Esports Growth
Honor of Kings World Cup 2026 brings Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor teams together
Twenty teams from multiple regional leagues will compete for a $3m prize pool at the event in Riyadh
Funding For Games
LVL Zero receives over 240 applications as new wave of Indian game studios takes shape
More than 30% of applicants are designing games with live operations and analytics frameworks from the outset
New Offerings
Iwot studios partners with Initiate Entertainment to expand The Wheel of Time across games and animation
The partnership brings former Riot Games franchise leader Thomas Vu into the next phase of The Wheel of Time’s global expansion
Personal Pets
How Monopoly Go's Pets Season sparked 12,000 fan submissions and community engagement
This two-month season includes players’ pets as stickers, brand-new Style Tokens and a charity initiative
Esports Nations Cup
The Esports Foundation appoints National Team Partners ahead of the Esports Nations Cup 2026 debut
National partners will take responsibility for player selection, community mobilisation and long-term talent development pipelines
Expansions
AviaGames opens Global Trust Centre in Singapore to boost real-money game security
The new facility will coordinate global security standards and regulatory compliance as the company expands into additional markets
Resolve Open Cut Engage
The short drama disruption: What mobile game studios can learn from a new monetisation powerhouse
"If your first seconds don’t win, you’re invisible - and if your creative pipeline isn’t fast, you’ll lose to teams who treat iteration as a competitive advantage"
New Offerings
Sybo adds permanent competitive race mode to Subway Surfers after player demand
New Showdown mode allows up to six players to compete in real-time races
Layoff News
Meta cuts roughly 700 jobs as it shifts resources toward artificial intelligence infrastructure
Layoffs impact recruiting, social media, sales and the company’s Reality Labs division
Funding News
Verse8 secures $5m to scale its AI-driven game creation platform
The company aims to compress full game development into a single natural language prompt
Partnership Extension
Budge Studios continues Nickelodeon partnership with global launch of Dora: Explore and Play
The studio has surpassed two billion downloads across its portfolio of children’s entertainment apps
Master Plan
Savvy Games Group's CEO on M&A, China and rising Eastern influence
We speak to Brian Ward about how it works with its growing empire, Scopely's freedom, and opportunities in growing sectors like UGC
Mobile Mavens
"This is a fundamental shift in the way that games are rated": The Mobile Mavens on PEGI's new rules
Our Mobile Mavens share their insights on PEGI's updated age rating criteria and what it means for the wider games industry
New Partnerships
Xsolla and CYGMA team up to grow Cyprus’ game development sector
The deal gives local studios access to global monetisation infrastructure and publishing support
Closure
OpenAI shuts down Sora video-generation app less than two years after launch
The company is redirecting resources toward robotics and autonomous AI systems with real-world applications
Epic Troubles
Epic Games to retire three Fortnite modes after failing to attract and retain players
Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage are being shut down
Mighty Milestone
Appcharge surpasses $1bn in D2C transactions
Transaction volume on the platform has more than doubled in six months following its $58m Series B funding round
Layoff News
Epic Games cuts 1,000 jobs as Fortnite slowdown forces major reset
“Since it's a thing now, I should note that the layoffs aren't related to AI," said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.
Duolingo Design
Duolingo experiments with tool to lock other apps until daily lessons are complete
The new tool links access to social media directly to learning progress, turning education into a gatekeeper for screen time
Industry Insights
What our data reveals about ad quality and player churn in mobile games
Ivona Pinjak analyses player churn across ad networks, formats and platforms using Unity's AdQuality tool
Industry Outlook
Australia’s game development industry generated $425m in revenue during FY25
Nearly half of Australian studios have been operating for more than six years, pointing to a more durable industry base
New Offerings
Minecraft World to open at Chessington theme park in 2027 with $67m investment
The project marks Minecraft’s largest step yet into location-based entertainment
Update Insights
Developing Wuthering Waves: "Every addition requires months or longer to meet our quality standards"
The Kuro Games team talks narrative foundations, engagement, version 3.0 and beyond
New Offerings
Ex-Supercell devs at Bit Odd soft launch debut game after $18m raise
The Canada launch is intended to generate early player feedback before a broader global rollout
Soft Launch
47 top mobile games in soft launch: Overwatch Rush, Trivia Crack Academy, Netflix Playground, and more
The top mobile games in soft launch right now
New Offerings
Roblox to take cut of in-game brand deals from 2027 under new advertising rules
The company is restructuring its ad ecosystem to position Roblox as a full-scale media and commerce channel, not just a games platform
Podcast | Episode 86
The final word on GDC | 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 86...
