Opinion
PUBG Corp's lawsuit against Epic's Fortnite could set an uncomfortable precedent
This market has been built on a cycle of iteration and improvement which could end if the Playerunknown's Battlegrounds firm wins this case
Data Klaxon
75% of spending in the iOS App Store came from games over the past 10 years
In terms of downloads games took 31 per cent
Premium No Go
Square Enix Montreal no longer working on the Go series
Studio head says it's becoming increasingly difficult to make a game with a premium business model on mobile
Switch Up
Bethesda swaps The Elder Scrolls: Legends developer Dire Wolf with Sparkypants
Dire Wolf is out; Sparkypants is in
Job Losses
Report: Redundancies hit Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery dev Jam City
Some claims suggest layoffs were ‘sizable’
Indie Mavens
Indie games developer tips for making the most out of industry events
Our Indie Mavens weigh in
No Troll
Spil Games' Troll Face Quest series breaks 100 million downloads
90 per cent of downloads are organic
Batman Royale
Batman joins Arena of Valor in new update
Update also includes new deathmatch game mode and complete UI overhaul
Unreal
Interactive Gaming Ventures and Epic Games out to invest in indies using Unreal Engine 4
IGV plan to invest $1 to $5 Million in one to three indie teams per year
The Magic Number
Frank Gibeau on why Zynga’s $250 million acquisition of Gram Games adds up
Riding Merge Dragons! to success
Going Up
Pokemon Go captures 800 million downloads
Niantic is ramping up activity ahead of the summer
I Choose You
Slate of new pokemon games set for Nintendo Switch and mobile
Pokémon: Let’s Go duo to come out late next year while Pokémon Quest is out now
There Can Be Only One
PUBG Corp sues Epic over Fortnite Battle Royale
Follows threats last September and a lawsuit against NetEase
Mobile Advertising
Learn about the present and future of ads in the Mobile Games Advertising Report 2018
In association with Mintegral, the report looks at how publishers are creating significant revenue streams from ads
Investment Magic
Casual mobile games publisher Voodoo raises $200 million
Publisher has more than 150 million monthly active users; plots further growth
Hot Five
App stores to disappear, mobile industry’s GDPR woes, and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery tops charts
The hottest articles of the last week
Aso
Drive mobile app traffic with app store optimisation
How good ASO can boost your downloads and revenue
Co-development
Canada’s Throwback Entertainment inks co-development deal with South Korea’s Leanup
Two titles set for release by the end of the year
Not So Essential?
Android creator considers sale of Essential phone maker
At least one potential buyer already said to be interested
Not Bad
Tencent's Honour of Kings made $185 million in April 2018
Fortnite meanwhile generates $296 million across platforms
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