Steam Blocker
Apple cites business conflicts as it rejects Valve’s Steam Link app
Mobile platform holder reverses decision to approve the the app
Destroyed
Ash vs Evil and the Divergent series collide in Lionsgate's Deploy and Destroy
Developer Apps Ministry will add more characters from Lionsgate's library of IPs in due course
Pocket Stories
125 million downloads later narrative game Episode is ready to fend off new competition
Episode studio head Michael Dawson discusses the game's success and the new competitors entering the genre
First Person
Google out to highlight mobile games stars with new behind-the-scenes series
First three videos feature voice actor Ashly Burch, games dev Bennett Foddy and Ink Stories co-founder Vassiliki Khonsari
Closure
150 staff laid off as Wargaming Seattle closes down
Up to 150 jobs to be affected
Stats
Static full-screen generate largest revenue share amongst casual games in the West
Appodeal surveyed a host of mobile casual games developers to look into monetisation trends
Beyond App Stores
"In 2050 there will be no app stores"
Will be replaced by chat platforms
Key
Apple's 19th annual WWDC to kick off June 4th in San Jose
Apple expected to reveal host of new updates for iOS in opening keynote
Interesting
Double Fine Presents taps up Playables for interactive animation title KIDS
KIDS will come out this year on iOS and Android
Search Ads
How AppBi is supporting Apple Search Ads campaigns for top mobile games publishers
AppBi CEO Carmen Lu discusses how its services can lead to a generous ROI
Go Go Go
Pokemon Sun and Moon content coming to Pokemon Go
Content update to include Alolan versions of Kanto Pokemon
Artificial Intelligence
Why games developer Kixeye raised $20 million for machine learning
CMO John Getze explains the company's plans
Whoops
"Lack of oversight" to blame for Overwatch art in Paladins Strike ad
Hi-Rez art director was swift to assure that the matter was being looked into
Well Now
Epic puts up $100 million for Fortnite esports tournament prize pools
And that’s just for the first season
E For Everyone
ESRB set to drop short form rating for digital games in June
Games developers will still have a free option with IARC
It's Pickle Pixel
Adult Swim buys London-based Pocket Mortys developer Big Pixel Studios
Network plans to increase investment in the games space
The Charticle
Despite strong criticism Jam City's Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a top grosser
Outgrossing Cookie Jam and Panda Pop for IAPs in key markets
Key Speakers
Ubisoft, Campo Santo and Jumpship headline BIG Festival
Isabelle Bismuth, Alan Van Slyke, Chris Remo and Dino Patti set to speak at event
Fortnite Android
Epic eyes summer release for Fortnite on Android
Mobile version of battle royale hit to get smaller install file and new updates
Hot Five
Project Cars coming to mobile, Glu's Design Home inspired revival, and Rumble Stars Soccer
The past weeks hottest offerings
Funding News
Riot Games amongst investors in new mobile esports-focused studio Gamelynx
Studio raises $1.2 million
Boom
Game Insight and ESL put up $200,000 for Guns of Boom’s inaugural esports season
Online qualifiers begin June 9th with international events planned for Poland and LA
Up Up Up
Over 25% of iOS 11 game downloads now come from browsing the App Store
A boost in downloads has been helped the launch of iOS 11
Smashed It
Pocket Gamer Connects welcomes 850 games industry professionals for biggest San Francisco event yet
Top talks, lots of networking, more partying
New Job Klaxon
NCSoft appoints chief development officer for Western operations
Chris Corry will be responsible for overseeing all development in the West
Rip
Sony to cease production of physical PlayStation Vita Games, except in Japan
Creation of games cards to finish by the end of March 2019
On The Move
Farming Simulator dev Giants Software opens new studio in the Czech Republic
Swiss company also set to move offices as part of the shakeup
Take Profit
WWE Supercard and Dragon City help launch Take-Two's yearly profits to $173.5 million
The usual suspects at play again
One V One Me Bro
Street Fighter characters touch down in Power Rangers: Legacy Wars
Cammy, M. Bison, Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile and Akuma set to join the fray
Switching It Up
LA-based start-up Wonder working on Android Nintendo Switch-like hybrid device
Wonder is hoping to release the device next year
Dau Royale
PUBG Mobile amasses 10 million daily active users
Most downloaded game in over 100 countries and areas
Zoom
PacketZoom launches new mobile networking tools for real-time multiplayer games
Mobile Connect aims to eliminate a game developer’s need to deploy resources in-house
Uninstall Rates
Three out of 10 apps uninstalled after 30 days
But games one of the least likely to be deleted, according to Appsflyer report
Free-to-manage
Project management tool Hansoft goes free for small indies
Available for teams of up to five
Struck A Chord
Discord triples userbase to 130 million in just a year
Chat app has added 85m users in the last twelve months
Going Global
Ex-Apple GM leads Roblox international expansion
Popular game gets Spanish localisation, other languages coming soon
Indie Mavens
Is ad revenue a good revenue generator for indies in 2018?
Our Indie Mavens weigh in
Blimey Guv
Zynga celebrates Royal Wedding with Words With Friends 2 Royal Social Dictionary
Blimey I'm gobsmacked
East To West
Chinese livestreaming platform Huya raises $180 million in US IPO
15 million shares sold at $12 each
Weekly Charts
Weekly UK App Store charts: Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery surges up iPad and iPhone top grossing charts
Rankings from April 30th to May 6th
Backend-as-a-service
Nakama 2.0 - Power games for millions of concurrent players
Heroic Labs details the latest big update
Rising Confidence
CEO Nick Earl on how Design Home’s success has kickstarted Glu’s wider revival
Mobile game publisher now on the up
Hot Five
What makes the Finland games scene special, Space Ape Games on making hits and Idle Factory Tycoon hits 4m downloads
The weeks hottest articles
Pocket Gamer Connects
17 reasons why you need to be at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco next week
From the 10 conference tracks by 100 world-class speakers to networking, pitching and the Global Connects Party
Juicy News
YouTuber Guava Juice partners with developer PopReach on Tub Tapper
Partners with developer PopReach on title
Going Global
Pokemon Go developer Niantic to call upon players to help build AR maps
Efforts would involve supplementing Pokemon Go data with new information gathered through smartphones cameras
International Expansion
Kongregate gets first international expansion with Montreal office
“Expanding our resources and time zones allows us as a company to be closer to our Canadian and European partners," says CEO Emily Greer
Downloads Assemble
Avengers Infinity War boosts related mobile game downloads by 120%
IAP revenue was also boosted by 50% along with a 16% increase in DAU
Not Bad
Top 25 public games companies captured 77% of global games revenues in 2017
Tencent, Sony, Apple, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard took the top five spots
Playtime
Bidalgo launches support for playable ads on Facebook
San Francisco-based company also offering free ad production for its fully managed clients