New Offerings
Amazon plans smartphone comeback years after Fire Phone failure
The new device is less about hardware competition and more about controlling daily customer interactions
New Offerings
Epic Games opens Star Wars tools to creators as branded content push expands inside Fortnite
The release represents one of the largest IP integrations on the platform to date
Hot Five
Hot Five: GDC 2026, ByteDance to sell Moonton, and Candy Crush’s "incredibly valuable" feedback loop
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week In Views
ByteDance's Moonton acquisition, Fortnite's Google Play comeback and a $2bn milestone for Farm Heroes Saga | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Acquisitions
ByteDance to sell Moonton to Savvy Games Group in $6bn deal
The move marks another major expansion for Savvy Games Group
Squeezed Margins
Matthew Ball interview: Can new stores and D2C turn the tide on high UA costs?
A look at mobile gaming's discovery challenges and the pressure on profit margins as marketing and ad exchange expenses soar
New Games
New release roundup: Fortnite, Taimanin Squad, Goritaire, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
New Offerings
LinkedIn launches new logic puzzle game Patches
New title challenges players to complete grids with no gaps or overlaps
Environmental Impact
PlanetPlay rallies games industry for global “Battle for the Habitats” campaign
Industry-wide initiative aims to raise $1m for environmental conservation
Mobile Mavens
“A tale of two halves”: The Mobile Mavens weigh in on GDC 2026
From smaller attendance to a greater focus on meetings and side events, our Mobile Mavens discuss GDC 2026
Finding Fortnite
Fortnite is back on the Google Play Store today
Epic’s flagship returns after more than 5.5 years
Major Milestone
King’s Farm Heroes Saga officially hits $2 billion
PocketGamer.biz has learned that Farm Heroes Saga reached the $2 billion lifetime revenue mark
Funding News
Afrime Studios enters seed round after raising $400,000 to build afrofuturistic RPG Unyverse
The studio is targeting an estimated 670m gamers of African descent globally
Company Growth
Playstack profit jumps 59% as Balatro and Abiotic Factor drive record sales
Balatro gains momentum through 25 IP collaborations and a top-performing premium mobile version
New Offerings
Sustainable Games Alliance rolls out energy-saving tools across major engines
New plugins target Unreal, Unity and Godot to reduce power usage at scale
Industry Insights
The link between product and marketing teams in a competitive market
Evgenii Dobrelia examines how closer collaboration between product and marketing teams is becoming critical in an increasingly competitive games market
Milestone
Deluxe Creation’s Stickman Fight: Magic Brawl surpasses 300,000 downloads
International audiences drive the game’s strongest revenue performance
New Partnerships
Krafton signs strategic alliance with Hanwha Aerospace to develop real-world AI systems
The company will back a $1bn fund targeting AI, robotics and defence startups
Developer Support
Malmö boosts games industry with new funding push for startups
Nearly $400,000 annually will back new studios and early-stage developers
Service Disruption
Meta pulls Horizon Worlds from VR as platform shifts to mobile
Horizon Worlds will disappear from the Quest Store by March 31st 2026, with full shutdown on headsets by June 15th
M&a
Smartly signs letter of intent to acquire measurement platform Incrmntal
Terms of the deal were not disclosed
Alternative Marketplace
Epic Games Store opens up to mobile self-publishing in August
GM Steve Allison teases major publishers could release on the marketplace later this year
Epic Interview
Epic Games Store GM says Google deal marks a "meaningful reset" for mobile market
Steve Allison discusses why it made that Google deal, the challenges of overcoming incumbents, and its approach to discovery