Mission Accomplished
Done deal: Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal approved by UK regulators
Video game's biggest deal ever just got approved with Activision Blizzard becoming part of Microsoft for $68.7 billion
Round-up Report
New releases, new modes, and new events: Here's what's new in mobile gaming
A new GameRefinery report analyses the gaming market to identify September's top performers
Legacy
Why good legacy mobile games deserve a new lease of life
SuperScale’s Ivan Trancik discusses legacy game management and how publishers have revived old games through new methods
New Announcements
EA announces turn-based football game for mobile, EA Sports FC Tactical
Not an extension or update to EA Sports FC but a whole new strategy football game exclusively on mobile
Rebrands
Game Taco renames itself to WorldWinner after acquisition of trademark
The original WorldWinner was acquired in 2021 by Game Taco
Redundancies
Team17 cuts are so deep that devs are concerned whether company can still function
A third of the company’s workforce may now be axed
Acquisitions
Xsolla acquires Lightstream, Rainmaker and API.stream in big third-party assets round-up
The three assets were all acquired from previous owner Videndum
Industry Investigations
India arrests Vivo smartphone executives in latest China retaliation
Vivo has previously come under investigation in a money laundering probe
African Advancement
Sony Ventures to invest $10M via new fund for African startups
Fintech may be Africa’s biggest funding category, but Sony’s focus is on entertainment
Welcome To Mo.co
Supercell has announced its latest game. Take "a leap into the unknown" in mo.co
The new monster-hunting game will enter beta testing in the USA in late October
New Releases
Developer Jadu to launch “first ever” AR mobile fighting game
The alternative reality title features collaborations with famous names such as Michael Bay
Halloween Activations
Zynga kickstarts Halloween early with in-game events across 17 titles
The company is running its biggest ever campaign of activations to celebrate the season
Closures
Alien: Isolation spin-off mobile game Alien: Blackout to be shuttered, joining raft of closures this year
The loss of titles that have been closed down during 2023 continues to grow
Battle Of Behemoths
Monster Hunter Now is Niantic’s second biggest game with $31.44 million in one month
Niantic and Capcom’s latest project is a roaring success by every metric
Runtime Rumour
AppLovin may make a second attempt at buying Unity, rumours suggest
Unity’s Runtime Fee backlash has led to a 40% drop in shares
Parental Perception
UK kids are most likely to make in-game purchases, but only 4% spend on loot boxes
Ipsos’ latest report for Video Games Europe finds in-game spending among children is highest in the UK
Disney Acquisition
Disney CEO Bob Iger is considering the acquisition of a major publisher
Disney is one of the world’s best known entertainment brands, may be on the brink of a major gaming acquisition
Statistics
Stumble Guys & Monopoly Go struggle in Latin America as report reveals the region's top games
Global chart toppers struggle to cut through in Latin America
Q&a
Behind the scenes: The making of Netmarble’s Grand Cross: Age of Titans
CEO Woo Won Seo and project director Min Suk Kang tell the story of the game and their plans for its future
10 Years Of Pgc
PG Connects celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2024
Join us in London and share your own PG Stories from a decade of games industry connecting
Chessboard Champs
Chess is playing the long game: The rise of the auto chess genre
Auto chess has been a popular genre since 2019 and is working its way into more and more games
Runtime Result
Everything you need to know about Unity’s new CEO Jim Whitehurst
With John Riccitiello stepping down after nine years, who's Unity's new boss and how much will it change under his watch?
