Deal Tracker
Show Me The Money: Scopely closes $3.5bn Niantic deal, UK gets £30m Games Growth Package, and Moshi Monsters' crowdfunding push in June 2025
Show Me The Money: The big deals from June 2025
Revenue Race
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby trots to $6.6m outside Japan after 18 days
Cygames’ flagship was Japan’s top-grossing mobile game in 2021 and 2022, and expanded into the West on June 26th, 2025
New Offerings
Discord launches Orbs to scale in-app rewards
Orbs give Discord users new ways to earn rewards and explore premium features like Nitro
Industry Outlook
Games industry deal value hits $6.2bn in Q2 2025
New report from Aream & Co shows that mobile revenue remains steady at $20bn quarterly
Coin Master Go
Moon Active takes on Scopely with Monopoly Go-like Coin Master - Board Adventure
Scopely took inspiration from the hit casual casino game - now Moon Active is returning the favour
Strategy Spending
Whiteout Survival hits $3bn in player spending in under 2.5 years
Century Games’ strategy title has been among the five highest-earning mobile games every month this year
Company Spotlight
Company spotlight: Digital Turbine
Find out more about Digital Turbine, The Austin, Texas headquartered ad tech company that bills itself as 'your direct line to the moments that matter'
Hot Five
Hot Five: Pokémon Go’s ninth anniversary, Clash Royale’s Merge Tactics mode, and China's domestic licence changes
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Age Of Casual
Tencent gives Age of Empires the Last War treatment on mobile
Age of Empires: Survival brings hypercasual gameplay to the longstanding strategy franchise
Podcast | Episode 60
Games investment tips, Clash Royale's evolution, and China's rising global influence | 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 60...
Week In Views
Raising investment in 2025 and Pokémon Go's $8.8 billion milestone | 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: DC Worlds Collide, Subnautica, Raising Reincarnated SwordMage, and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover over the past week
New Partnerships
Genies partners with Unity to bring AI avatar tools and IP assets to developers
Genies will debut a custom landing page in the Unity Asset Store later in 2025, with full integration into the Unity Editor set for 2026
Roguelike Revenue
Habby's Wittle Defender hits $10m in gross player spending
Habby’s tower defence title launched worldwide on Android and iOS on June 9th
The Power Of Playables
Interactive ads surge 20% among top apps as advertisers bet big on playables
Liftoff’s latest report shows the playable ads formats grew eight times higher than non-playables for top spenders last year
Bitcoin Comeback
SaruTobi is first game on iOS with ZBD-powered Bitcoin microtransactions
The game is the first on the App Store to use ZBD's Lightning Network for Bitcoin integration
Strike Over
Video games strike ends after 11 months as SAG-AFTRA ratifies new contract
The new agreement includes an immediate pay increase of over 15% for performers, with raises scheduled for November 2025, 2026 and 2027
Building And Bolstering
French dev Million Victories secures almost $40m in funding from Haveli Investments
The studio’s flagship mobile game Million Lords: World Conquest has 100,000 monthly players
Deal Deluge
Games M&A hits $3bn disclosed deal value in Q2 2025
A new wave of M&A through late 2025 and into 2026 is expected as companies leverage improved valuations for growth
Creating A Council
UK Video Games Council establishes to inform and support government policy
The council will be supported by UK trade bodies Ukie and TIGA, with ongoing input from the wider industry
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: The verdict on Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft's games strategy
We asked our Mobile Mavens how they feel about Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s "play anywhere" shift and whether the subscription service model really works for games
Resilient Growth
Green Game Jam reached 108m daily active players to spur real-world climate action in 2024
The new Playing for the Planet Annual Impact report shows that the alliance fell short of its goal to grow membership by 25%, achieving a 14% increase
Data Diligence
The IAB updates its Diligence Platform to educate data suppliers in "increasingly regulated environment"
The update follows after the IAB’s new Gaming Measurement Framework, outlining ad formats for games
Playable Ads For Mid & Hardcore
How to build great playable ads for midcore/hardcore games
"The ad we produced together allowed users to experiment with how different character combinations impact the battle experience"
Revenue Royale
Clash Royale hits post-pandemic record of $3.8m daily revenue with new mode Merge Tactics
Daily player spending has reached its highest since 2021
Anime Ahead
Garena Free Fire anime details emerge in new teaser trailer
The series is being directed by Ken Takahashi, who previously worked on Fate/Grand Order’s anime adaptation
Marvellous Mena
Gimzat Studios co-founders Khaled Mansour and Ahmed Khalaf talk hybridcasual strategy, platform priorities and MENA opportunities
"To reach Africa’s growing mobile audience, localisation and device optimisation are critical."
