Dirty Deals?
Apple sacks App Store staff in China over potential deals with game developers
Free meals, nightclub outings and more were offered to iOS app store staff
Monster Milestone
Monster Hunter Now wins big with 10 million downloads in 35 days
Niantic’s latest success: Here's the story so far…
Forge Finds Funding
Riot-backed Forge raises $11M to launch a platform rewarding gamer communities
Makers Fund, Animoca Brands and Bitkraft Ventures led the round
Halloween Hunting
Monster Hunter Now’s first seasonal event embraces Halloween
Niantic’s latest will celebrate its first seasonal event six weeks on from launch
Alternative App Stores
Fortnite comes to the Oppo App Market alternative app store in Southeast Asia
The legal battle between Epic and Apple have heightened visibility of Apple’s scrupulous fees on their platform
Creator Support
PUBG Mobile to introduce $100 million creator fund for “Wonder Creators Network”
PUBG Studios have already invested $200,000 over the past two years
Streaming
Netflix expands television game streaming beta to the United States
The initial beta took place in Canada and the United Kingdom
Joys Of Japan
Japan’s mobile playerbase spends above and beyond on new mobile games
Diandian’s report shows how much Japanese players are willing to spend on the hottest new games
Loot Box Laws
South Korea to mandate 'probability displays' and investigate blockchain games on Apple and Google stores
Probability displays for card games will function similarly to the incumbent reveals of gacha and loot box odds
Loads Of Layoffs
Social storyteller and RPG developer Thought Pennies joins layoffs trend
Art director, producer, and design director each appear to have parted ways with the studio
Pgc San Francisco
Europe’s number one mobile gaming conference is coming to San Francisco in 2024!
Pocket Gamer Connects, the leading global mobile games industry conference series, is coming to San Francisco in March ahead of GDC.
Collaborations
YouTube celebrity MrBeast teams with Scopely’s Stumble Guys for new collaboration
The creator previously worked with Scopely on bringing exclusive levels and cosmetics to the game
Alternative App Stores
PUBG maker Krafton invests $14.8 million in alternate app store One Store
The South Korean store aims to expand in the West and take on big tech
Interview
Industry veterans create The Experimentation Group to boost industry growth
The consultancy group are offering their expertise for free
Where To Work
Metaverse company Roblox wants employees back in the office
Despite pioneering the virtual space, Roblox believes in-person is better for innovation and creativity
Netflix Games
Squid Game, Wednesday, Black Mirror, and more could become mobile games
Netflix is working hard to increase its gaming portfolio, with games based on some of its top series’ in the works
Mobile Milestones
As Bethesda veteran Pete Hines makes exit after 24 years, enjoy a brief history of Bethesda on mobile
Hines tenure saw many of Bethesda’s efforts to break into mobile
Data
South-east Asian mobile gaming market to exceed $7 billion in revenue by 2027
Mobile games remain the dominant part revenue in the region
Hybridcasual Hype
A casual revolution: Why even console devs want in on hybridcasual
Mobile changes fast, and while brave devs lead the way, there are plenty more happy to follow the lead
Payments
Supercell to partner with Carry1st for in-game purchase support in Africa
The Finnish developer’s games will soon support seamless payment in the emerging market
Spending And Selling
Epic Games delivers another 120 "fucked up" layoffs with Bandcamp sale
After 800 layoffs last month, Epic offloading Bandcamp has only led to further redundancies
China Vs Apple
Tim Cook makes a surprise appearance at Chinese Honor of Kings tournament
The unexpected live appearance comes amid a turbulent period for Apple’s relations with China
Making Of
Socialpoint's Akshay Bharadwaj on the making of Top Troops
Hybrid genres FTW! The team at Socialpoint shares how they built a fantasy RPG game with a blend of strategy, kingdom building and merge mechanics
Interview
GameHouse CEO Simonetta Lulli: “When I started there were zero females on the management team. Now after two years we make up 60% of it.”