Xsolla Payments
Xsolla unveils its new payment system Headless Checkout
The company are further enhancing their popular Xsolla Pay Station service giving devs the ability to build customisable, branded purchasing experiences for their players
Green Gaming
Tencent, Apple, Ubisoft, and Nintendo lead the industry in carbon emission reduction
The games industry is slowly going green, but still emitted 81 million tonnes of greenhouse gases last year
Mobile-to-pc
Supercell to bring Clash of Clans and Clash Royale to PC for the first time
Supercell’s flagship title and spin-off will be available via Google Play Games
Gaming In Korea
RPGs account for 60% of Korea’s mobile game sales
MMORPG's proved particularly successful, while squad-based RPGs showed strong growth
Unity Runtime Fee
Unity's Runtime Fee Farrago: The whole story in one place
From start to finish. Want to know why the games industry got so blazing mad at one of its most popular development platforms and why its CEO just got offed? Look no further…
September Success
China’s top publishers generated $1.96 billion this September
39 out of 100 top publishers were based in China last month
Q&a
Homa's Henry Lowenfels: "I’ve been part of successful companies in the past, but the level of ambition and grit that I see at Homa is unparalleled"
Homa’s new president and chief business officer shares details on his new role and the state of the mobile market
Two Tactics
Too big for your rules? miHoYo tried to dodge Apple App Store fees twice in one month
Apple has scuppered miHoYo’s fee aversion tactics twice - removing apps and disabling features
Regulation
Apple and Google could be on the hook for $50.5 million fine in Korea
The KCC has sought remediation after accusing the two companies of anti-competitive practices on mobile
Expansion
Metacore opens first overseas office in Berlin as Merge Mansion hits 50m downloads
The developer has expanded rapidly over the past few years thanks to the success of their breakout merge hit
Time Runs Out
Unity CEO John Riccitiello exits after runtime fee backlash
Former IBM president James M. Whitehurst has been appointed as interim CEO, president, and board member
Generative Ai
Generative AI deals fell to 101 deals in 2023’s third quarter
The amount represents a 29% decline from 142 in the second quarter
Cloud Competition
Amazon and Microsoft cloud services to face CMA competition probe
The competition and markets authority will investigate the tech giants to ensure fair play
Profile
Company Spotlight: AppQuantum
Find out more about the mobile games publisher helping talented developers around the globe focus on making mobile games they love
Collaborations
Subway Surfers collaborate with Universal Pictures for Back to the Future crossover
The classic film will be the first multimedia collaboration that Subway Surfers has introduced
Interview
Snowprint Studios' Alexander Ekvall talks iconic IP and acquisition. "It’s challenging out there and making a great game isn’t always enough."
With Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus performing and acquisition by Modern Times Group complete, we ask their CEO out what's next for Snowprint?
Job News
Homa appoints Emma Egan-Lawless as head of user acquisition
Egan-Lawless previously held the role of growth director at AppLovin
Hot Five
Hot Five: Niantic has a new star, Epic warns of "degradation in quality", and new games hit the market
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Statistics
Konami is the king of mobile sports games in Japan - and worldwide
While best known for its big name gaming franchises, Konami's sporting portfolio on mobile is certainly no slouch
Reigning Revenue Raisers
Top 10 highest-grossing mobile games of all time
From Candy Crush and Clash of Clans to Pokémon and Lineage M
Five Great Games
New release roundup: Our weekly pick of the best new mobile games
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
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 big name games coming to mobile, unique marketing tactics, acquisitions and more
Q&a
Million Victories CEO Benoît Ducrest celebrates Million Lords milestones
Million Victories have implemented a 3D visual upgrade to its Million Lords game and is currently prototyping a new game
Stocks
Embracer Group dropped from top stocks list by S&P
The lack of faith in the group exhibited by their exclusion is a further blow to the embattled company
Investor Tips
Why investors hate content risk and how to overcome it
F4 Fund's David Kaye offers developers advice on how to entice investors
Acquiblizz
Microsoft hopes to close its Activision Blizzard deal as early as October 13
The long-running saga may finally be coming to a close
Hypercasual Report
3.5 billion hypercasual games installed in 2023's third quarter
The figure represents an 8% quarter on quarter decrease
Job Cuts
Telltale layoffs in progress at resurrected company
Redundancies are being made at The Walking Dead creator, but numbers are still unclear