That Rumoured Subway Surfers Movie Is Still in the Pipeline, Sort of – and so Are More Spin-Off Games
Sybo’s CEO Mathias Gredal Nørvig confirmed the long‑rumoured Subway Surfers movie is still in early development, but the studio is waiting for the right format before moving forward. Meanwhile, the sequel game Subway Surfers City launched worldwide on Feb 26, showing strong early performance and a shift toward higher in‑app‑purchase revenue. The original title remains on Apple Arcade as Subway Surfers+ without cannibalising its free‑to‑play install base. Sybo, now part of Miniclip and the Tencent network, leverages the independent studio model to explore cross‑overs and new IP extensions.
Xbox Wants to ‘Restore the Core’ and Grow Daily Active Players – so Is Mobile Part of the Plan or...
Xbox’s new head Asha Sharma announced a shift to daily active players (DAP) as the division’s North Star, signaling a push to “restore the core” of console and PC gamers. The move follows a Game Pass price cut and rumors...
New Game Digest: Monopoly Match, Dicero, Control, Honor of Kings World, New Indie Titles and More
A wave of new mobile and cross‑platform games rolled out this week, ranging from established franchises to indie experiments. Remedy’s Control Ultimate Edition debuted on iOS and macOS for $4.99, while Tencent launched Honor of Kings World in China. Australian...
Niantic Spatial Is Closing Its Virtual Pet Game Peridot
Niantic Spatial announced the shutdown of its virtual‑pet game Peridot. In‑app purchases were removed today, the app will disappear from stores on May 14 and its servers will go offline on August 31. Since its 2023 launch, Peridot generated roughly $2.9 million in...
The Xbox Mobile Store Isn’t Dead Yet
Microsoft’s new gaming chief Asha Sharma signaled that the Xbox mobile store is still alive, refuting rumors of its demise. Sharma’s X post referenced an amicus brief filed in the Epic‑vs‑Apple case, emphasizing the importance of open mobile competition. Epic...
Tim Cook Oversaw One of Gaming’s Biggest Platforms for 15 Years but Didn’t Seem to Notice
Tim Cook is leaving the Apple CEO role after 15 years, handing the reins to hardware chief John Ternus. While Apple’s stock surged and products like the Watch and AirPods defined his tenure, the company’s gaming platform quietly became one...
Supercell Boss Ilkka Paananen’s BAFTA Fellowship Is ‘for the Entire Mobile Games Industry’
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen received a BAFTA Games Fellowship, marking the first time the honor has recognized mobile gaming. The award celebrates his 26‑year career as an investor, mentor and philanthropist, and highlights his focus on building a culture that...
New Game Digest: Racing Master, Dragon Quest, Puzzle Panic, Barbie, Fantasy Life, More
The weekly digest highlights a wave of new mobile releases and notable shutdowns. Racing Master arrives in North America, Europe and the Middle East on May 8, while Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Smash/Grow debuts on iOS and Android on April 20. Limit...
James Acaster to Star in New Apple Arcade Game Perchang World
British comedian James Acaster will narrate Perchang World, a new physics‑puzzle game launching on Apple Arcade on May 7. The title, described as a blend of Portal and Lemmings, marks Acaster’s first foray into video‑game voice work. Perchang, a seven‑person remote studio...
How Do You Follow a Hit Game About Bacon? Make a Sequel About Bacon in the Human Body
Philipp Stollenmayer, known for quirky physics titles, is releasing Bacon in Zane, a free sequel that sends the beloved bacon slice on a journey through the human body. The game follows a proven ad‑supported model, offering a $2.99 one‑time purchase...
Candy Crush Maker King on AI Use, Layoffs, Workplace Culture – and the Competition
King’s live‑operations VP Eva Ryott explained how AI assists level design for Candy Crush Saga, automating testing of its 21,000 levels while keeping designers in the loop. She clarified that AI is a support tool, not a replacement, even after...
Is SchoolGirl House the Next Game From Royal Match Maker Dream Games? (Probably Not)
Dream Games, the creator of the hit match‑3 title Royal Match, now has an unexpected early‑access listing on Google Play for a game called SchoolGirl House: Runaway Game. The app is riddled with ads, rough graphics and AI‑generated screenshots, suggesting...
Destiny: Rising Is Fighting Back with Its Latest Update
Destiny: Rising, NetEase's mobile spin‑off of the Destiny franchise, received a sweeping March update that overhauls its most criticized monetization mechanics. The game now offers a crystal‑based system that guarantees character unlocks without spending real money, supplementing the existing gacha...
Critics’ Week: The Simple, Low Intensity Pleasures of NYT Games
Lewis Gordon praises NYT Games for delivering simple, low‑intensity puzzles that fit into a morning routine. The daily Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections challenges encourage brief, mindful play without the aggressive monetization of typical mobile titles. Gordon notes that the...
Critics’ Week: Pocket Card Jockey’s Inevitable Hurtle Towards the Abyss
Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On, a Game Freak title, revives the delisted 3DS horse‑racing solitaire for Apple Arcade. The game pairs Golf‑style solitaire rounds with horse positioning, creating a strategic loop where card skill directly impacts race outcomes. A breeding mechanic...
