Hot Five
Hot Five: EA’s $55bn buyout, Genshin Impact’s fifth anniversary, and Fire Emblem Shadows’ overshadowed launch
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Podcast
Gaming Meets Beauty: Inside Henkel’s first brand activation
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play, here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode.
Pgc Helsinki
Showcasing the sponsors! Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025
You can connect and meet with these great companies at our 12th Finnish festival of games
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Vera Manhoso
"I would recommend maintaining a strong balance between UA and RT, and integrating RT campaigns early, rather than waiting until your game is more mature"
Week In Views
From $1,000 Xbox handhelds and $30 Game Pass hikes to Fire Emblem Shadows’ $90,000 debut | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Teemu Haila
"Too many teams underestimate how complex live service infrastructure becomes once a game starts to grow"
Web Shops
Epic Games launches global web shops for mobile and PC
As part of the rollout Epic has partnered with Codename Entertainment to showcase web shop functionality
Funding Round
Cypher Games secures $30m in series A funding
The funds will go towards its debut title Match Squad
A Good Cause
Supercell, Sybo, EA and more get involved in One Special Day mobile charity initiative
Games involved include Subway Surfers, Hay Day, Golf Clash, Angry Birds 2 and more
Major Milestone
TinyBytes surpasses 100 million downloads across its portfolio
Flagship title Massive Warfare makes up for a large portion of the downloads
Partnerships
BBC Studios brings Great British Bake Off to Roblox with Star Baker game
Star Baker will bring baking challenges inspired by the show to the Roblox platform
New Games
New release roundup: Hello Kitty Merch Match, MU: Pocket Knights, Two Strikes and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Sara Antonelli
"Growth can no longer rely on a single channel or tactic. To stay competitive, gaming companies need to diversify"
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Rafael Morgan
"Publish your mobile games on the web as well! It’s a low-effort, high-impact way to grow reach, extend a game’s lifecycle, and build resilience in a volatile industry"
Speaker Spotlight
Ilya Kuznetsov discusses “AI becoming a competitive necessity” ahead of Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025
"To succeed, studios need to dig deeper: focus on innovation, unique player value, and the hidden ingredients, not just the surface-level imitation"
Hall Of Fame
Hall of Fame: Maarten Noyons
The IMGA founder has long been a trailblazer in the mobile games industry, supporting and shining a light on developers around the world
Mobile Mavens
"Problematic for the industry" or "long-term investment"? The games industry reacts to EA's historic $55 billion deal: Part two
Our Mobile Mavens weigh in on the one of the biggest deals in games history
Inside Look
Inside Flamed: Scopely’s in-house creative agency
Naor Itzhak shares on how Scopely’s Flamed turns ideas into global game campaigns
Shadows Spending
Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Shadows makes just $90,000 in first week on iOS
Predecessor Fire Emblem Heroes earned $8.2m on iOS in week one
Company Spotlight
Company Spotlight: FastSpring
Meet FastSpring, the Californian company transforming direct-to-consumer payments for developers and publishers
Unstable And Unsustainable
39% of game devs are making mobile games, but layoffs make them "go numb"
Duamentes Gaming’s Making Games, Making Future report reveals most developers enjoy their work but wouldn’t recommend working in the industry
Applovin Axon
AppLovin rebrands consumer-facing ads offering to Axon
The app tech company has been expanding into web and e-commerce, moving away from its apps business
Cross Platform For Unreal
Unreal Engine 5 is making inroads in cross-platform mobile games
Find out how Unreal Engine 5 is optimised to help developers around the world take their games to multiple devices
Mobile Matters
The state of EA's mobile portfolio following its $55bn acquisition
EA’s mobile games generated 17% of all company revenue in Q1 FY2026
Finland Spotlight
Games & Leaves' Antti Kananen on why Finland's developers should keep sharing and learn from past mistakes
We speak to Games & Leaves head of games Antti Kananen about the state of Finland's games market
Ios Installs
Epic Games Store sees "stunning" rise in successful installations as iOS scare screen removed
The Fortnite maker still believes Apple is "thwarting competition" despite the improvements
Teaming Up
Gadsme agrees three-year exclusive partnership with Football Manager
Non-intrusive ads will come to Football Manager 26
District Details
Modern Times Group unveils new midcore and casual divisions amidst leadership shake-up
Recently acquired Plarium will join the new Midcore District, but CEO Schraga Mor is stepping down
Industry Recognition
Maliyo Games featured by Apple to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day
Safari City, Crazy Ludo, Whot King, and Secret Letter were spotlighted
Live Games Wanted
Supercent Announces RE:BOUND 2025
A global call to relaunch promising mobile games with $100M+ marketing power
Call For Speakers
Make an impact by speaking at Pocket Gamer Connects in Korea, Aqaba or London
Grow your reputation before an audience of dedicated games industry professionals
Game Monetisation
Beyond microtransactions: The future of game monetisation lies in loyalty, not loot boxes
Xsolla’s Chris Meredith on moving beyond microtransaction towards player-first monetisation
Mobile Mavens
"Sea-change" and "savage streamlining": The games industry reacts to EA's historic $55 billion deal
Our Mobile Mavens weigh in on the potential highs and lows of one of gaming's biggest deals
Industry Insights
Five ad monetisation tests that didn't match the data
GameBiz Consulting’s Božo Janković shares insights from experiments that challenge assumptions in ad monetisation
Penguin Power
NFT penguin game Pudgy Party hits one million installs in first month
The title was developed on Mythical Games’ platform, but Web3 elements are optional
New Era
EA CEO says company's values will "remain unchanged" following Saudi acquisition
Andrew Wilson insists that he will be staying on as CEO
Behind The Curtain
Who are EA's new owners?
A look at Saudi Arabia's PIF, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, and Unity investor Silver Lake
Mega Deal
It’s official: EA agrees $55bn buyout deal
Saudi Arabia's PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners swoop for publisher in all-cash deal
Buyout Speculation
What might a $55bn EA buyout mean?
Games industry analysts offer their insights on what a potential deal could mean
Revenue Rising
Destiny: Rising hits $10m in first month on mobile
Estimates suggest launch day was the most lucrative followed by September 12th, one day after Season of Daybreak started
Brazil Ban
Brazil bans loot boxes for under 18s in online child safety measure
The law will come into play starting March 2026
Playable Ads For All
How playable ads are expanding beyond gaming to transform every industry
The digital advertising landscape is evolving as playable ads move beyond their gaming origins to become a universal engagement tool.
Hot Five
Hot Five: Delta Force hits $300m, Nintendo shadow drops Fire Emblem Shadows, and EA in talks to go private
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Pgc Helsinki
Content revealed: Why you can't miss out on our biggest PGC Helsinki ever
Check out the schedule overview across a massive 22 tracks with three summits covering AI, multiplatform development and transmedia
Podcast | Episode 66
UGC platform revenue share, app store competition, and Fire Emblem's surprise launch | 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 what's inside this week's episode 66...
Game-changing Deal
Report: EA in talks to go private at $50bn valuation
Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners working on deal that could be announced as soon as next week
Week In Views
Trump's $14bn TikTok deal, MrBeast joins The Angry Birds 3 Movie, and Fire Emblem Shadows launches | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
New Games
New release roundup: Fire Emblem Shadows, Goddess Order, Bop It and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
New Offerings
Microsoft prices ROG Xbox Ally X handheld at $1,000
The Xbox Ally series launches on October 16th, with pre-orders now open
Leadership Change
Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser to retire at year's end
The leadership transition is set for December 31, 2025