Networking Opportunities
GDC week 2024: The unofficial parties, pitches, conferences and networking list
Your guide to what's on in San Francisco during one of the biggest events in the games industry calendar
Mena Market
GameCentric secures $1.5 million angel investment to fuel growth in MENA
The gaming platform aims to add more features to extend its footprint beyond the GCC & MENA region
Time To Tour
Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh gives players power over time and space
The annual Pokémon Go Tour has returned for its fourth year, this time focused on Sinnoh
Industry Insight
How to increase your game's metrics with a single event
Gradient Universe's Oxana Fomina shares the story of how one event helped multiple games reach new heights
Esa Event
ESA's charity speedrun event is now on, raising money for Make-A-Wish
Raising funds for Make-A-Wish and children with critical illnesses, the ESA’s winter event is taking place this week
Booted From Blizzard
136 jobs cut as Blizzard axes 68% of employees in Ireland
Blizzard’s Cork office employs around 200 people, roughly half of all its employees in the Republic of Ireland
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Midseason Invitational to feature at Esports World Cup
To celebrate the event, Esports World Cup and Honor of Kings will launch an exclusive in-game skin for fans.
Nitro Numbers
Nitro Games sees record Q4 revenue but the year’s net results remain red
Autogun Heroes supported a successful Q4 and pushed Nitro Games to a stronger 2023, but the dev’s not in the green just yet
Apple Vs Europe
Fortnite and Epic Games are coming back to iOS in Europe
Hell has frozen over and the Fortnite developer and publisher is coming back to iOS three years after being frozen out
More Acquisitions
Monumental acquires Coin Dozer publisher Game Circus
“We're happy and excited to partner with Monty and his very talented team at Monumental," said Games Circus CEO Donnie Thompson
Layoff News
Paramount Global lays off Nickelodeon's entire Noggin team
The company is set to lay off 800 employees, approximately 3% of its total workforce
Podcast
The data and trends defining mobile gaming with Karl Knights and Lirui Ding | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team and guests give you the state of play. This week we're joined by experts from data.ai and Transcend Fund
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell revenues decline, Ubisoft’s mobile games plummet, but MTG signs a Monumental acquisition
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Week That Was
Week in Views - Xbox App Store appetite, Zuck's Vision Pro dis and Japan goes geo-loco!
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Moving On
Global Game Jam's Tim Cullings to step down
Established in 2008, Global Game Jam is the world’s largest game-creation event, held both physically and virtually across the globe
Xbox App Store
Microsoft's app store intentions, new hardware and an Xbox Cloud Gaming app on iOS?
While disappointing cross-platform plans took centre stage at the Xbox business update, glimmers of app store plans and new hardware saved the day
Mena
How to engage Middle Eastern gamers and get ahead of the curve
Tactical’s Gaynelle Brautigam on why understanding culture, context and impact is important for marketers looking for Middle East growth
Award Winners
What the Car? wins Mobile Game of the Year at DICE Awards
Apple Arcade racer beats Honkai: Star Rail, Terra Nil, Gubbins and Hello Kitty Island Adventure to accolade
Job News
AdInMo taps John Rankin as new chief revenue officer
"It does feel like I’m coming home," said Rankin.
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from pixelart potions to arcade action
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Surprise!
Zuckerberg tries Apple Vision Pro: "Quest 3 is the better product. Period."
The guy who's been pushing VR for years doesn't rate Apple's upstart. Meanwhile the end of Apple's 14 day no quibble refunds sparks a drove of headset returns
20th Century And Beyond
Reverse: 1999 surpasses $50 million with increasingly monetised Japanese audience
Bluepoch’s launch title has surpassed $50 million in just over four months since global release
Mobile Fintech
Former Xsolla executives team up for mobile fintech company Aghanim
The company also plans to establish an advisory board consisting of key partners to improve the platform and align priorities.
Moderately Mobile
Embracer sees record $1.2 billion in Q3 earnings after axing 1,400 staff
Restructuring plans are "tracking well" but are unlikely to reach all targets by end of the fiscal year
Interview
“We went from feeling like we were finished to making nearly $100m last year!”
