Job Losses
Report: Activision Blizzard set for hundreds of layoffs
Unclear what teams will be affected by decision
Telling New Tales
Former Telltale devs open new interactive narrative games studio AdHoc
First project likely to blend gaming with live action content; partner on project to be announced in near future
Cut
Google won’t be dropping its 30 per cent revenue split in the wake of Epic’s Fortnite antics
"I think there's a value exchange there and it's been the industry standard"
All Aboard
Sega, Riot and THQ Nordic among the ESA’s six new members
US-based trade body bolsters its ranks with three new and three returning members
Indie Fund
FoxNext rolls out indie development fund
No figure placed on how big this pot is though
Epic Win
Fortnite surpasses $500 million for iOS in less than a year
Game took 326 days to hit the milestone
Crime
NBCUniversal gangs up with Starbreeze on a Payday mobile game
Payday: Crime War will be a mobile spin-off of the PC and console FPS
Stream Or Summon
Iron Man and Spider-Man writers join Summoners War TV series
Robert Kirkman helming the project
All Systems Go
More games, more M&A, more growth: Why Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau is bullish for 2019
Opportunities, not costs
Comeback Kings
“Zynga’s turnaround is now complete” as publisher posts record mobile earnings
Mobile revenue hits $816m in 2018
Launch
Real-money competition platform Flashbreak launches with $2 million in seed funding
The app will act as both a publishing platform and a real-money competition hub
Change Of Name
Microsoft Studios renames to Xbox Game Studios
"2019 is going to be a great year for Xbox gamers everywhere"
Clash Of The Titans
Apex Legends battle royale could get mobile cross-play
One million players in eight hours
On The Up
Design Home generates $158 million in 2018 as Glu Mobile closes in on profitability
Big year ahead for the publisher's steady comeback
Ea Financials
EA Mobile downbeat on year-end earnings in face of “increasingly challenging” market
But China success for Command & Conquer offers hope
Facebook Roundtable
Roundtable: Discussing the mobile games market's big 2019 trends in hyper-casual, hybrid monetisation models and midcore's future
PocketGamer.Biz was joined by Facebook, Wooga, Madbox, Supersolid, Firi Games and Two Way Media at a round table during Pocket Gamer Connects London
Twitch Stats
Viewers watched more than 9.36 billion hours of Twitch in 2018
Twitch's viewership has grown year on year
Licence Focus
Disney CEO Bob Iger: Licensing is the best model for Disney in games
Boss calls out its partners in the space, including EA, but fails to mention Star Wars Battlefront II launch PR disaster
Subscribe For More
Pocket.watch launches new games division and aims to partner with famous YouTubers
Tag With Ryan available now
Learn
Indian learning platform Byju’s buys out US games firm Osmo for $120 million
Osmo will help the online education firm craft learning content for younger students
Cross-platform Xbox
Microsoft readying SDK for Xbox Live cross-play on mobile and Nintendo Switch
In part thanks to the Big M's acquisition of PlayFab in January 2018
Rip Machinima
Machinima closes and axes over 80 jobs in the process
The company has been merged with Fullscreen
Fortnite Party
DJ Marshmello's Fortnite concert makes history with 10 million concurrent players
Bigger than Guinness World Record holder Rod Stewart for biggest concert ever
Toasty
Dragon Ball Legends surpasses $140m in revenue
Over $100m made in the US and Japan alone
Big Deal
Israel’s Taptica acquired US digital ads firm RhythmOne for $176 million
Deal expected to close in April, taking RhythmOne off the London Stock Exchange
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Western developers find premium success in China
Charts from January 21st to 27th
Jobs In Games
Working in video games: It's dangerous to go alone
Kixeye chief marketing officer John Getze on getting a job in games
Well?!
What industry trends do mobile indies see on the horizon for 2019?
Our mavens weigh in
Jobs In Games
How to rethink your dream and pursue a career in games
Mobalytics.gg head of marketing Erik Reynolds
Swiss Cheers
3 reasons you need to be at Ludicious in Switzerland this week
Tobias Kopka iInterview: how and why to visit the Zurich games festival ASAP
Touchdown
EA Sports mobile games score $1 billion in revenue
Madden franchise has generated sales of $490 million
Financials
iPhone revenue drops 15% year-on-year as Apple looks to services
But iPad revenue is up
Analytics
FanAI acquires esports analytics and middleware firm Waypoint Media
FanAI gains access to Waypoint Media’s range of trackers, data and APIs
Creation
Cocos-BCX on how to create a truly interoperable game
“Developers need a way to simplify the process of coding for very complicated game concepts, while also allowing for ease of trade regardless of the kind of digital asset”
Deal
Unity acquires games chat platform Vivox
Text and audio comms tool has been used in Fortnite, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, and League of Legends
$$$$$
Report: Global games company investment more than doubled to $5.7bn in 2018
More than double the year prior
Unity
Unity Playground aims to open game development up to kids
Scriptless asset suite seeks to provide a stepping stone for young users looking to get into the engine
Shutdown
Updated: Behaviour claims Westworld Mobile shutdown unrelated to Bethesda lawsuit
Game to go offline for good on April 16th
Region Focus
Region Focus: Inside Vancouver's top games companies
Interviews with the key players
Subscription Gaming
Report: Apple plots subscription service for games
But how will it work?
Glad
GLAAD Awards to celebrate queer-inclusive video games for the first time in 2019
Five games head up the inclusivity organisation’s first Outstanding Video Game award category
How To
Adapt or disrupt: A practical guide to surviving in a golden age of games
Oscar Clark offers astute business and game design tips
Charts
Weekly Global Mobile Games Charts: PUBG Mobile breaks into US top 10 grossing slots
Charts from January 14th to 20th