Supercell has killed one of its US game projects, and the other is MIA
The game Steve Desilets and Matt Mocarski were working on is definitely closed, while most staff working on the other US-based game departed months ago, it seems.
The soft launch games you need to know about from Playrix, Century, Zynga and more
Take a peek at the games in testing from the mobile games industry’s top publishers.
Supercell to fully acquire Merge Mansion maker Metacore amid restructure, with 160 jobs at risk
UPDATE: Metacore has now confirmed that it'll close its offices in Germany and Sweden and there will be 159 job cuts in Finland. The Supercell acquisition remains in process.
New game digest: Game of Thrones, FIFA, Pokémon, Masters of the Universe, Talking Tom, Barbie, more
There's also new games from Noodlecake and Nuverse plus a load of games participating in the Green Game Jam in this week's round-up.
On the podcast: Supercell, King and Sybo slam EU plan, Atari buys Hipster Whale, Zynga’s Mark Pincus on copycats, more
This week’s inside view of the mobile game business.
Pokémon Champions is coming to mobile on June 17
Preregistration is live now on iOS and Android after the arena battler’s Nintendo-first launch in April.
Supercell, King and Sybo bosses hit out at “scary” EU proposals
Ilkka Paananen, Todd Green and Mathias Gredal Nørvig told the Financial Times that incoming EU proposals could make free to play games “unplayable in Europe”.
Apple nominates Inkle, Devolver, FuturLab, Toppluva and more in annual design awards
UPDATE: Apple has revealed the winners, which include Is This Seat Taken?, Pine Hearts, Jinja's Garden and Consume Me.
Mattel’s debut firstparty game is Masters of the Universe tie-in Skeletor: Until Next Time
The runner was developed with outsourcing firm Amber and is out now, just ahead of the film’s release on June 5.
Zynga founder Mark Pincus says “only a master craftsman can spot excellence and be comfortable copying it”
The entrepreneur outlines his ‘Proven Better New’ ethos in his book Life at the Speed of Play – and says Supercell was an early adopter, as Hay Day was just "FarmVille for mobile".
Multi-award winning indie game Consume Me is out now on iOS
It’s $9.99 and developer Jenny Jiao Hsio says the mobile edition is “the best way to play the game”.
The Simpsons are taking over Monopoly Go
The new live ops and marketing blitz begins on June 3, and includes an animated short in which Will Ferrell's Mr. Monopoly faces off against Mr Burns, voiced by Harry Shearer.
Jobs digest: moves at Miniclip, Supercell, Scopely, Socialpoint, Ares and more
There's also recruitment news from Tilting Point, Embracer, Ace Games, King and elsewhere in our latest round-up.
Atari acquires Crossy Road maker Hipster Whale for an initial $29.3m
The Aussie studio is set for another $10m in earnouts over the next three years. Atari is expanding into mobile to make projects for Netflix, Amazon and more, says the announcement.
The best mobilegamer.biz stories you probably haven’t read
Featuring behind-the-scenes anecdotes involving Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift, plus: Apple’s secret gaming acquihire, an aborted Far Cry mobile game, a load of internal King gossip and more.
Block Blast has disappeared from Google’s Play Store
Update: Hungry Studio has confirmed to us that the game is back on the Play Store, but did not offer a comment or explanation for its short absence.
