New Release
What is Pokémon Sleep? The latest craze explained
The game brings the world of sleep tracking apps to one of the world’s most beloved franchises
Q&a
Mighty Bear Games’ Simon Davis: "Blockchain technology should just exist to amplify the gaming experience"
Mighty Bear Games CEO Simon Davis discusses the untapped gaming potential of the blockchain and the challenges of today's mobile market
Collaborations
Why mobile is a crucial part of Barbie’s multimedia domination
With their new live-action movie in cinemas, Mattel are making mobile a cornerstone of their Barbie push
Deals
Sega's Rovio deal clears regulatory hurdles and gets the green light
Barring a sudden 11th hour flap, the Sega's Rovio acquisition is set to go ahead
Interview
Speaker Spotlight: Skillprint’s Davin Miyoshi on using AI to personalise your games
Skillprint’s co-founder and CPO shared how AI can help developers to better understand their players
Financials
CyberAgent sees lean financials with game sales down 27.7%
The company operates major hits in Japan such as Uma Musume Pretty Derby
Venture Funding
Valhalla Ventures launches $66 million fund for gaming investment
The firm is targeting “audacious entrepreneurs” across games and mobile
Apple Vs. Consumers
Apple's "anti-competitive" App Store woes continue with a $1 billion class action lawsuit
The suit accuses the company of acting anti-competitively with its imposition of a 30% fee on in-app purchases
Ranking
Japan's top earning mobile games continue to dominate in the first half of 2023
Pole position and number two swap places while third place holds its own
Report
Consumers spent 2.5 trillion hours on Android in H1 2023. What's does that mean for mobile?
New reports show a 4% increase in time spent on Android - more than ever before
Ranking
Honor of Kings tops Weibo’s trending list with Honkai: Star Rail in hot pursuit
The microblogging site is one of China’s most popular social media sites and offers an interesting insight into the market
Download Report
Garena Free Fire rides Spider-Man's success to top June 2023's most downloaded mobile games
The results are in with familiar names rubbing shoulders with old classics
Stillfront Financials
Stillfront earned over $174 million in revenue in Q2 2023
Mashup and casual titles remain the company’s most profitable, however other genres are gaining momentum
Gameanalytics Report
USA game ad revenue to reach $130 billion in 2025
But currently only accounts for less than 6% of total ad spend in the USA
Q&a
Scriptic’s Nihal Tharoor: “AI is essentially another creative tool in the toolbox, not a replacement.”
Formerly known as ElectricNoir, Scriptic create interactive experiences on mobile
Growing Your Game
Socialisation in gaming: The trend for increased retention and revenue
Gameram’s chief partnerships manager Valeriia Diu explains how your community can help your game grow
Back With A Bang
PG Connects Toronto welcomes over 750 attendees from 37 countries for two days of insightful discussions and networking!
Our third conference in Canada welcomed over 750 delegates from 374 companies, 110 speakers, and represented 37 countries
Advertising
What does Roblox’s new ad network look like?
Behind the scenes on their new 'immersive ads' which echo the trend and ride the rising wave of intrinsic advertising
Talks
How Failbetter flubbed, then rescued the launch of Mask of the Rose
Communications director Hannah Flynn gave us the inside track at Develop: Brighton
Feature
The great casual game revival
Lessons from the past, hypercasual’s evolution, and opportunities for the post-ATT future
Deals
Is the Kahoot deal an endorsement of edtech & party games, or a move to private for mobile?
The multiplayer quiz title is used widely in educational settings
Gaming Report
India accounted for 15.29% of game downloads in the first six months of 2023
One of the world’s biggest mobile gaming markets continues its meteoric rise
Podcast
AR, AI, and Subscription Models — Oh, My! | Podcast
Our PocketGamer.biz team recaps GDC 2023 and riff on the topics that stole this year’s show.
