Fortnite will return to the Play Store as Google reduces store fees and ends Epic disputes
Google has revealed lower store fees, more open billing and sideloading options after it ended its legal disputes with Epic. And yes, Fortnite will return to the Play Store, too.
February’s top grossing mobile games
Appmagic data shows a steady upper end of the top grossing chart last month, but huge drops in IAP revenue for Monopoly Go and Candy Crush...
February’s top mobile game downloads
Block Blast, Free Fire and Roblox keep comfortably ahead of a rising Vita Mahjong while PUBG Mobile gets a big boost in Appmagic's latest numbers.
Data digest: February’s top games, Vento gets $4m, Vita Mahjong tops ad charts, Jest lands $7m, Roblox stats, more
There's also big numbers for PUBG Mobile / Game for Peace and Sega Football Club Champions in this week's stats round-up.
Supercell and King alumni Antihero raise $4.5m to launch extraction shooter Misfitz
The pre-seed round is co-led by A16z and Laton, with participation from Sisu.
Can Rainbow Six Mobile succeed where Call of Duty Warzone and Apex Legends failed?
Yes it can, says game director Olivier Albarracin. Here, he explains how Rainbow Six Mobile could survive in the competitive shooter market, and what changed during a long soft launch.
The soft launch games you need to know about
Take a peek at the games in testing from Supercell, Playrix, Ubisoft, Rovio, Miniclip, Moon Active and more.
New ‘TikTok for games’ firm Minit lands $2m
LVP and Sony Innovation Fund led the pre-seed round, plus angels Stefan Klemm (Goodgame, Bigpoint), Timo Soininen (Small Giant) and Klaas Kerstig (Gameforge, Flaregames, Phoenix).
41 layoffs at Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride maker Halfbrick
The Australian developer and publisher has just launched free-to-start mobile game Bluey’s Quest for The Gold Pen.
New game digest: Subway Surfers, Rainbow Six, Reigns: The Witcher, Overwatch Rush, Ball x Pit, more
There's also new soft launches from Supercent and SciPlay, an RPG about Celtic myths and a K-pop-themed match 3 in this week's round up.
Playtika hits $1bn per year in direct to consumer revenue
It also said it is pivoting to casual gaming, driven by ”outstanding momentum” from SuperPlay’s games.
Tencent set to buy stake in Block Blast maker Hungry Studio
A Bloomberg report claims talks over a deal have been ongoing for months.
On the podcast: Xbox reshuffle analysis, what’s next for King, Overwatch Rush, data, jobs, more
This week’s inside view of the mobile game business.
Blizzard reveals Overwatch Rush
It’s a top-down, made-for-mobile hero shooter that’s still in early development.
Xbox’s ‘play anywhere’ pitch has a fundamental flaw, and always will
Playing big screen games on a phone is horrible, and players don’t want it. If Microsoft really wants to broaden its reach and crack mobile, quiet giant King is the key.
Microsoft’s $1.7bn mobile game empire: what works, what doesn’t and what’s next
New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma now oversees a mobile game business that generated roughly $1.7bn in IAPs last year, according to Appmagic estimates. Let's look at some numbers and what (might be) coming next.
