News and insights for the mobile games industry.
Wooga’s failed match 3 game Switchcraft has sharpened the Playtika-owned studio’s focus on market validation. It’s also looking to expand beyond making games for older female players:
Managing director Nai Chang says the Playtika-owned June’s Journey maker is more focused than ever on market validation, and is looking expand beyond games for older female players.
Epic wants to bring its games “to other mobile app stores” as its own iOS Games Store gets ready for its EU launch in the next few months:
The Fortnite maker says its iOS Game Store is with Apple for approval as it targets an EU launch in the "next couple months".
This week’s newsletter looks at the dumb, vaguely insulting trend for porting triple-A console games to mobile:
It is cool that Apple and Ubisoft got Assassin's Creed Mirage running on an iPhone, but thinking anyone wants to actually buy it is kind of insulting.
In this week’s new games digest: Clash Heroes’ reboot, Umamusume goes west, CookieRun, Monster Hunter Puzzles, Thirsty Suitors, China’s new Civilization game and more:
Also this week: China gets a new Civilization game, indie bangers from Bart Bonte and Arnold Rauers and a big new shooter our of India.
Spry Fox doesn't have to worry about monetising its games ever again now it's part of Netflix – a "huge relief", says cofounder David Edery. The dev also says it wants to bring back Triple Town – and has another big game incoming:
We speak to cofounder and studio director David Edery about his “relief” at not having to worry about monetisation in the week Spry Fox launches Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit.
Our estimates suggest under 3,000 people have paid $49.99 to play Assassin’s Creed Mirage on iPhone since it launched on June 6. Those other console ports have bombed, too:
Estimates suggest that fewer than 3,000 people have paid $49.99 to play Assassin’s Creed Mirage on iPhone. Other console ports like Resident Evil 4 and Death Stranding have flopped too.
Supercell has rebooted Clash Heroes as Project Rise - it’s now a ‘social action RPG roguelite’. A pre-Alpha playtest is scheduled for July:
The game is now a ‘social action RPG roguelite’ and is still set in the Clash universe. A pre-Alpha playtest is scheduled for July.
Our latest jobs digest has moves and promotions at Netflix, Homa, Epic, Scopely, Sunday, Kolibri, Sandsoft, Ubisoft, Rovio, BBC Studios, Unity and Roblox:
There are also appointments and promotions at Ubisoft, Rovio, BBC Studios, Unity and Roblox in our latest recruitment update.
Apple is breaching EU law by not allowing developers to freely steer customers to alternative payments and stores, preliminary findings state. The EU is now investigating Apple’s Core Technology Fee policy too:
Preliminary findings show Apple failing to allow developers to freely steer customers to alternative payments and stores; Apple’s Core Technology Fee now faces investigation too.
In this week’s newsletter editorial we talk to a Unity insider to get a sense of what’s going on there in the aftermath of the Runtime Fee fiasco and Riccitiello’s departure:
A new CEO, a string of execs on their way out...and a sale to Microsoft? We get the inside track from a source inside the company.
In this week’s new games digest:
- The world’s top earning game, Honor of Kings, goes global
- Pokémon game developer Game Freak’s next release
- New games from Outfit7, Lilith and Tencent
- Fun indie stuff including Arnold Rauers’ Guncho
- More:
Also this week: Tencent's new MMO and host of indie games.
Another change at the top of Unity: senior vice president and chief marketing officer Carol Carpenter has resigned:
More changes at the top of Unity as its marketing boss follows chief product and technology officer Marc Whitten out the door.
In this week’s data digest:
- Is the force with Star Wars: Hunters? Maybe not
- Top earners and downloads for May
- Has IP mash-up Squad Busters driven installs for Supercell’s other games?
- China market data
- EA CEO’s bumper pay
- More:
There's also detail on EA CEO Andrew Wilson's bumper pay, China market figures from Niko Partners and Netflix's GTA milestone.
Supercell asked its most trusted creators for their thoughts on Squad Busters before it went into beta, and they gave some pretty brutal feedback. Here’s what they said, and how it shaped the game ahead of launch:
Supercell creator program lead Rick Crane and YouTubers Alvaro845 and JudoSloth tell us how players influenced the creation of Supercell’s latest launch.
The GTA trilogy on Netflix has now been downloaded over 30 million times, according to Appmagic estimates. More numbers and context here:
The San Andreas, Vice City and GTA 3 remasters have now been downloaded over 30m times through the Netflix app, says Appmagic.
