Roundup
Games industry roundup: The hottest stories across the PC, blockchain and influencer sectors
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Event
New venue for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2018
FInland’s biggest B2B games event outgrows its home from home, moves waterside
Hot Five
Google Play tests hub features, Runescape beta comes to Android, and Clash Royale snags $2 billion
The past weeks hottest articles
The Weekly
The Weekly: Deconstructing Florence, why indies are thriving on Switch, and Nintendo's stock price drops
Rounding up the week's games industry analysis and news from around the internet
Constructive
Roblox creator community on track to earn over $70 million this year
Active creator count has grown over 250 per cent in the last year alone.
Gold Chest
Fortnite’s first major esports tournament boasts an $8m prize pool
Epic begin digging into the $100m set aside for this season’s competitions
Jammin’
Jam City signs up ex-EA creative director Chris Tremmel
Tremmel will provide design direction for Genies & Gems and Wild Things: Animal Adventure
Valor
Tencent’s Arena of Valor breaks $3 million in revenue in the US
Tencent’s MOBA hits one million downloads
Winner Winner Second Dinner
Former Hearthstone game director Ben Brode opens new studio Second Dinner
The ex-Blizzard dev took to Twitter to reveal the news but details are sparse
Big Data Energy
The numbers behind the iOS App Store's 10-year stay
You could say it's been a bit of a success
Lovin It
AppLovin launches publishing division Lion Studios
The developer is also putting up $300K in prizes for the four best mobile gaming apps submitted
Oh The Horror
Asymmetrical Horror: NetEase on hitting 100m downloads with Identity V
"We are so proud of the results we’ve achieved!"
Payday
Epic Games' new 88/12 revenue-share split will give more back to Unreal Marketplace creators
Creators will be issued retroactive payouts to match the new 88/12 split
Closure
Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire dev MZ lays off 125 staff as it shuts down ad-tech branch Cognant
The entire Cognant team and about half of its in-house media buyers are said to have been laid off in June
Big Switch
Nintendo Switch sales set to eclipse PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the US for the year
The Switch is also expected to generate the most software revenues at retail
Chat Up
Warner Bros. acquires mobile games communication platform Plexchat
"Advancing the social aspect of our mobile games is a top priority for us"
Ah Ah Ah
FoxNext and East Side Games team up to bring It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to mobile
Planned for release on both the App Store and Google Play in 2018
Tilted
Tilting Point out to invest $132m in mobile games user acquisition annually
The mobile games publisher is out to solve fundamental challenges in the free-to-play mobile games marketplace
Company Values
Jade Raymond on why company culture isn't just words on the wall
The EA Motive Studios GM on the importance of consistent values
Beep Beep
McLaren expands its esports program to include mobile racing games
Motor manufacturer wants Shadow Project to become more “open and inclusive”
Secret World
Netflix to air Niantic’s Ingress in October 2018
Ingress: The Animation set to release alongside a sequel to Niantic’s debut title
Indie Spotlight
"Part of art is about connecting with the audience and making them feel something"
Kim Savory on art, games and Only When Howling
App Store 10 Years
10 ways the App Store changed the games industry
We look at the impact of the App Store as it celebrates its 10th anniversary
Hub
Google Play testing news and trending hub features with Google Play Games
News and trending features make up the new additions
Toying Around
EA snags Industrial Toys
The mobile development studio is headed up by former Bungie CEO Alex Seropian
Whew-two
Niantic's Pokemon Go catches $1.8 billion in revenue in two years
US players splash out $607 million on title
Cashed Out
Monopoly Towns goes straight to jail as Backflip cans soft-launched title
Support will cease September 3rd
Live And Kicking
Four years on: Jam City on the evolution of match-three hit Cookie Jam
GM and VP of creative development Shane Nakamura discusses keeping the US publisher's flagship title Cookie Jam alive and successful.
Roundup
Games industry roundup: The hottest stories across the PC, blockchain and influencer sectors
15 articles from PCGamesInsider.biz, InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockhainGamer.biz
Hot Five
Clash of Clans breaks $4 billion, PUBG Corp drops Epic lawsuit, and indies rocked by Google Play download woes
The past week's hottest articles
The Weekly
The Weekly: The App Store turns 10, The Sims Mobile deconstructed, and Rami Ismail on indies and triple-A
Rounding up the week's games industry analysis and news from around the internet
Gotta Catch ‘em All
Pokemon Quest passes 7.5 million downloads across iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch
It captured 3.5 million downloads on mobile alone within days of launching
Shiny
Disney releases Moana production assets for public use
Cloud data and island geometry released to provide an insight into CG production techniques
Tip Top
Global Top Round’s $300,000 accelerator program is open for submissions
Accelerator invites small studios to apply in its fourth consecutive program
Live Drop
Live.me’s new streaming app Fluxr will promote Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds esports
Streaming platform’s new app is looking to grow the mobile esports market
Train Of Thought
How DomiNations kept going for three years and made $150 million in the process
Big Huge Games’ CEO Tim Train on passing the $150 million revenue milestone and keeping relevant for three years
Simple
The Sims Mobile builds up $15 million in revenues after four months
59 per cent of revenues come from the US
Competition
Win: Indie Showcase space at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Demo your work to 1,200 games industry professionals this September free; worth $650
Excellent
Google Play Excellence program welcomes Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and six other games
World of Warships: Blitz and Flutter: Starlight also feature in high-quality highlights list
Yahtzee
US publisher Scopely’s Yahtzee with Buddies lands on iMessage
The dice-rolling game will also release on Facebook Instant Games in due course
Legal
San Mateo County drops charges against Vungle founder Zain Jaffer
Child abuse and assault against the former CEO cleared by district attorney
Not So Hollow
Nintendo Switch makes up a fifth of Hollow Knight's 1.25 million total sales
PC sales hit 1 million a day before the sidescrolling soulslike's switch launch
Return Of The King
Candy Crush dev King launches new IP Diamond Diaries Saga on iOS and Android
The physics-based linker game has been in soft-launch since October of last year
Indie Mavens
Which marketplace has been better for indie developers: The App Store or Google Play?
Our Indie Mavens weight in
Battle Royale
Fortnite Mobile has five times the revenue of PUBG but half the downloads
Fortnite made $92 million revenue in the 11 weeks ending on June 18th, compared to PUBG’s $19 million
Spin Me Right Round
Why Chinese mobile ad tech firm Mobvista spun out its monetisation platform Mintegral
EMEA business development manager Sean Parmenter discusses the company's plans and China's advertising landscape
On Your Marks
International Olympic Committee to host esports-focused forum
IOC to start discussing the future of relationships between games and sports
Feast On This
Dead Island: Survivors gets worldwide release after two-years in soft launch
The zombie action game soft-launched on iOS in November 2016 with an Android beta following soon after
Love Better
Failbetter Games sets up Love Indies Week to celebrate developers and communities
The week-long event looks to highlight the importance of reviews on indie games
I Want To Be The Very Best
Pokemon Quest catches $3million in revenues during first week on mobile
The cubed up adventure also snagged 3.5 million downloads