Market Growth
Xsolla signs MoU to help transform Busan into a global game development hub
Xsolla plans to open an Asia-Pacific HQ to support game developers
Winners Revealed
Winners revealed for the first-ever Playing for the Planet awards
Gameloft’s Dragon Mania Legends and Trailmix’s Love & Pies each won two awards
Awards And Accolades
AFK Journey, Eggy Party and Squad Busters win big at the Google Play Awards 2024
HoYoverse lands another Google Play win, but not for Zenless Zone Zero
Industry Spotlight
Jobs in Games: Game Hub Senegal's Marie Pierre Thiam on how to get a career as a game designer
In this series, we highlight the talented team members working in the games industry and how they got their break
Layoff News
Job cuts at Kwalee following layoffs made earlier this year
Some of those impacted took to LinkedIn to share that they are now looking for new opportunities
Stars Of The Show
Monopoly Go star-powered ad campaign summons Will Ferrell, Chris Pratt, Jason Momoa and Keke Palmer
Will Ferrell’s role as Mr. Monopoly will be an ongoing one as part of a "long-term creative concept"
Ai Safety
SAG-AFTRA's newest agreement secures protections for game voice over localisation
The union hopes it will create more job opportunities for actors involved in video game localisation
Welcome The Web3 World
Xsolla to launch Xsolla ZK, advancing Web3 adoption for videogames
Xsolla ZK - a bridge between traditional games and Web3
Investment News
Play Ventures secures $140 million to support early-stage game studios
Since closing the funds in June 2023, Play Ventures has already made eight investments
Finding Funds
Embracer to contribute $423 million towards Asmodee’s near $1bn debt repayment
Funds will change hands provided Miniclip’s Easybrain acquisition is successfully completed
Monopoly Money
Monopoly Go revenue falls 58% in October but remains a top 10 grossing game
Scopely’s hit casino game still isn’t board of making bank, and neither are celebrities
Waves And Workflows
Niantic to offer AR services outside games with Niantic Spatial Platform
The Pokémon Go maker is combining technologies to deliver new "spatial experiences"
Trends And Predictions
Kwalee VP John Wright's 2025 predictions: HTML5 is a trailblazer and walled gardens continue to win big
From HTML5 games and alternative stores we hear some of 2025’s potential big trends
Developers Contest
Supersonic launches hybridcasual competition for mobile game developers
Developers can receive up to $10,000 per month based on KPI
Candy Crushed
King stops supporting Candy Crush Blast and Candy Crush 3D
The titles appear to have been used more broadly as gameplay tests
Super Raise
SuperScale raises $1.2 million for analytics service SuperPlatform
New toolset provides datapoints across marketing, product and finance into a single AI-powered platform
Job Changes
PlayStation’s Olivier Courtemanche named head of mobile in executive shakeup
Justin Kubiak has been named as the company’s new head of business development and partnerships
Podcast | Episode 36
Games industry M&A hits overdrive with Plarium and Easybrain deals | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode 36...
Parental Control
New Roblox safety features give parents more control
Some updates are launching today, with all changes expected to be fully implemented next year
Warcraft Wave
Warcraft Rumble is making the move to PC with monthly mobile earnings down 92% in first year
Blizzard Entertainment plans to launch the game on Battle.net to allow simultaneous play with World of Warcraft
Social Games
How Highrise is cultivating a UGC platform driving $250m in marketplace sales
Pocket Worlds' CEO Anton Bernstein shares on the mobile platform and virtual world Highrise as well as the growing popularity of user-generated content
Hot Five
Hot Five: Royal Kingdom’s soft launch success, Microsoft eyes another acquisition, and Disney considers its next CEO
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Microsoft’s acquisition ambitions. Jordan's rising star, and Monster Hunter Now’s event success | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
London Fringe Events
Thrive in 2025 - Maximise your networking at Pocket Gamer Connects London
Fringe events to level up your networking for indies, developers, publishers, investors and more
Five New Games
New release roundup: Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade, Drest, Nickelodeon Card Clash and more
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Layoff News
AMD cuts 1,000 staff as it pivots to AI
“As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps"
Burning Out
Are developers burnt out on mobile?