There’s some big IP in this week’s new game digest, including Game of Thrones, Need for Speed, Assassin’s Creed, Dark and Darker and Skate. There are some indie bangers to keep an eye on too:
Also this week: fresh indie games from Capy and Kairosoft, Tilting Point's Avatar game and other notable new releases.
Supercell has said that Squad Busters’ soft launch was shorter than it would have liked, but it is “quickly getting toward profitability” and is likely to host third-party IP in the future, much like Nintendo’s Smash Bros games:
Supercell also said that ideally its soft launch “probably would have been a bit longer”.
The Epic Games Store and Fortnite are coming to iOS in Japan next year, but Tim Sweeney says the US is still “locked behind Apple’s Iron Curtain”:
Japan is the latest market to force Apple to open up its ecosystem following a new government ruling, but the US "is still locked behind Apple’s Iron Curtain,” says Tim Sweeney.
In this week’s data digest we’ve got:
- Sensor Tower's Q1 2024 numbers
- Niko Partners' Africa and MENA market research
- Ad insights from Tenjin and SocialPeta
- Wuthering Waves, Pizza Ready, Island Hoppers, Squad Busters updates
- More:
There's also updates on Island Hoppers, Squad Busters and AppsFlyer in this week's batch of digested data.
French games firm Voodoo has made a surprise swoop for BeReal, acquiring the social media platform for €500m:
The hyper and hybridcasual games giant has swooped for the popular social network to ‘further accelerate its diversification into consumer apps’.
What's next for Netflix Games? More titles based on its IP, more personalisation and games of all genres for every screen size, Leanne Lombe tells us:
What's next for Netflix Games? More titles based on its IP, more personalisation and games of all genres for every screen size.
Supercell’s Squad Busters generated $10m in consumer spend during its first week of global launch, say data firms Appfigures and Appmagic. Sensor Tower estimates say $9.1m:
Estimates from three data providers suggest Supercell’s latest game has already earned $10m, and it has easily beaten Brawl Stars’ launch in 2018.
In this week’s new game digest: Valorant, Star Wars: Hunters, Tetris, Monster Hunter, Assassin’s Creed, new Netflix and Apple Arcade releases, Kingdom Rush, FunPlus' DC: Dark Legion, Command & Conquer and Playdigious' latest indie game:
Also this week: new Kingdom Rush, FunPlus' DC: Dark Legion, Command & Conquer and Playdigious' latest indie game.
Candy Crush Soda Saga rarely grabs the headlines, but it’s still quietly making up to $20m a month, and is approaching its 10th birthday. Here’s product VP Paula Ingvar on running a giant match 3 puzzler in the shadow of an even bigger match 3 puzzler:
We speak to product VP Paula Ingvar about running a giant match 3 puzzler in the shadow of an even bigger match 3 puzzler.
In this week’s data digest there are new numbers on Monopoly Go, Brawl Stars, Rush Royale, Dungeon & Fighter and Squad Busters. Plus: YouTube launches 75 playables and some fresh Newzoo stats:
Also this week: Rush Royale, My Games stats and Squad Busters hits 30m.
AppsFlyer is gearing up for an IPO in early 2025, according to Bloomberg sources:
The marketing and analytics provider could raise $300m in an early 2025 IPO, says Bloomberg sources.
It’s another record month for Brawl Stars as Dungeon & Fighter Mobile and Solo Leveling: Arise join the top earners in Appmagic’s top grossing games for May:
According to Appmagic estimates, the big winners this month are Tencent's DNF Mobile and Netmarble's Solo Leveling: Arise.
It's another month at the top for Supercent’s Pizza Ready, while Solo Leveling: Arise and Squad Busters break into the top ten in Appmagic's download chart for May. Monopoly Go is close to dropping out of the top 100, though:
Supercell has confirmed to us that Squad Busters has already hit 30m lifetime downloads:
Supercell has confirmed to us that its IP mash-up has already passed 30m installs. The game soft launched on April 23, and was released globally on May 29.
Here are the soft launch games you need to know about, updated to reflect the latest ins and outs. Kitka’s follow-up to Stumble Guys is new, but Plants Vs Zombies: Match seems to have disappeared:
Take a peek at the games in testing from King, Mihoyo, Miniclip, Dream Games, Playrix, Zynga and more.
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