Podcast | Episode 40
Games industry trends 2024 review | 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 40...
Sponsor Shoutout
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025 expo and conference nearly full
Space is filling rapidly for Pocket Gamer Connects London 2025, the biggest b2b games event in London and the UK...
New Partnerships
WHO teams up with Goodville to launch new virtual health assistant ‘Sarah'
Players can interact with Sarah through an in-game chat
Tiktok Ban
US court rejects TikTok's bid to halt pending ban
ByteDance must divest TikTok by January 19th, 2025 or face a ban
Leaving Soon
Netflix removes GTA 3 and Vice City from gaming library after one year
GTA: San Andreas is still available to play for now
New Offerings
Samsung takes cue from NYT as it introduces games to News app
The Six trivia game is currently available to Galaxy users in the US and Canada
Hot Five
Hot Five: Animal Crossing’s comeback, Balatro’s big milestone, and Infinity Nikki’s record launch
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Zynga sells Chartboost, Epic partners with Telefónica and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete hits $3M | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Milestone
Balatro has sold over 3.5 million copies
The card game also won the 2024 Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards
Audience Choice
PG Connects London 2025 to spotlight indie developers with Big Indie Zone Audience Choice Award sponsored by Jam City
The conference, which takes place on January 20 - 21, 2025, will feature several fringe events providing developers opportunities to present their games
Awards Season
Balatro wins Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards
Balatro also won Best Debut Indie Game and Indie Game of the Year
New Games
New release roundup: Monument Valley 3, Girls’ Frontline 2: Exilium, Cyber Quest and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Milestone
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket hits 60 million downloads
This comes ahead of Mythical Island expansion later this month
New Partnerships
Epic Games partners with Telefónica to pre-install Fortnite and the Epic Games Store on Android
The deal extends to 2025 and players will be able to download third-party games in the future
Game Ads
Creative trend: The evolution of the near-death snake experience in game ads
In this regular column UA and marketing expert Matej Lančarič shares his thoughts on some of the biggest topics in games
Mena Market
EsportsXO partners with Abu Dhabi Gaming to open regional headquarters in the MENA region
The partnership is expected to create new job opportunities over the next five years
Company Spotlight
Company Spotlight: Kabam
Find out more about Kabam, the studio behind the hit games Marvel Contest of Champions and Shop Titans.
Crossovers
Buzz Lightyear joins Brawl Stars in Toy Story crossover
Buzz debuts today and will be available to play from December 12th until February 4th, 2025
Winners Revealed
Apple unveils 2024 App Store Awards winners
AFK Journey, Squad Busters and Balatro among this year's winners
Closure Announcement
Glow Up Games shuts down after facing ongoing industry challenges
The studio aimed to build authentic and inclusive game experiences
Podcast Deep Dive
Join the PocketGamer.biz Podcast Infinity Nikki deep dive
Share your insights with us and we'll make them part of the show!
Milestone
Infinity Nikki has surpassed 10 million downloads worldwide
The game generated $4m in gross revenue on mobile four days after its launch
Anniversary
My.Games marks Rush Royale's fourth anniversary with special birthday event and $370m revenue milestone
Since its launch, Rush Royale has garnered over 90 million downloads
Funding For Games
Beam Ventures launches in Abu Dhabi with $150m fund to support game studios
The firm will also launch an accelerator program that focuses on early-stage web3 gaming and AI start-ups
Jobs In Games
Jobs in Games: Rababa Games' Mohammad Al-Aghar Rawashdeh on how to get a career as an environment artist
In this series, we highlight the talented team members working in the games industry and how they got their break
Sale Boost
Zynga sells Chartboost to LoopMe
Publisher had previously bought mobile ads and monetisation platform in a $250 million deal in 2021
New Studio
Clear Angle Studios opens new studio in Culver City
The new studio has already supported five major film productions and three games industry projects
More Games
Arkadium unveils six new games to end the year with 18 releases
Platform invests heavily as browser-based gaming grows in popularity
Job News
Duolingo taps former Halo franchise head Bonnie Ross as board member
Ross has over 30 years of experience in the games industry
Pocket Premium
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete surpasses $3m with highest daily spend since 2017
The premium edition has now replaced free-to-play Pocket Camp
Job News
Bitkraft Ventures recruits ex-JetSynthesis Gaming CEO Anuj Tandon as partner
Investment firm aims to expand presence in India’s fast-growing games market
Global Goals
Square Enix’s global growth strategy too often overlooks mobile
After shutting down multiple mobile games in recent years, Square Enix launches Emberstoria - another Japan exclusive
Infold Income
Infinity Nikki is series’ strongest launch with $4m in four days on mobile
It has been outperformed by Infold Games’ other 2024 title, Love and Deepspace
New Partnerships
Xsolla partners with StarNest to launch game development academy in Azerbaijan
Xsolla is also considering establishing its regional headquarters in Baku
Esports Growth
PUBG Mobile commits $10 million to 2025 Esports circuit prize pool
Next year's event will feature over 20 tournaments across various regions
Podcast | Episode 39
Mobile's hot new releases and the loot box investigation unpacked | 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 39...
Mena Market
UAE leads MENA start-up investments in November with $146m across 11 deals
Saudi Arabia followed with 23 startups raising $94 million
Ubisoft Buyout
Tencent and Ubisoft in talks over potential management-led buyout
The PUBG publisher also aims to block hostile takeovers as it awaits the family’s agreement
Hot Five
Hot Five: Infinity Nikki goes global, Royal Kingdom beats Royal Match, and Pokémon TCG Pocket makes $200m in first month
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Royal Kingdom’s $2.4m debut, Infinity Nikki’s launch and Pokémon TCG Pocket rivals Pokémon Go's early success | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Acqusitions
Reforged Studios acquires South Africa’s Yellow Lab Games
Yellow Lab Games will continue operating independently
New Studio
PTW opens new studio in Charleston
The company said the new studio will feature “state-of-the-art" facilities for next-gen testing
Ai In Games
Google’s AI Genie 2 brings images to life by transforming them into playable 3D worlds
“Games play a key role in the world of artificial intelligence research”
Milestone
Block Blast! surges past 40m daily active users
The game has garnered over 200m downloads since its launch in 2021
Funding News
Cyprus-based studio Top App Games secures $10m funding
The studio aims to launch new mobile titles and explore new genres
New Games
New release roundup: Infinity Nikki, Animal Crossing, Emberstoria, Airoheart, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
Royal Revenue
Royal Kingdom makes $2.4m in 14 days, quadrupling Royal Match’s early earnings
The US market has spent almost $1.1 million in two weeks
Lawsuit
Apple faces £785 million UK lawsuit over App Store commissions
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has allowed the suit to proceed
Incredible Indies
Incredible Indies: BAFTA nominated studio Other Tales shares on the development of its latest game Miniatures
Other Tales’ co-founder Tanja Tankred discusses the studios journey so far as it recently launched its second title
Browser Games 101
GameDistribution: Expand Mobile Game Reach with Zero Acquisition Costs
Learn more about the opportunities for developers and publishers in the cross-platform browser market, with the help of GameDistribution by Azerion