Fit Ring
Nintendo teases new fitness accessory for Switch
Unnamed equipment comprises of a large ring and leg strap
Empty Nest
Rovio launches new Angry Birds-less match-puzzler Sugar Blast
Like a free-flowing Candy Crush
Event
Full conference schedule revealed for next month’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
More than 200 world-class expert speakers covering the hottest topics across mobile, PC and blockchain gaming
Extras
Fringe benefits at October’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Network with 1,500 attendees; meet publishers, investors and indie devs; take part in an Indie Pitch and one riotous party
Court Case
Niantic settles trespassing lawsuit three years after Pokemon Go launched
Spouting up like Weedles
Series C Investment
VRChat secures $10 million in funding to expand team
Investment comes from Makers Fund, HTC, Brighstone VC and GFR Fund
Lovin It
AppLovin invests in Belka Games, Firecraft Studios and PeopleFun
“Strategic investments in dynamic studios with high-quality games and outstanding leadership is an important part of our goal"
Partnership
Gameloft and Madfinger are teaming up with Asus for ROG Phone II exclusive content
"Thanks to our close relationship with ASUS we were able to finely tune Asphalt 9: Legends”
Project Xcloud
Microsoft partners with SK Telecom on 5G-based cloud gaming in South Korea
“Partnerships, like the one we announced with SK Telecom today, are critical to continuing that trajectory and moving the gaming industry forward”
Shadow Drop
Update: Pokemon Go has best month for revenue in three years
Worldwide catch 'em all brings in $110 million as Dr. Mario World ends run as worst-performing mobile game from Nintendo
Event
Last chance to save on tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki and Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan
At midnight TONIGHT, prices for the October’s Helsinki conference hit full price, and Early Bird discounts for the November’s Jordan event end
Nintendo Direct
Switch Online SNES games, Deadly Premonition 2 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons headline Nintendo Direct
Growing library of SNES titles will be available to subscribers from September 5th
Keep Talking
Indie Spotlight: Steel Crate Games co-founder on the uncertainty of premium mobile games
If you don't enjoy the process and experience of game development, there are far more likely paths to wealth
Job News
Age of Learning appoints former Disney Asia head Paul Candland as CEO
“Paul’s outstanding talent and business acumen will greatly accelerate our growth in providing our world-class educational solutions”
Smashing
Nintendo Switch games dominated Amazon for the month of August
Six of the top 10 best-selling games for the month were attributed to the console
Event
Rovio, ENCE Eports, Wargaming and Tenjin set to speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Speaker lineup for the two-day B2B conference in October set to make a strong return
Event
PechaKucha is back for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Riotous fun with Powerpoint on stage at Finland’s biggest B2B event for the games industry
Global Expansion
Virtuos expands with new offices in Montreal and South Korea
"As we continue our global expansion plan and open new offices around the world our mission remains focused on creating great games”
Gotta Sync ‘em All
Pokemon Masters champions 10 million downloads in four days
Number one for downloads across 27 countries including the US and Japan
User Acquisition
Using Facebook to drive people to your games
Smartly.io head of gaming, EMEA Fernando Pernica discusses how to best utilise the social network to acquire users
Deal Closed
Annapurna Pictures reportedly resolves more than $200 million in debt
The agreed deal will see participants in revolving credit facility receive an estimated $0.82 on the dollar
Perfect Balance
Modus Games acquires Brazilian dev The Balance
The developer is the first acquisition by the publisher and will be renamed as Modus Studios Brazil as part of the deal
Spectator Games
Lucky’s Tale developer Playful Studios raises $23 million for spectator games
“We’re working on a large project It’s about the fact that video games are becoming a spectator sport”
Obituary
Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka dies
He had worked on titles such as Aquaria and TowerFall Ascension
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Voodoo's top 10 download dominance wanes
Rankings from August 19th to 25th
Beyond Mobile
Interview: Big Screen Gaming brings PC and console experts to 2019 Helsinki conference
For the first time, tickets to October’s Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 include access to a track dedicated to making PC and console games
Hot Five
Rush Wars heads into soft launch, Supercell analysis, and Zynga's growth track
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Lawsuit
Blizzard sues Chinese developer Sina Games over World of Warcraft ‘clone’
Glorious Saga was shut down on August 29th for "irresistible reasons" following the lawsuit filing
Event
Last week's Games Mixer 2019 near Gamescom was a great success
An international audience learned about the potential in the Korean games market with G-STAR
New Tv Show
Etermax unveils new Trivia Crack animated series Triviatopia
The new show will launch for free on YouTube and YouTube Kids on September 12th
Gears Royale
Gears Pop snags one million players
The title has been an early top 100 grossing game in the UK and US
Who's There?
Instant games developer Knock Knock raises $4m
The San Francisco-based studio has raised $6 million to date
Event
Just one week left to save on the price of tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Mid-term prices are set to revert to full price for October’s two-day B2B mobile games industry conference next week.
Company Expansion
Keywords expands offices in Poland and Mexico
Services provider set to recruit more staff
Jobs News
Rogue Games appoints ex-Kabam COO to board of directors
Joins company co-founders Mike DeLaet and Matt Casamassina, and Mail.Ru founder Dmitry Grishin on the board.
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Playrix's Gardenscapes, Homescapes and Township bag top 10 grossing spots
Rankings from August 12th to 18th
Critical Hit?
Pokemon Masters launches globally on iOS and Android
Title had surpassed five million pre-registrations ahead of release
Finding Funding
Cerberus Interactive secures $1.75m for location-based augmented reality games
Debut title Atlas Empires due for a Q1 2020 global release
#metoo
Members of the games industry come forward with allegations of sexual assault
Now survivors from all over the industry are detailing alleged harassment, assault and abuse
Seed Funding
Hyper-casual competitive gaming platform Ready secures $5 million in seed funding round led by Bitkraft
The money will be used to expand the company’s audience of engaged players
Telling New Tales
It looks like Telltale Games is coming back from the dead
“There is still a huge fanbase of Telltale players and that’s one of the main reasons we decided to make this investment"
Mental Health
New Toronto event to deal with mental health in the games industry
It will take place over World Mental Health Day on October 9th and 10th
Top Dog
How Zynga used M&A and forever franchises to become the world's number one mobile games company
"Personally, this is actually a quest that I’ve been going after since my days at EA Mobile"
Mario On Mobile
Mario Kart Tour is racing onto iOS and Android next month
People can pre-register on the App Store and Google Play now
New Studio
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment opens new San Diego mobile studio
"This new studio is a testament to our continued evolution in the mobile games space"
Hot Five
The transformation of Finland's games industry, Nutaku closes in on 40m registered users, and the Top 50 Mobile Game Makers revealed
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Super Stars
As Rush Wars hits soft launch, how are Supercell’s other games doing?
We analyse the recent performances of Hay Day, Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars
Closed Beta
Minecraft Earth beta is coming to Android devices next week
Players must be 18 years old with a device running Android 7 or above
Design Refresh
Google Play rolls out visual redesign to aid discoverability
Two distinct sections for apps and games
Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade subscription could be priced at $4.99 a month
Hidden promotional messages also claims free month's trial for new users