Industry Insights
How to survive 10 years in the games industry while failing
Bigfoot Gaming co-founder and CEO Joao Batista on how his team spent a decade to make its first successful game and offers advice on how you can do the same
Growing Chinese Games Overseas
SocialPeta Partnered with Liftoff to Release the Guide to Growing Chinese Gaming Apps Overseas
SocialPeta and Liftoff, have jointly released the report 'Guide to Growing Chinese Gaming Apps Overseas' based upon 133 billion ad impressions, 7.9 billion clicks, and 18 million installs gathered in 2023-24
Last Chance
Just 22 places left for the PG Mobile Games Awards 2024 in association with Gamelight
The swanky sit-down dinner ceremony in Cologne on August 20th is about to sell out
New Leadership
Jan Richter succeeds Ralph Stock as CEO of Sixteen Tons Entertainment
Richter has played a key role in developing successful titles at EA, Bigpoint, Mighty Bear Games, and ZeptoLab
Funding For Games
NCSoft invests $3.5 million in Swedish studio Moon Rover Games
The studio will use the funds throughout the development stage of its upcoming FPS game Project Aldous
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from mathematical puzzlers to the return of Jon Snow
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
A Fresh Start
Ex-Unity and Scopely developers launch new studio, Outer Haven Games
Based in the US, the studio is already working on a role-playing anime-inspired game called Techno Infierno
King In The North
Zynga calls in Kit Harrington for Game of Thrones: Legends launch
Mobile ads are becoming increasingly star-powered, with Jon Snow himself promoting the latest puzzle RPG
Ea Q1 Financials
Electronic Arts: "FC Mobile is the blueprint for our mobile strategy"
Their profits may be down 30% but EA Sports FC Mobile made record net bookings while FC Mobile Madden NFL 24 earned double digit growth
Mena Workshops
Maysalward hosts Minecraft Education training workshop for teachers
The workshop trains teachers to integrate Minecraft Education into their classrooms
Battle Royale
Celebrating seven years of Garena Free Fire's success
Free Fire's global marketing lead, Cindy Chen talks to us about what has kept the game going over the past seven years
Mena Market Growth
Saudi Arabia leads MENA in VC investments and games market growth in 2024
With 21 million active gamers, the KSA is MENA's largest games market to be valued at $6 billion come 2027
Resleriana Revenue
Atelier Resleriana adventures past $50 million via the power of fan-favourites
Most lucrative day coincided with release of Klaudia, a main character from best-selling game in the series Atelier Ryza
Trends Survey
What are the hottest trends right now? Let us know in the 2024 Mobile Games Industry Survey
All participants will get a 30% discount on tickets to PGC London. You'll also be in with the chance to receive a £200 Amazon gift voucher, a free ticket to PGC, and promotion on our sites worth up to $8,000
Layoffs
Bungie to lose 220 staff as it takes "a new path"
The Destiny, Halo and Marathon game dev giant is just the latest victim to fall foul of rising costs versus revenue rewards
Independent Ai
Mark Zuckerberg: “Nah, f*ck that”. Meta’s mouthpiece still isn’t a fan of closed platforms
Try to tell Zuck what game to play and he’s going to take his ball home
Microsoft's Mobile Mystery
Microsoft made $88 billion profit in FY2024 thanks to Activision Blizzard boost
Xbox revenue was up 61% in Q4 2024, but mobile specific figures remain a mystery
Milestone
Whiteout Survival races past $1 billion revenue
The US leads as the game's top revenue region
This Means War
SAG-AFTRA takes the AI war to the next level with games industry strikes
From tomorrow 10 big names in games will see picket lines protesting the use of AI to replace human talent in games
Milestone
Netmarble's Solo Leveling: Arise has passed $100 million revenue
More than 30% of the game's revenue comes from South Korea
Interview
"Navigating the MENA region's funding landscape specifically in Saudi Arabia has been quite promising"
Starvania Studio CEO and co-founder Meaad Aflah discusses her studio's latest project and the opportunities and challenges facing Saudi Arabia's games industry
Rpg Reposition
RPGs overthrown by strategy genre as new consumer spending king
RPGs have topped consumer spending charts since "at least" 2017, but were dethroned in Q2 2024
Podcast
How AppHarbr puts a stop to bad ads before your users can see them | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode…
Ai Acquisition
GiantX acquires League of Legends AI coaching app maker iTero Gaming
The app, launched in late 2022, has been downloaded almost 250,000 times
Cash Splash
Q2 mobile app spending hits a new record of $36.2 billion
Apple owners are responsible for the latest spending surge for Q2 2024, though downloads in the quarter declined
Mena Trends
The trends and opportunities that are shaping Turkey's app market
Adjust’s Ender Özcan discusses what's new and what's driving growth in the MENA region
Multi-platform Gaming
Japan and Korea's 97 million gamers drive growth for multi-platform games
The latest Niko Partner's report shows a clear shift as Japanese mobile players embrace console and PC
Game Cancellation
Dinosaur Polo Club scraps Magic School in order to renew focus on its Mini series
The goal of Magic School was to explore new ideas beyond the studio's typical minimalist simulations. But it's an experiment that failed
German Gaming
German mobile gamers spent €2.9 billion in 2023, 98% via in-app purchases
The German video games industry more broadly generated €9.97 billion last year
Alternative App Stores
The Xbox Mobile Store lives… Or at least there’s a webpage for it
As their self-imposed July deadline draws to a close, could an official roll-out be imminent?