Clash Newcomer
Supercell releases major Clash Royale update with new game mode Merge Tactics
The new mode is fully turn-based with ‘Rulers’, turn-based battles and more
China Changes
Overseas studios to be eligible for domestic licences in China for games developed in Shanghai
The Shanghai Municipal Government will test this in a pilot programme
New Offerings
Savvy Games Group and PNU’s Applied College sign MoU to equip women for careers in games development
Training will cover areas like concept design, 3D modelling, animation and interactive storytelling
Sporty Celebration
MLB Rivals hits 5m downloads and 1bn pitches as it marks second anniversary
Developer Com2uS is offering players a series of special events and rewards both in-game and on social media
Moving To Mobile
Global Worldwide closes funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures in mobile manoeuvre
The oversubscribed round was "tough" in the current AI landscape, according to chairman and CEO Will Harbin
Apple Troubles
Apple appeals $587m EU fine over App Store practices
The iPhone maker said it was forced to appeal to avoid “punitive” daily fines
New Partnerships
The CoLab partners with Universally Speaking to boost quality of indie games
The collaboration will improve quality and strengthen relationships between publishers and studios
Elevator Pitch
A step-by-step guide to a successful elevator pitch
How to pitch your game product efficiently to secure future support
The Power Of Pokemon
Pokémon Go celebrates ninth anniversary and $8.8bn in gross player spending
Total earnings are likely even higher when including alternative stores, Go’s web shop and more
Victorious Valorant
Valorant Mobile hits 40m pre-registrations in China
Riot Games opened pre-registrations on April 21st, exclusively for the Chinese version
Job News
Stillfront recruits Emily Villatte as chief financial officer
She will assume the position on January 7th, 2026 from interim Group CFO Tim Holland
Suites And Services
Keywords’ Liquid Violet expands London studio with new recording and mixing suites
Liquid Violet will now offer end-to-end audio services through a partnership with fellow Keywords subsidiary Laced
Lawsuit Triumph
French court hands suspended sentences to three ex-Ubisoft executives over workplace harassment
All three executives left the company in 2020 following the investigations
Esports Tournament
The Battle of Polytopia Global World Championship set to kick off with $10,000 prize pool
This year's prize pool marks the biggest competitive event in the game’s nine-year history
Recruitment
How games industry professionals are finding their next role with PGC Careers Zone
Recruitment with Sandsoft and Games Factory Talents proves that face-to-face networking and AI-powered matchmaking works
Hot Five
Hot Five: Zenless Zone Zero's $442m year one, King reportedly loses 10% of staff, and Toca Boca hit by layoffs
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Failure To Launch
What happens now for Xbox's mobile ambitions?
Microsoft's mobile strategy is cooked
Podcast | Episode 59
A dark day for Xbox | 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 59...
Week In Views
Layoffs at Xbox raise questions about its future, and Rovio needs the greenlight from Sega | 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: Angry Birds Bounce, Mo.co, Goat Simulator 3 and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Zenless Celebration
Zenless Zone Zero celebrates first anniversary with $442.1m, just 23% of Genshin Impact’s year one
HoYoverse’s latest gacha game generated nearly one-third of its lifetime mobile revenue in its launch month
Pgc Barcelona
The value of retargeting players and when to do it
RTB House gaming account director Vera Manhoso talks data preparation and integrating an MMP at PGC Barcelona 2025
New Offerings
NetEase's Destiny: Rising hits 5 million pre-registrations ahead of August 28th global launch
Players who pre-registered early will receive in-game rewards