Space Ape Games co-founder Simon Hade reflects on the studio's eleven year journey and what the team are working on next
Developer Issues Warning
Lethal Company developer warns of mobile app "scam"
Details on the Play Store shows that an unofficial Lethal Company mobile game was released on December 21, 2023
Moving From Mobile
Only 7% of Ubisoft’s net bookings are from mobile, down 28% YoY
Ubisoft’s console lineup has brought in the bulk of its bookings in Q1-Q3
Appointments
Leadership reshuffles at Xsolla put the company's founder back in the hot seat
Shurick Agapitov is back at Xsolla, taking the CEO role as Chris Hewish moves to chief strategy officer role
Pr Power
1SP Agency acquires Renaissance PR for "superagency" status
Renaissance PR founder Stefano Petrullo has worked with gaming names from TiMi Studio to Koei Tecmo
Publishing Power
Nitro Games strikes Autogun Heroes publishing deal with Unity’s Supersonic
Autogun Heroes originally launched in 2023 with Nitro Games as developer and publisher
Applovin Ai
AppLovin reveals AI ad creative tips as its SparkLabs team triples production
Generative AI is becoming increasingly prominent in the industry, with features such as content-aware fill becoming a boon for ad creatives
Multi-platform
Why gaming is going cross-platform and how to tackle the user acquisition problem
Adjust’s Gijsbert Pols and Upptic’s Warren Woodward discuss the growing importance of cross-platform gaming
Future Plans
Supercell reveals year-on-year declines in revenue and EBITDA but promises "big and bold changes"
All the talk this morning at Supercell's financial reveal was about restructure, more trust and less distraction
Live And Direct
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen's annual blog for 2024: "Something absolutely had to change"
Taking to the stage this morning Paananen revealed the company's financials and spelt out his annual state of play
Industry Insights
“The mobile games industry has become stuck in the mud”: Apple’s war for its 30% revenue share
Analysts, publishers and payment providers discuss Apple's recent App Store policy changes in the US and European Union
Head Hiring
Former EA exec and mobile app recruitment specialist Jeff Chaiken joins Skybound Entertainment
Jeff Chaiken joins Skybound as senior vice president and head of corporate development and strategy
Job Losses
Scopely's Kingdom Maker team sees lay-offs
The losses centre around developer Global Worldwide and their Kingdom Maker mobile game
Gacha Giants
Genshin Impact is top for gacha earnings while Honkai: Star Rail slides
Three of the top five gacha games have had a great start to 2024, but who's moving up and who's moving down in the earnings charts?
Hypercasual Hero
Mobile revenue exceeds Take-Two’s expectations, making over $2 billion in nine months
Take-Two subsidiary Zynga accounted for 51% of the holding company’s earnings in the latest quarter
Moving Up
Com2Us pile on the style with new Hollywood HQ
An upgraded new location paves the way for the Korean company's US growth tactics and new mainstream direction
Lead Layoffs
Popcore undergoes "wave of layoffs" impacting key staff
Employees appear to have been let go on February 12 2024
Mtg Manoeuvre
MTG pulls the trigger on a Monumental Kongregate acquisition
The two studios will join with MTG taking 30% of the new company which will be led by Monty Kerr, current Monumental CEO
Rising Stars
Hypercasual rules as dating sim Love and Deepspace is January's app ranking breakout star
Data.ai's monthly gaming pulse for January reveals which new games globally are the ones to watch
Japan Generation
Japan generates 50% of worldwide geolocation game spending
Niantic and Square Enix lead the way for player spending in location-based games
Web Store Wave
Niantic moves Pokémon Go redeem codes exclusively to web store
As the use of web stores grow in popularity, it's Niantic's turn to play the game with exclusive offers on board
State Of Play 2024
Xsolla releases a new winter 2024 edition of the State Of Play report
Xsolla provides insights into video games by taking a look back and providing insights into what is to come in 2024
Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
Gaming veteran Chris Heatherly raises $3 million for new game venture
Shima Capital led the funding round with participation from Sfermion, GSR Markets, Arca, Lyrik Ventures, Flying Falcon, Press Start Capital, and 32-Bit Ventures.
Lawsuit Triumph
Jury delivers Skillz a $42.9 million victory in AviaGames patent lawsuit
"We’re very pleased with the verdict. It’s a step in the right direction to promoting fairness in our industry," said Andrew Dahlinghaus, general counsel of Skillz
Podcast
Mistplay’s Gabriel Lewis on leveraging loyalty to keep paying players coming back | 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…
Hot Five
Hot Five: Apple and Roblox embrace AI, a Match Factory milestone, and Warframe mobile gets further funding
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz