Twitch Studio
Twitch launches first-party streaming software Twitch Studio
Previously, streamers had to use third-party software such as OBS and XSplit to power their broadcasts
Cool
Epic to disclose loot box odds following ESA pledge
Meanwhile, THQ Nordic refuses to put name to list of publishers as it says it has no plans to use this business model
Event
Discover the secrets of South Korea’s games industry in a FREE games mixer near Gamescom
Speakers revealed from G-STAR, Samsung, Kunlun, Gameforge and Lucrion
Guns Or Games!?
Walmart orders its staff to remove signage for violent video games following mass shootings
But, of course, stores are still selling guns and ammo
Event
Just one week left to save up to $350 on tickets to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019
Early Bird prices for October’s two-day B2B mobile games industry conference ends next week.
Market Value
The US will overtake China as world’s most lucrative games market this year
Global games market estimated to be worth $152.1 billion by the end of 2019
Loot Boxes
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony will now require developers to disclose loot box odds
Agreement has been made for odds to be shown by the end of 2020
Under Investigation
Report claims Activision Blizzard has avoided taxes on billions
The Candy Crush publisher moved $5.59 billion to subsidiaries in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013 to 2017
Closing Doors
Square Enix shutting down Star Ocean Mobile
Less than two years into game being available worldwide
Game Time
Google to share fresh Stadia game details in August livestream
Stadia Connects returns on the opening night of Gamescom
Financials
Take-Two wants to increase its presence in mobile as Social Point makes “meaningful” impact on sales
'PC and other' contribute to around 20 per cent of sales for the quarter
Blockchain
nWay launches new blockchain application allowing devs to implement monetisation solutions
“We believe this will allow games developed on nWayPlay platform to run game economies in a far more flexible way”
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Dragon Raja helps Tencent claim top four highest grossing spots in China
Rankings from July 22nd to 28th
Foldable Phones
Fighting the foldable phone design challenge: The impact on games development
Perfecto chief evangelist Eran Kinsbruner discusses QA for foldable phones
Fair!
"Blaming video games distracts from the broader issues at hand": IGDA and IGDAF react to Trump mass shooting statement
Meanwhile, US trade body the Entertainment Retailers Association remains silent
Milestone
Roblox hits 100 million active monthly users
Over one billion hours of engagement are recorded in the game each month
Indie Mavens
What monetisation models work best for indie developers in the current mobile games market?
The Indie Mavens share their thoughts on the different monetisation models on offer to small studios
Header Bidding
Fyber launches new ad mediation platform FairBid
Marketing tech firm says it's in discussions with all major ad networks about gradually migrating from the waterfall to bidding
Event
Win FREE expo space in the Big Indie Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Get the chance to showcase your game to the global games industry FREE this October, worth $650
Roundup
Games industry roundup: The future of conversational games, DragonGlass pauses operations, and Ninja drops Twitch for Mixer
The biggest stories of the last week from the PC, mobile and blockchain spaces
Data Leak
E3 organiser ESA leaks contact details of journalists, influencers and analysts
US trade body has apologised for the, er, "inconvenience" that this has caused attendees
Hot Five
Apex Legends heading to mobile, EA Mobile's declining revenue, and Nintendo offers free Joy Con repairs
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Actor Playing Games
Zynga brings in Alec Baldwin to celebrate Words With Friends 10th anniversary.
The game launched in 2009
Going 5g
Tencent and Qualcomm team up to work on various mobile technologies
Other projects include the Qualcomm Snapdragon elite gaming enhancements
Event
Speakers revealed for free mini-summit near Gamescom
Explore the Chinese territory’s potential with Mintegral, Huawei, Xiaomi, iDreamSky, Leiting Games, and Habby Games. PLUS: WIN A SMARTPHONE!
Remember To Subscribe
Google testing new Apple Arcade-like Android subscription service Play Pass
Monthly cost of $4.99
Twinkies Sold Separately
Sony Pictures and Tilting Point 'nut up' for new Zombieland RPG on mobile
Company partners with Tilting Point and Metagame Studio on project
Live Ops
A Thinking Ape on inclusivity in live ops content
We’ve spent the last couple of years exploring the impacts and developing our process for creating effective inclusive content.
Financials
Zynga’s strong portfolio gives firm best-ever revenue and bookings for Q2
Empires & Puzzles and Merge Dragons contributed $70 million
Gotta Catch 'em All
Pokemon Go catches one billion downloads
Half of those were picked up in the game's first two months back in September 2016
Sensor Tower
India tops worldwide mobile downloads for Q2 2019 with 5.4 billion
13 per cent increase from Q1 2019
Job News
Xbox co-creator Nat Brown joins Apple
“I’m looking forward to continuing to work on my obsessions by focusing on all applications of graphics”
Mobile Here
EA confirms Apex Legends is on track for mobile
Battle royale on course to arrive in China too
Financial Results
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes nears 80 million players but EA’s mobile revenue drops by 16%
The company earned net revenue of $1.21 billion for this fiscal year
Frenemies
Epic Games “one of our best partners” says PUBG Corp
“We talk all the time”
Cloud Partnership
Cloud partnership is driven by Sony according to Microsoft CEO
Historically Sony and Microsoft are rivals in the games industry
Bytephone
TikTok owner Bytedance confirms plans to develop a smartphone
Rumours about a Bytedance phone circulated back in May
$$$
Sega Sammy Holdings sees a 246.6 per cent increase in operating income this quarter
Games, animation and arcade continue to be the company’s biggest earner
Augmented Reality
PuzzlAR: World Tour is the first game released from Magic Leap’s independent creator programme
More apps and games are set for release in the coming weeks
Event
Top 10 things to do in Jordan while at Pocket Gamer Connects
Why not make November’s two-day mobile games industry conference a working holiday?
Mobile Up
Nintendo Switch sales continue to be strong as hardware reaches 36.87 million
Software builds to 210.13 million with Mario Maker 2 selling 2.42 in three days
Didn’t You Get The Memo?
Nintendo offers free Joy Con repairs as firm is struck with class action lawsuit
“We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly”
Be Connected Be Discovered
Facebook tops mobile app publishers worldwide for Q2 2019
Google dominates the App Store however
Event
We're heading to Cologne during Gamescom week with four events
Mini-Summit, Games Mixer and Big Indie Pitches all in the same action packed week next month
New Deal
Intel sells its smartphone modem business to Apple
Around 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple
Dragalia Found
Dragalia Lost becomes Nintendo’s second most successful mobile title grossing $100 million worldwide
Fire Emblem has grossed $591 million worldwide
Tax Credits
Rockstar North hasn’t paid corporation tax in the UK for 10 years
Grand Theft Auto V earned $800 million in its first 24 hours of release
Event
Cheer on your champions in next month’s Big Indie Pitch
Watch the indie showcase competition in person at a venue near Gamescom
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent’s Game for Peace reclaims top spot from Honor of Kings in China
Rankings from July 15th to 21st
Winner Winner
Fortnite World Cup drops $30 million in prize money
A teenager won the solo competition taking home $3 million