Balatro Timeline
“I don’t think I would have rated Balatro higher than an eight and I made the damn thing”
LocalThunk said the timeline series will serve as both a story for players and a personal reference
Shares Synchrony
Trump tariffs hit Japanese games companies as shares in Nintendo, Sony, DeNA and Capcom fall
US president Donald Trump’s latest 20% tariff on Chinese imports to the US appear to be having a knock-on effect on shareholders’ confidence in Japanese game makers
App Stores
Brazil orders Apple to allow alternative app stores on iOS within 90 days
Ruling judge extended Apple’s compliance deadline from 20 to 90 days
Age Verification
Utah becomes first state to require app store age verification for minors
Social media giants Meta, Snap, and X (formerly Twitter) have praised the law
Expansions
Appcharge expands into North America and Korea with new leadership hires
Sean Megaw will drive North American growth while Jin Woo Hong is set to lead its South Korea operations
Lta X Mmm: Game On!
LTA + Next-Gen MMM = winning growth strategies across search, TikTok, and beyond
GAME ON! Get Kochava and TikTok’s Gaming Growth Guide to Level Up Your ROAS
Ar Attraction
How Pokémon Go developer Niantic's games stack up ahead of a potential Scopely acquisition
Rumours around Scopely’s potential AR acquisitions gets us diving into the numbers behind Niantic’s whole catalogue
Hot Five
Hot Five: Goddess of Victory: Nikke hits $1bn, Pokémon Go spikes to 2025 high, and AppLovin's shock buyer
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Community Funding
Military history animation studio Yarnhub plots games expansion with community-led investment
YouTube content creator wants to build a military shooter for its 2.1m subscribers
Gameexpo Summit
Ramadan special offer for Dubai GameExpo Summit
Claim your 10% discount today
Podcast | Episode 45
Tripledot’s surprise acquisition of AppLovin's games business | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode 45...
New Deal
Blizzard grants NetEase greater decision-making power over its games in China
Renewed partnership could lead to China-exclusive content like culturally inspired skins
Cloud Gaming
Amazon GameLift Streams brings "high-fidelity" cloud gaming to any device
Tech giant claims services can stream high-fidelity, low-latency games without modifications
Week In Views
Apple’s ATT privacy policies finally face the music, and Pokémon GO’s stellar Unova event | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Five New Games
New release roundup: A Perfect Day, Bellemint, Retro Slam Tennis and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
M&a
It was Tripledot?! What the UK studio's acquisition of AppLovin's games business means
The mystery buyer was revealed this week
International Women's Day
How Drest relaunched on Unity to merge fashion with gaming
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to Drest founder and co-CEO Lucy Yeomans about her career and founding a fashion gaming company
International Women's Day
"Establishing credibility was my biggest hurdle as a young entrepreneur"
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to WalkMe Mobile Solutions CEO Lígia Gonçalves about building her own company
International Women's Day
"Inclusion isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a core part of how we create better games"
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to King's Marta Cortiñas about her career and work on Candy Crush Solitaire
Supersonic Growth
Supersonic surpasses 6.2 billion global downloads in five years
The firm was ranked as the fifth largest mobile games publisher in the world by downloads just behind Tencent, Azur, Onesoft, and SayGames.
Purchasing Power
Xsolla launches direct-to-consumer publishing suite
The toolkit brings Xsolla's services into one place to drive web store sales
Network Away
See who YOU could Connect with at this month's PG Connects San Francisco
From the most talented indie developers to the biggest brands attending the global games industry event, March 17th to 18th
Developer Tools
Universal Foundry launches Compute Grant to support small Unreal Engine 5 studios
Grant covers the cost of the company’s services which starts at $950 per month
Milestone
RuneScape surpasses $2 billion in lifetime revenue
Titles have garnered over 300 million players worldwide
Axie Alpha
Axie Infinity returns on mobile with web3 MMO Atia’s Legacy alpha incoming
Pre-registration referrals are already securing fans AXS tokens
Capturing Audiences
Why people click: The power of creative hooks
Supersonic creative lead Giacomo Maragliulo details how mobile game creatives make players click
Major Market
PGC San Francisco 2025 nears after US mobile gamers spend record-breaking $28bn
Monopoly Go was the highest-grossing game on mobile, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 took the console crown
Ai Legal Guide
Smart AI use: A guide for game studios
Futura Digital's Alexandra Kurdyumova and Valeria Gziryan delve into the legal and development issues surrounding generative AI in games
Tax Relief
British Columbia increases Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit to 25%
The incentives will be effective from September 2025
M&a
Report: Tripledot to buy AppLovin’s games business
PocketGamer.biz has also heard the buyer is a London-based company
Pgc San Francisco
Save up to $130 with PG Connects San Francisco Mid Term rate!
Grab a ticket to start business-boosting networking before midnight March 6th!
Tour For More
Pokémon Go Tour Unova – Global weekend made $19.8m in two days
The free event with optional paid extras saw in-game spending at its highest since the eighth anniversary last July
Ai-powered Games
Activision promoting Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and Crash Bandicoot mobile games that don't exist
The publisher’s survey stated the titles are not real “but could be some day!’’
Kid Cosmo
Netflix’s The Electric State: Kid Cosmo game will serve as a prequel to upcoming film
The 80s-style puzzle adventure is set for release on March 18th, four days after the new film
Leadership Change
Stillfront names Alexis Bonte as new president and group CEO
Bonte joined Stillfront in 2017 after its acquisition of eRepublik Labs, which he co-founded
Company Shakeup
Room 8 Group expands leadership with new focus
Former Ubisoft veterans take key roles
Pgc San Francisco
Meet our awesome speakers at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025
More than 70 world class expert speakers share the latest industry insights and future forecasts this March 17th and 18th
Branding News
Longstanding games services firm PTW rebrands as Side
"I’m proud that all our employees are now united under one banner"
New Offerings
Sandsoft plots hybridcasual expansion with three new game deals
Publisher said that it has “several more" games in testing and are scheduled to release in the coming months
A New World
Ludia plots M&A and hiring spree after Jam City exit
CEO Jimmy Gendron discusses the Montreal company's ambitions to build "the next leading independent publisher in Canada"
Opportunities Galore
Three no-cost ways to benefit from Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2025
Discover three great ways to make the most of your time in San Francisco without spending a dime...
Pgc San Francisco
Full schedule revealed for PG Connects San Francisco 2025!
70+ experts lead the two-day games industry conference, March 17 to 18th
"more Than A Leader"
The OGs co-CEO Pablo Navajas passes away
“His legacy will live on through the countless people he inspired by example”
Partnership
EA partners with Flexion to bring mobile games to alternative app stores
First of EA's games included in the partnership will launch in Q1
China Regulations
Shanghai unveils new online game policies to ease licensing challenges
The city also introduced the Shanghai Online Game Publishing Application Service Platform
Funding For Games
European Investment Fund pledges over $20m to boost Nordic game development
The EIF is helping Behold Ventures attract more investors to reach its target of $48m
Ready To Rumble
Sonic Rumble global launch delayed to spring
The title will launch on mobile and Steam
Hot Five
Hot Five: Pokémon wins legal battle, Playtika’s $450m "bolt-on" M&A, and Supercell unveils Boat Game
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Fresh Details
AppLovin selling games business to private company for $500m in cash and $400m in shares
Buyer has entered into a term sheet with AppLovin and aims to borrow up to $250m to fund the deal
Podcast | Episode 44
AppLovin vs. short-sellers | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and and what's inside this week's episode 44...