GameHouse were recently visited by Apple CEO Tim Cook where the team shared 25 years of gaming making and developing with women in mind
Generations Of Gamers
94% of Gen Alpha are game enthusiasts, but gaming has universal appeal
Newzoo’s latest report analyses the different motivations of gamers in a variety of age groups
Women In Games
Big Fish Games’ Janice Gao on how keeping an open mind helped build up her mobile marketing skillset
Janice Gao talks to PG.biz about the value of marketing, the need for strategy, sustaining growth and the challenges of forging a career in the rapidly evolving global games market
Pokemon Party
Pokémon Go’s new Party Play aims to get even more gamers outside
The new feature sees players team up in groups of four and take on challenges
Cash And Grab
Will Grand Theft Auto be coming to Netflix?
There's early evidence and suggestion that Netflix is in discussions with developer Rockstar to secure GTA for their gaming platform
Bringing Bitcoin
AdInMo’s ZBD partnership will pay players Bitcoin in exchange for ad views
The partnership marks a first for their Rewarded InGamePlay and is available to community members now
Sundering Stereotypes
Gamers actually spend MORE time outdoors, but 58% still think they’re lazy
Research breaks down stereotypes around gamers and their health
Acquisition
Pole to Win’s SIDE acquires Star Trek: Fleet Command audio studio Vibe Avenue
PTW is a significant force in game localisation and other areas
Marketing And Demographics
78% of gamers play on mobile, with 44% considering it their primary device
Tinuiti examines the primary motivations of gamers, and how brands can appeal to them
Award
Matchingham Games wins Rising Star award at the Google App Summit in Dublin
The award is an endorsement of Matchingham’s rapid rise over the past few years
Analytics
Monopoly Go developer Scopely estimated to surpass $7bn in lifetime user spend
The Monopoly Go developer has earned big bucks from their portfolio
Saved From Stress
Almost half of all gamers find a good friend or spouse through gaming
The majority of gamers use games to de-stress and improve skills along the way
Hot Five
Hot Five: Unity’s new CEO, Applovin rumours, and the biggest deal in games industry history is complete
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Interview
GIMZ CEO Nikita Guk talks Unity Runtime Fee aftermath and 1000 signature-strong collective letter success
Unity’s runtime fee sparked near instant backlash, prompting a rapidly banded together of likeminded creatives to make their voices known. Here's their story.
Acquisition
Metacore to acquire Merge Mansion and Clash of Clans animators studio Piñata
The animation studio is Metacore’s first acquisition and will serve to bolster their creative abilities
China
Swedish-based Flamebait Games sees pay-to-play mobile title Passepartout receive 100k downloads in China
The ISBN licence for the game apparently took almost four years
Milestones
NoxGames’ Hexapolis hits one-million downloads milestone
The turn-based civ-like is an example of a smaller studio finding success even at a turbulent time for games
Done Deal
Microsoft's mobile mishaps: Why the Activision Blizzard deal had to happen
The tech giant has had a troubled history on mobile. Could gaming's biggest ever deal finally put right their wrongs?
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news, including acquisitions, giving Apple the swerve, shutterings, layoffs and more...
Interview
Wooga’s Nai Chang on Ghost Detective and collaborating with Netflix Games
“We are pleased to be breaking new ground with this launch, inspiring an ever-broader audience through our games and stories.”
Acquiblizz
Bobby Kotick out at Activision Blizzard
The company's CEO has confirmed he will continue his role until the end of 2023 after which time he'll be handing over to Microsoft management
It's Over
It's official. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is now complete
The "legendary teams" at Activision Blizzard and King are now part of Team Xbox
Opportunities For Indies
PG Connects Jordan 2023 is a MUST for Indies! Here's why...
Get an exclusive look at the unmissable opportunities for indie talent at PG Connects Jordan
Five New Games
New release roundup: Our weekly pick of the best new mobile games from pixel pandas to Roman adventures
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Q&a
Mike Levine on Mystic Moose’s auto chess battler Mojo Melee
The game is currently available on android and playable in a browser with an iOS release in beta testing
Podcast
Xsolla CEO Chris Hewish on creative commerce solutions to take control of your game | Podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team welcome Xsolla's Chris Hewish to the studio to talk about the company's creative commerce solutions and putting power back into the hands of developers worldwide
Acquiblizz
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: The complete timeline
From inception to lawsuits - how has the biggest deal in gaming history progressed?