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
Week That Was
Week in Views - Elden Ring goes mobile, Apple gets artificially intelligent, and Fortnite goes Disney
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: Jobs 2024: How to find the best talent and land your dream role
Our Mobile Mavens share their thoughts on the current hiring and careers landscape
Charity Milestone
Humble Bundle reaches $250 million mark in support of charities worldwide
"We’re proud to have brought funding and awareness to some of the most urgent social and environmental issues over the years," said Kamini Tiwari, VP of social impact at Humble.
Mobile Gaming Ecosystem
Matchingham Games' Ginger Joy spin-off secures $1.26M for Web3 gaming
Ginger Joy aims to develop Web3 games specifically designed for mobile devices
Done Deal
Jagex changes hands for the sixth time in ten years
Current owners Carlyle to sell Jagex to CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments following extended negotiations
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from time travel masters to Netflix spinoffs
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Brand Integration
Room 8 Group expands with PUGA and Massive Black integration
The integration is expected to streamline processes, foster innovation and expedite project delivery
Google Rules
Time's up… So how did the top 100 grossing games respond to Google’s CMP requirements?
GameBiz Consulting's Božo Janković shows how the top mobile games have coped with Google’s latest requirements
Ai Insights
Apple has acquired more AI companies than any of its competitors
Think that Apple are behind on AI? Siri is just the visible tip of the iceberg with this year's iOS and iPhone set to leap ahead
2024 Mobile Games Trends
Cracking the Code: CrazyLabs' Gaming Experts Reveal 2024 Mobile Gaming Trends
The CrazyLabs team dig into the key changes and challenges facing the mobile games market in the year ahead - with expert insight and advice for studios worldwide
Microsoft Mucks Up
FTC cries foul at Microsoft’s 1,900 layoffs with Activision Blizzard merger under threat
Microsoft counter claim that Activision Blizzard were already planning layoffs before taking them on
Quality Assurance
Square Enix commits to improving game quality following failures
A new system is set to be unveiled in spring, with various sources from the conference call indicating its implementation in April.
Indonesia's Intentions
Publishing in Indonesia? New laws could require you to set up a company there
The Indonesian government is looking to update its legal requirements for game publishers in order to avoid being "just a spectator"
Mighty Mobile
Krafton earned record-breaking $1.4 billion in 2023 with 66% from mobile
Krafton’s mobile earnings grew by 34.5% in Q4
Epic Deal
Disney invests $1.5 billion into Epic Games as it plots new "entertainment universe" with Fortnite
The Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger labels partnership the company's “biggest entry ever into the world of games”
Mobile Marketing Insights
New SocialPeta 2023 white paper highlights growth and emerging markets
New white paper analyses the core dynamics of the global mobile gaming market in 2023 and gives insight into the data behind the biggest marketing trends
Roblox Victory Rally
Roblox rises with $2.8 billion in revenue and 68 million DAUs in 2023
Roblox users spent 60 billion hours on the platform in 2023
Rpg Revenue
Netmarble net loss down 65% in 2023
RPGs advanced Netmarble’s Q4 to its strongest quarter of the year
A Good Year
Stillfront Group profits grow 84% to $15.5 million in 2023
“Stillfront’s bookings returned to positive organic growth for the months of November and December in the fourth quarter," said CEO Jörgen Larsson
More Than Gdc
Five ways to get the most out of GDC week outside of the main event
PG Connects San Francisco has all you need to make the busiest week in March the best for your business
Dena Data
DeNA pulls back from China as game profits fall 95%, but there’s optimism for Q4
DeNA’s games made a loss in Q3, though its livestreaming revenue is on the rise
Difficulty Balance
Difficulty curves: Find the right balance and boost retention and revenue
Product design director Guy Agiv discusses maximising your games monetisation and retaining players via the perfect difficulty curve
Pgc Stories
PGC Stories: "I connected with lots of fantastic people in the industry"
Global Game Jam's Tarja Porkka-Kontturi and Smilegate's Jiwon Kim share their favourite PGC memories
Digital Deal
Nitro Games receives further €3.5 million to continue Warframe mobile development
Digital Extremes’ popular IP turns 11 this year with a mobile version on the way
Translation Tech
Roblox introduces AI powered chat translator supporting 16 languages
Roblox continues to find new applications for AI, this time implementing a real-time chat translator, with more features to come
Dmarmageddon Asteroid Incoming
DMArmageddon? It doesn’t have to be the end of the world
The EU Digital Markets Act will significantly impact the games market. Usercentrics reveals why game creators will have to get serious about user consent
A Flying Start
Space Ape’s Chrome Valley Customs on track to beat Beatstar with $40m earned
Following Space Ape's most successful ever launch, the casual puzzler now has their other smash hit Beatstar in its sights
It's In The Game
EA reach $2.36 billion in Q3 earnings thanks to EA Sports FC
“EA SPORTS FC outperformed expectations again this quarter, delivering 7% year-over-year net bookings growth," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA.
Super Mario Success
Nintendo’s mobile and IP sales are up 93.4%
Nintendo reveals $9.38 billion earned in total sales across the first three quarters of its financial year
Analysis
Is Honkai: Star Rail cannibalising Genshin Impact?
Andriy Zmeul analyses the revenue drop for Genshin Impact and investigates if their own Honkai: Star Rail is to blame
A Major Update
Honkai: Star Rail hits 100m downloads and launches V2.0 today
The update will see the highly-anticipated Penacony realm make its debut with Apple Vision Pro compatibility on board too
Tencent Turnaround
China approves 32 overseas licences including Nexon and Tencent’s Mobile DnF
While an unstable landscape for games, China continues to prove a lucrative one
Gaming Trends
65% of game studios are working on live service games
30% are working on updates, while 65% of studios plan to increase their use of off-the-shelf tools, reveals new game development report