Milestones
My.Games’ Left to Survive celebrates its five-year anniversary and 1.2m monthly active users
The title is a cornerstone of the company’s catalogue of free-to-play games
Investment
GameStake Technologies raises £630,000 in seed funding for “rewarded play” gaming
The company is pursuing the “rewarded play” style of monetisation
Clash Of The Titans
Eggy Party's success intensified NetEase & Tencent's war for casual supremacy
The tech giants have long been at the top of the mobile games space, but NetEase's recent win has raised the stakes
Job News
July's Mobile Movers and Shakers: Gameloft appoints a new lead game designer while MYSTiC gets a new CMO
July has seen some significant moves by some of the industry's biggest company's - here's just a few
Very Big Indie Pitch
Hero of Aethric conquers the competition and wins The Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto
Winners breakdown
Investment
New studio Closing Theory raises $2.3m investment
The studio was co-founded by two previous members of the company Macro
Here Be Dragons
Dragon Quest Champions surpassed $10 million two weeks after release
The game is closing in on Dragon Quest Walk in Square Enix’s mobile revenue share
Success In Funding
Singapore’s Eyeball Games raised $1.5 million for blockchain pool game
The fund highlights Singapore’s growing place in the mobile gaming industry
Podcast
Unleashing the worlds within worlds | Podcast
Charisma’s Guy Gadney on pioneering new forms of games entertainment by casting audiences inside the stories
Milestones
Call of Duty: Mobile passes $3bn in lifetime revenue, half of all engagement for the franchise is on mobile
The milestone was revealed in Activision Blizzard’s financials which said half of all engagement was on mobile
Ubisoft Financials
Ubisoft saw $298 million in net bookings in Q1 of the 2023-24 fiscal year, but mobile faltered
The gaming giant saw huge success, but struggled on gaming’s biggest platform
Taxes
Indian government clarifies 28% tax does not apply to mobile games
Industry professionals have claimed misinformation from real money gaming companies fuelled speculation
Unmissable Savings
Indies, take your career to the next level at PG Connects Helsinki this September 12-13
Book your ticket to PG Connects Helsinki today to give your indie brand a boost and save big with our Early Bird offer!
Releases
Jam City tackles DC and heads into MENA with Heroes & Villains puzzle RPG game
The studio is seeking to expand its free-to-play offerings and licenced titles
Breakdown
Drake Star's Global Gaming Report: Breaking down the numbers, charts and more
What do Drake Star’s charts and graphs tell us about the gaming industry today?
Australian Investment
Screen Australia invests $3 million into gaming as part of the country’s digital entertainment goals
The fund sees 23 games with budgets below $500,000 receive fresh cash influxes
Mobile Masterworks
Mobile Masterworks: Candy Crush
The iconic match3 game single-handedly helped popularise the genre
Investment
Drake Star's Gaming Index rises by 15% private financing worth $700m in Q2 2023
The firm points to major deals like the Activision Blizzard and Scopely acquisitions while noting a lower level of investment
Profile
Speaker Spotlight: Gameloft's Renee Wong on pushing your team without crunching them
The communication specialist talks us through her talk at PGC Toronto, and how you can create a healthy work environment in games
Revenue
With 66 million daily visitors Roblox makes as much money as some small countries, now they want more
The company wants to push a more community-friendly approach to transactions on the platform
Financials
King celebrates 9% year-on-year increase in net revenue
Candy Crush remains the company's top performer, being the USA's top-grossing title for the 24th consecutive quarter
Activision Blizzard Financials
43% of Activision Blizzard’s Q2 2023 revenue came from mobile
Despite growth in every vertical, mobile remains the company’s top performer
Women In Games Series
Jam City’s Radostina Zhekova and Winnie Wen on UA creativity and the rise of female gaming audiences
In part two of their series exploring inspirational women working in games, Liftoff invites Radostina Zhekova and Winnie Wen to discuss user acquisition, creativity and more
Releases
NetEase’s newly-released Justice Online tops the iOS App Store charts
The game was previously tipped to use AI for character dialogue at certain points
Announcements
Hit comic book series Invincible to get new mobile game courtesy of Ubisoft
The series has seen a major boost in visibility thanks to a hugely successful animated show
User Insights
Katya Moskalenko: “Brands need behavioural data to tap into the gaming industry's enormous potential”
Measure Protocol aims to provide brands with valuable user insights to help them make informed decisions
Success In Funding
FIFA AI Soccer League dev Futureverse raises $54 million in series A funding round
The company will use this funding to further its metaverse goals and create more blockchain games