Yes, the rumours you've probably heard by now are true - Flappy Bird is coming back.
In case you're just logging onto the internet for the first time this year, Flappy Bird is the game that the majority of the mobile gaming industry lost its mind over a few months back when it shot to the very heights of success. And then, as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.
Now, it's confirmed to return this summer - but the real question will be how much of our collective attention will it manage to capture? And does this spell the end of the booming Flappy Bird clone cottage industry?
We're not sure about the former, and we're hoping for the latter - but it's still months until we're all swept up in Flappy Fever again so let's take a moment and look back on the Pocket Gamer Biz Week That Was.
PG Connects
- PG Connects is coming to Helsinki on June 16, and we already have Lima Sky, Ubisoft, King, Nordeus, Rovio, and Wargaming (among many, many others) signed up to speak. Looking to attend? Head over to our Eventbrite page to book your spot.
- We also shed some light on a few of our speakers, namely 15-year industry veteran Ben Cousins, Cie Games's Nathan Lutz, and Channel 4's Colin MacDonald.
- And if you're an indie planning to be in Helsinki, sign up for our Very Big Indie Pitch on Monday 16 June.
Tools and Platforms
- iPad shipments dropped 16 percent in Q1 2014, making it the sharpest drop in slate's sales history.
- PlayPhone release Part II of its Mobile Gaming Chronicle which showed - among other things - that 20 percent of mobile gamers would skip sex for Candy Crush.
- And rumours suggest that LG is looking to find a win with Windows Phone.
- While our weekly UK App Store Charts showed Blek and Minecraft flying high in the British sky.
Monetisation
- The Australian government gave developers down under a shock when it pulled $10 million in video game funding.
- We've all heard that time is money, but our Monetizer this week gave compelling reasons why your game needs to load in 30 seconds.
- And our Charticle looked at whether 2048's managed to clone Threes' success.
Industry voices
- Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell warned indies to stay off mobile until "you've built a name for yourself."
- Sky-Mmobi CEO Michael Tae Song opened up about how he hopes to find success publishing casual western titles in China.
- Our own Keith Andrew reflected on GameHorizon, sharing four things we learned from the conference.
- And SponsorPay's Felix Speiser shared his thoughts on why you should look beyond eCPM for ad revenue.
- Indie outfit Nautilus talked Real Cricket 14, and how they survived the sinking ship of Blackberry-exclusive games.
- While Christopher Kassulke from HandyGames shared his five top tips for a successful indie strategy.
User acquisition, retention, and discovery
- Flurry unveiled the next generation of its mobile video ads, which reportedly gave Pocket Gems a 5x Flurry revenue boost.
Funding, acquisitions, personnel, and shutterings
- Ready to become part of what might be the next Finnish powerhouse? F2P studio Boomlagoon announced that it's looking for new talent.
Financials
- After an acquisitive 2013, Gamevil started 2014 off on the right foot with Q1 profits up 104 percent.
- And Korean F2P publisher Nexon saw its Q1 game sales dip 4 percent, down to $70 million.