Canadian kids specialist Budge to be acquired by private equity firm Haveli
The fee for the Bluey, Paw Patrol and Barbie game-maker has not been disclosed. Haveli also holds stakes in Behaviour, Candivore and more.
Roblox hypes AI content generation and older player potential after strong financials
“We are at about 3.4% of the global gaming content market,” said CEO David Baszucki. “We are aiming for 10%, and internally, we have even more ambitious goals for the US market.”
Jobs digest: big moves at Supercell, Scopely, Netflix, Homa, Hutch, Small Giant and more
There’s also recruitment news at Plarium, Apple, Delphi, Play Studios, Trailmix, Arcade, Fortis, Griffin and more in our latest round-up.
You’re invited to Off The Record Paris on February 26
If you make mobile games in the French capital, sign up here.
New game digest: Moon Active’s latest beta, FIFA, Might & Magic, Subnautica, Civ VII, more
We've also got new games from Belka/Tripledot, Kakao, Pixeljam and Pocket Mortys' closure in this week's round-up.
On the podcast: Google’s Project Genie, Take-Two, Stillfront, Ares, January’s top games, more
This week’s inside view of the mobile game business.
Raid: Shadow Legends fires MTG to record revenue and profits
The owner of Plarium, InnoGames, Hutch, Ninja Kiwi and Snowprint is also planning an IPO for its PlaySimple division in India.
Data digest: EA mobile down, Liftoff’s $5bn IPO, Big Fish sold, Hero Wars, Fumb, Mamboo, GDC, more
There's also news of a record-breaking esports tournament in this week's numbers round up.
Stillfront revenue declines again as it sells off narrative games and restructures
But the Goodgame, Supremacy, Jawaker and Sondbox Interactive owner said margins and free cash flow were healthy in its Q4 results.
Mobile up 19% as it continues to dominate Take-Two earnings
CEO Strauss Zelnick is bullish on Take-Two’s direct to consumer business, too, while Toon Blast, Match Factory, Empires & Puzzles, Color Block Jam, Words With Friends and Toy Blast were named as the top performers.
Ares Interactive lands $70m to expand cross-platform F2P portfolio
Company bosses Mike DeLaet and Niccolo de Masi have also added former App Store boss Matt Fischer, ex-Kabam COO Kent Wakeford, former Glu CRO Chris Akhavan and ex-Seriously CEO Andrew Stalbow to the advisory board.
January’s top grossing mobile games
Honor of Kings is back on top, with Monopoly Go, Royal Match and PUBG Mobile also rising as Last War, Roblox, Pokémon Go and Clash Royale decline.
January’s top mobile game downloads
Block Blast dips but holds off Free Fire to retain the top spot while XD scores a hit with Animal Crossing-alike Heartopia in the latest monthly charts from Appmagic.
Unity boss Bromberg moves to calm markets as Google’s Genie causes gaming stock slide
Unity, Take-Two and Roblox shares declined Friday after Google released its Genie world model demo. But both Unity and Epic's bosses have dismissed its short-term impact, and so have many industry onlookers.
The soft launch games you need to know about
Take a peek at the games in testing from Supercell, Playrix, EA, Ubisoft, Rovio, Miniclip and more.
Many international visitors are skipping GDC amid cost concerns and US safety fears
GDC’s organiser has told us it is working to make the show safer and more affordable, but industry chatter suggests international GDC attendance will nosedive this year.