Start-ups eye a new future for mobile games
Legal Proceedings
Apple sued for £3 billion over 'anti-competitive' iCloud concerns
The tech giant is accused of charging excessive fees and locking 40 million UK customers into its iCloud service
Jobs News
Ubisoft recruits new chief people officer
Sébastien Froidefond will lead the company's global people strategy
Mobile M&a
Microsoft eyes potential mobile studio acquisition
"We’re not going to grow the market with $1,000 consoles"
C-level Drama
Report: Disney eyes EA's Andrew Wilson as potential CEO
Wilson is one of three external candidates that are being considered for the job
Xsolla Report Autumn 2024
Xsolla releases Autumn 2024 Report on the future of mobile gaming and game development
Latest Report highlights key topics including the growth of web shops, the Influence of women gamers, and the impact of the Digital Markets Act
Investment News
Starform secures $6 million to bolster shooter game Metalstorm
The studio plans to use the new funds to expand its team and reach new players
Web Shop Waves
Neon raises $14 million to create web shops for developers
Funding comes from Thrive Capital, Renegade Partners, a16z Speedrun and others
Mobile Manoeuvre
Capcom partners with Tencent's TiMi for Monster Hunter Outlanders
The new open-world title aims to bring main series gameplay to mobile
Pocket Gamer Connects
The PGC Story - Connecting 50,000+ industry professionals, generating $billions over 10 years…
How a passion for the mobile games industry and throwing parties spawned a mobile conference monster that celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024
Monster Money
Monster Hunter Now’s Carnival Global a "roaring success" with 151% revenue surge
The paid event was a global adaptation of Now’s first in-person event, Carnival 2024: Shibuya
Development Decisions
Nintendo’s game development costs see "inevitable" rise but bigger budgets "do not necessarily equate to better ideas"
Nintendo board members discuss the company’s design philosophy, to create original games that "consumers will be satisfied with"
Safety And Security
Roblox is updating child safety measures with two key changes being introduced by the end of 2024
Roblox will make unrated games undiscoverable and limit social hangouts to users 14 and up
Record Revenue
Krafton achieves record-breaking quarter with over $500 million in revenue
Mobile led the way in contributing over $300 million in revenue
Live Ops Tips
A decade of live ops: Keeping creativity, player communities and gameplay alive
Exient’s Tommy Prentice and Steve Cassar Laudi offer insight on long term live ops
New Partnerships
Angry Birds team up with Talking Tom to battle in new crossover event
The collaboration will run from November 7th to November 28th 2024
Jordan Event Report
Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan 2024 - A record breaking success in the MENA Games Industry
Dead Sea conference draws 2,500+ professionals from 30+ countries as MENA region cements its place in the global industry
Potential Bribary
Nine NetEase Games employees allegedly arrested for money laundering and bribery
General manager Xiang Lang is among those reportedly under investigation
Breaking Free
Amplitude Studios becomes independent of SEGA
“We part on good terms and wish our friends at SEGA the best for all their future projects."
Match-3 Monarch
Royal Kingdom surpasses $20m in soft launch revenue with November 21st global release date set
Dream Games is building on the Royal Match brand with a new match-3 title
Milestone
Ludus: Merge Arena hits over £2 million in monthly revenue and secures 3 million installs
The game's daily active users grew by 50% in October
Industry Outlook
India’s games industry is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2028
India has 568 million gamers, 25% of whom are paying users, showing a 17% YoY increase
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell acquires Space Ape, Pokémon TCG Pocket’s strong start, and Goddess of Victory: Nikke approaches $1 billion
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Global Trends
Global Trends: FunPlus CBO Chris Petrovic talks IP, AI's potential and going cross-platform
We catch up with industry leaders to get their insights on the state of play in the games sector