Squad Spenders
Squad Busters takings pass $50 million, but how does it compare to Supercell’s greatest hits?
The US currently represents the game's biggest market share, where it's earned $19.6 million so far
Funding News
dotplay raises $1 million funding to transform mobile game distribution
"We believe the mobile web can compete with app stores for distribution," says dotplay's CEO Iskander Pataudi
Investment Bounceback
M&A is on the rise for the third quarter in a row
That's according to Drake Star whose latest Global Gaming Report for Q2 only carries good news on the games industry's rebound
Lively Layoffs
Lively Studio undergoes layoffs for the sake of "long-term health"
The Keywords subsidiary will reportedly lay off a small number of people, while sister studio Electric Square remains unaffected
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: How is the trend for cross-platform changing the state of gaming?
Our Mavens share their thoughts on appeal of taking your game cross-platform and what the current trend means for the future of the games industry
Pokemon Power
The Pokémon Company caught $10.8 billion from merch and licenced goods last year
License Global’s latest Top Global Licensors Report places Pokémon seventh among all licensors based on 2023 revenue
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason event to kick off with a $3 million prize pool
Players can earn event currency by logging in, playing matches, or spectating matches
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: "PGC enabled me to grow my network and presence"
Raptor PR's Rana Rahman shares his favourite PGC memories
Hot Five
Hot Five: HoYoverse’s next game, Monster Hunter Now’s multiplayer mindset, and three years of Pokémon Unite
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Podcast | Episode 22
How Lilith Games builds billion-dollar mobile hits | 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 22...
Week That Was
Netflix sticks with games, Humble Games closure confusion and Monster Hunter Now levels up | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Investment Round
UGC platform developer Look North World raises $4.5 million in seed funding
Start-up publishes premium mods and games for Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft
Jobs News
Xsolla appoints former Kami Vision and Samsung exec as new chief financial officer
Cathleen Nilson has previously worked at Google, EA and Intel, among other firms
Strike Action
SAG-AFTRA members go on video games strike over AI and fears of “flagrant exploitation”
Representative of producers fights back and claims it had agreed “historic” wage increases
Attack Of The Clones
Clones and how to combat them: Examples from the games industry
Futura Digital delves into the world of clones and what legal action developers can take
Ecosystem Expansion
Dubai is confirmed as Games of the Future host in 2025
Qualifiers are underway via the World Phygital Community’s Phygital Games 2024/25 tournament
Milestone
Monopoly Go! hits $3 billion in revenue
The game leads leads Hasbro's licensing-portfolio with Q2 revenue growing 20% year over year led by Monopoly Go!
App Stores
Epic confirms Fortnite’s EU iOS comeback as it quits Samsung Galaxy Store
Fortnite and other games will now be available on AltStore for iOS in the EU
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from Asphalt Legends Unite to Laid-Back Camp: Puzzle Camp
We highlight five new games that have broken cover this week
Monster Multiplayer
Monster Hunter Now’s Dimensional Links show a conscious effort to include rural players
Multiplayer levels up with this latest online matchmaking feature