Augmented Apple
ARKit 3 gets motion capture and occlusion enhancements
RealityKit and Reality Composer also unveiled offering a raft of new features and easier ways to build apps
Minecraft Ar
Minecraft Earth takes centre stage at Apple’s WWDC
Upcoming augmented reality game used to show off ARKit 3 capabilities
Apple Arcade Controllers
Apple Arcade gets Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controller support
Subscription games service to launch later this year
Big Deal
Stillfront snaps up Kixeye in deal worth up to $120m
Acquisition worth $90 million plus up to a potential further $30 million in earnouts
Data
Roblox hits mobile revenue of $750 million ahead of its Chinese launch
Roblox was making over $1.2 million daily over last month
Community Advice
Want to boost your game’s ROI? Tap into your community
Yodo1 dives deep into looking after your players and keeping them engaged for the long-term
Going Boldly
The secret of Scopely’s success? How we think about IP, says CEO
Javier Ferreira on being audience-first
Roundup
Games industry roundup: Inside Superhot's success, Theta Labs and Animoca raise funds for blockchain, and YouTube Gaming shuts down
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Hot Five
Zynga sells HQ for $600m, Auto Chess comes to mobile, and Subway Surfers passes 2.5bn downloads
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
The Race Is On
Drodo Studios soft-launches DOTA Auto Chess standalone version on mobile
Valve looking to release its own version in the future
Job News
Gearbox Publishing boss John Vignocchi joins Nintendo of America
“I’m humbled by this dream opportunity”
Big Festival Awards
BIG Festival Awards 2019 finalists unveiled
55 games make the shortlist across 16 categories
New Policies
Google Play developers must now disclose loot box odds
Details surrounding “randomised virtual items” must be clearly shown
Indie Mavens
Does Apple and Google's 70/30 revenue share model work for indies?
The Indie Mavens have their say on the platform's revenue share policy
Safe
Google Play introduces new target audience features to make the platform safer for kids
All apps will need to meet the new standards by September 1st 2019
Mobile Monetisation
Facebook study: 57% of mobile developers say in-app ads can improve player retention
Users are six times more likely to make a purchase after seeing a playable ad
Youtube Gaming
YouTube Gaming shuts down for good today
Gaming content has been integrated back into the main platform
Tariffs
The US-China trade war could see the States impose a 25 per cent tariff on game consoles
“Tariffs will hurt the American economy, its industries, and its consumers," said the ESA in response
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Tencent claims top three positions for highest grossing in China
Rankings from May 13th to May 19th 2019
Gotta Launch 'em All
Pokemon press conference reveals several new games and apps
Pokemon Sleep, Detective Pickachu Sequel, Pokemon Masters and more
"volatile"
Former Rockstar executive allegedly sexually harassed new employee in 2014
Jeronimo Barrera was a figure of fear at Rockstar according to an incendiary new report
Bytedance Mobile
TikTok parent company ByteDance reportedly working on a smartphone
Sources close to the project have confirmed the plans
Done Deal
Zynga sells off San Francisco headquarters for $600 million
Company will lease space and remain headquartered in the city
Course Correction
Tencent changes Arena of Valor strategy to no longer concentrate on the West
“Letting it live or die”
Job News
Epic Games hires Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer to drive esports
"This has been the toughest decision of my life"
Free Event
FREE London mini-summit - TOMORROW! Join us for an evening of seminars, panels, drinks and nibbles
Hear about mobile games market opportunities in the East from Mintegral, JoyPac, Ubisoft and Outfit7
Health
World Health Organisation officially recognises “Gaming Disorder” as illness
Motion was passed even with opposition from industry bodies and academics
Hot Five
Nintendo pulls mobile games from Belgium, Blizzard's Diablo Immortal lessons, and Garena Free Fire makes $90m in Q1
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Gotta Go Slower
Sonic the Hedgehog movie delayed
Film given new February 14th 2020 release date
Nwayplay
nWay to launch new backend platform for real-time multiplayer mobile games
Tech supports game development and live ops
Superdata
Tencent’s Honour of Kings tops the list for highest grossing mobile game globally in April 2019
Chinese giant’s Perfect Wold ranked behind in second position.
Potentially Huge
Tencent and Riot Games working on mobile version of League of Legends
Game not expected to launch in 2019
Big Indie Pitch
SIERRA7 hits the bullseye and wins The Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019
Seattle brings the talent at the inaugural Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Not Quite Iron Man
Google updates its Glass hardware with new Enterprise Edition 2
Priced at $999 per set
It Has A Crank
Firewatch publisher Panic reveals new handheld video game system Playdate
12 games will be rolled out over 12 weeks.
No Joke
Blizzard learned a "huge number of lessons" from Diablo Immortal reveal
Developer says it's still focused on PC titles despite partnerhing with NetEase on the new mobile game
Let’s Do This
Activision gives Call of Duty: Mobile the battle royale treatment
Publisher working in collaboration with Tencent on the title
A Whole New World
Gameloft reveals two new Disney games for mobile
Disney Princess Majestic Quest and Disney Getaway Blast arrive later this year
Zoom
Hutch’s first Formula One-partnered game is F1 Manager
“We’re excited to bring this mobile-first F1 game to fans around the world.
Job News
Lightstream appoints Major League Gaming co-founder to board of directors
Sundance DiGiovanni will be the company’s fifth board member
Sweet Release
Sweet Escapes is the first independent release from Supercell-backed Redemption Games
Puzzle game available in countries such as Finland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Philippines
Guide To Ua
User acquisition for beginners: A checklist
How to put together your marketing campaign and what to consider
Magic
Magic Leap snaps up holographic teleconferencing start-up Mimesys
Belgian spatial-presence startup teams up with AR giant Magic Leap
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Game for Peace the second top grosser in China behind Honor of Kings
Rankings from May 6th to May 12th 2019
Build Me Up
Minecraft builds to 176 million copies sold worldwide
Estimated to be the second highest selling game of all time
Communication Error
Report: PlayStation team didn't know about Sony-Microsoft cloud technology deal
And there's numerous reasons why
Gaming Disorder
World Health Organisation set to judge whether "gaming disorder" will become a recognised illness this week
The ESA continues to push back on the perceived risk of listing obsessive gaming as a disorder
Us Versus China
Google restricts Huawei Android access
News comes as Huawei is added to the US 'entity list' which bars business dealings with companies without government approval
Roundup
Games industry roundup: What's next for SpatialOS, influencers discuss mental health, and CryptoKitties dev's new game
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Game Of Thrones
Can the Game of Thrones games survive without the hit TV show?
Game of Thrones' watch has ended, but how did the final season impact the performance of games based off the licence?