Hot Five
Clash of Clans a US top grosser, weighing up Zynga's Gram acquisition, and Game for Peace makes $14m in three days
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
Report
Keep an eye open for Indonesia, the fastest-growing nation in Adjust’s Global App Trends 2019 report
Mid-core games are also on the rise in the measurement organisation's latest overview of global trends
New Research
Tapjoy: Mobile games have gone mainstream in the US
63 per cent of mobile gamers were found to be women
Steve Go
AR game Minecraft Earth arrives on mobile this summer
Players can sign up to a closed beta now
10 Years Of Minecraft
Minecraft was the only top 250 grossing premium mobile game in 2018, showing it’s still going strong 10 years later
A look at the history and continued success of the blockbuster game
Pgc Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle starts strong with over 630 games delegates
Grand debut for the event at the Grand Hyatt
Winner Winner
Battle royale games have surpassed $2 billion on mobile
NetEase’s Knives Out leads the way
Big Deal
Microsoft and Sony set aside rivalry to team up on cloud gaming
PlayStation maker to use Azure data centres for cloud gaming; will also work with Microsoft on new developments
Linked Up
Steam Link finally available on the App Store
Game purchases have been taken out of the app to comply with Apple's guidelines
Crunch
An EU court ruling could help cut crunch in the games industry
European Court of Justice looks to enforce the EU's existing Working Time Directive
Epic Award
Epic Games to receive special award from BAFTA
“Epic is at the forefront of the evolution of the global games industry and the impact of their innovation is undeniable”
Move Over Sony
Netflix to host E3 panel and teases more games
“There’s definitely more to come!”
What A Rush
Pokemon Rumble Rush revealed for iOS and Android
Evolution of 2017 Pokeland title that was in the works
5g
Frank Gibeau: 5G potential for mobile is "profound"
The Zynga CEO is bullish on the opportunities for games and distribution
Covet Profits
Glu Mobile’s return to profitability dampened by share price drop
Crowdstar powers sales as Design Home and Covet Fashion lead the way
That’s A Twist
Detective Pikachu captures biggest weekend opening ever in US for a video game film adaptation
$58 million made from American Pokemon Trainers
Apple Vs Pepper
US Supreme Court declares Apple can face monopoly lawsuits
Dispute to be settled in lower courts
Season 2
Supercell partners with South Korean TV network OGN for Clash Royale League
Handling production in the West and Asia
Chatting Up
Discord surpasses 250 million users
Chat platform attracted 50m new users in first three months of 2019
Job News
US games trade body ESA names new president and CEO
Interim boss Stanley Pierre-Louis takes the top job for the long term
Merged
Weighing up Zynga's $250m Gram acquisition one year on
Zynga's Bernard Kim and Gram Games' Kaan Karamanci discuss how the deal came about, what's changed, and what's stayed the same
Pgc Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle kicks off day one with a dive into hyper-casual game trends
The conference runs from May 13th and 14th, features 120 speakers and a host of networking opportunities to mix with the industry's best and brightest
New Opportunities
SK Telecom partners with Microsoft on 5G, AI and cloud technologies
SK Telecom will adopt Microsoft 365 secure solution
Enthusiastic
Newzoo: Over 46 per cent of all “gaming enthusiasts” are women
Women are likely to be killing time on mobile games in Newzoo's gaming demographic breakdown
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: DigiPen Institute of Technology lecturer Jo Cronk to discuss culture and diversity at PGC Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th
Survey
ESA: 60 per cent of US gamers are playing on smartphones, survey finds
Almost three-quarters of games played are in the mobile-dominated casual genre
Full Tilt
Tilting Point revenue quintupled to $45 million in 2018
Company president Samir El Agili discusses the philosophy behind the company's explosive growth
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: FlowMotion Entertainment CCO Nathan Sellyn on industry consolidation and new opportunities for devs
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th
It’s In The Game
EA launches E3 Play app for iOS and Android
Set to take place between June 8th to 9th
Weekly Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Clash of Clans the US top grosser again, but it can't beat Coin Master in the UK
Rankings from April 29th to May 5th 2019
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Hatch Entertainment VP Nick Thomas on the dawn of games streaming and what it means
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th
Roundup
Games industry roundup: US Senator introduces loot box bill, blockchain gaming's state of play, and influencer distrust
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Hot Five
Tencent shuts down PUBG Mobile in China, Supercell invests $3.8m in Luau Games, and Clash of Clans rakes in $71m in April
The hottest stories from the mobile games industry over the last week
News Analysis
US senator introduces bill to ban loot boxes in games played by children
“Social media and video games prey on user addiction, siphoning our kids’ attention from the real world and extracting profits from fostering compulsive habits"
Job News
EA, Zynga and Kabam vet Verdu heading up Facebook AR and VR efforts as Barra steps aside
Former AR and VR content boss Rubin moves to new role
Big Deals
Brazilian games studios signed projected $14m worth of deals at GDC
Country's games market was worth $1.3 billion in 2018
Live
Gameloft is bringing Xbox Live support to three mobile games
Two Asphalt titles and Dragon Mania Legends are three of the first mobile games in Xbox Live’s lineup
Legendary
Apex Legends is pinging a mobile port
EA’s Q4 results suggest Respawn’s battle royale is heading to smartphones and China
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: AuthorDigital CEO Serena Robar on chasing your dreams and working in a male-dominated industry
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th
Event
Special thanks to the sponsors for next week’s Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
The companies supporting the US return of the B2B games industry event
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: JetSynthesys' Scott Prather to discuss driving mobile growth in emerging regions at PGC Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th
Telling Tales
Sam Barlow talks publishing and selling narrative games ahead of his next title Telling Lies
"The games market is still one of extremes with the huge $100 million games at one end and the indie games at the other"
Instant Games And Hyper-casual
Sports, Facebook and succeeding in China: Inside Instant Games and Hyper-casual at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle will run from May 13th to 14th
Trade Dispute
US China trade war escalates as Trump raises tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products
Further duties of $325 billion worth of Chinese goods also threatened, which has the potential to affect tech companies like Apple
Accessibility Debate
How do indie developers address accessibility in video games?
The Indie Mavens share their experiences with accessibility
Funding News
Unity chases further $125 million funding round at $6 billion valuation
Tech company has raised around $600 million to date
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: LBC Studios CEO Solon Bucholtz on being an entrepreneur and taking calculated risks
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th
Make It So
Scopely acquires Star Trek Fleet Command dev Digit Game Studios
Hit 4X strategy game projected to surpass $100 million
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Roblox the top grosser on US App Store
Charts from April 22nd to 28th
Trade Trends
Branding, culture and diversity: Inside Trade Trends at Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle
Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle will run from May 13th to 14th