Critics’ Week: Why Brawl Stars Is My Favourite Battle Royale
Christian Donlan praises Supercell’s Brawl Stars as his preferred battle‑royale, highlighting its ultra‑compact Showdown mode that pits up to ten players on a shrinking map with matches typically under ninety seconds. He contrasts this friction‑free experience with the longer matchmaking...
Jobs Digest: Moves at Scopely, Google Play, CrazyLabs, Small Giant, Griffin and More
The mobile‑gaming job market is buzzing with senior hires and promotions across leading publishers. Scopely added ex‑Rovio product manager Anastasia Kuprina and former Gameloft manager Aravind Iyengar, while Google Play brought in former Netflix producer John Faciane and appointed Jamie...
Goat Simulator Maker Coffee Stain to Close Its Mobile Studio
Coffee Stain announced the closure of its Malmö mobile development studio, which was founded in 2021 and housed about 17 staff members. The unit was responsible for bringing Goat Simulator to mobile in 2023, as well as supporting Song of...
Savvy Set for $6bn Moonton Deal
Savvy Games Group, the gaming arm of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to acquire Moonton, the creator of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, for an estimated $6 billion. The deal, reported by Bloomberg, follows Savvy’s $4.9 bn purchase of Scopely and...
New Game Digest: Fortnite, New Coin Master, Mattel Match, Parseword, Dragon Quest, Another Bacon Game and More
Fortnite re‑entered Google Play worldwide, marking its first Android presence in six years, alongside a new showdown‑themed season. Moon Active launched Coin Master Board Adventure globally after a year‑long soft launch, while Mattel teamed with Uken to release Mattel Match,...
How to Seize the $50bn China Opportunity
Western mobile game makers see China as a $50 bn opportunity with roughly 700 m players. Regulatory approval, limited ISBN licenses and a fragmented Android ecosystem raise entry costs. Success stories such as Nexon’s Dungeon & Fighter Mobile illustrate upside, yet discoverability...
Fortnite Returns to Google Play Worldwide This Week
Fortnite will return to Google Play on March 19, ending a six‑year absence after its removal for breaching app‑store rules. The comeback follows Epic Games' settlement with Google that reduces the standard 30% in‑app purchase commission to 20%, with an...
The Making of Love and Deepspace
At GDC, Infold Games director Lizi Cheng detailed how Love and Deepspace transformed the otome genre by marrying real‑time combat with romance storytelling. After a rocky 2020 playtest that flagged unappealing love interests, the team upgraded character fidelity and linked...
Squid Game: Unleashed Studio Bossfight Returns After Netflix Closure
Bossfight Entertainment has re‑emerged as an independent studio after Netflix shuttered its operations in October 2025, leaving roughly 80 employees unemployed. The original founders—CEO David Rippy, CPO Bill Jackson and COO Scott Winsett—have re‑established the company in Dallas, Texas. Bossfight...
Epic and Google’s New Play Store Deal Is Not the Decisive Victory They Claim It Is
Epic Games and Google have settled their long‑running dispute, introducing a flat 20% commission for new game installs on the Play Store and uncoupling Google Play billing from the store. Existing titles, however, still incur an additional 5% billing fee,...
Jobs Digest: Moves at Scopely, Small Giant, Lego, Miniclip, PlaySide, Voodoo, Supercell, More
The mobile gaming sector saw a wave of senior hires, with Scopely adding a senior VP to steer its live‑game portfolio and Lego appointing Space Ape Games founder John Earner as an advisor for its new digital play division. Krafton...
February’s Top Mobile Game Downloads
February’s mobile game download chart was topped by Block Blast, which stayed ahead of Free Fire by roughly four million installs despite a second consecutive month‑on‑month decline. Free Fire continued to generate over 20 million downloads, while Roblox slipped below the...
Supercell and King Alumni Antihero Raise $4.5m to Launch Extraction Shooter Misfitz
Antihero Studios, founded by former Supercell and King veterans, secured $4.5 million in pre‑seed funding from a16z, Laton and Sisu. The studio’s first title, Misfitz, is an extraction‑shooter that mixes Brawl Stars‑style gameplay with collaborative‑versus‑betrayal mechanics. Over 70,000 players have already...
Supercell Teams with UK Studio Playabit for Hay Day Match
Supercell has partnered with UK‑based Playabit to launch Hay Day Match, a puzzle‑style spin‑off of its flagship farming game. The title will debut later this month in three emerging‑market regions: India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Playabit, founded in 2021 with...
New ‘TikTok for Games’ Firm Minit Lands $2m
Minit Games, a Hamburg startup specializing in instant‑play HTML5 titles, announced a $2 million pre‑seed round led by LVP and Sony Innovation Fund, with several angel investors joining. The company is building a TikTok‑style, algorithmically curated feed where bite‑sized games load...
41 Layoffs at Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride Maker Halfbrick
Australian game developer Halfbrick, known for Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, announced it is cutting 41 jobs. The layoffs include redundancies in its Australian operations and the termination of several international engagements. The cuts come as the studio navigates a...
Tencent Set to Buy Stake in Block Blast Maker Hungry Studio
Tencent is in talks to acquire a small equity stake in Hungry Studio, the Hong‑Kong developer behind the hyper‑popular mobile title Block Blast. The game now boasts 70 million daily active users and 300 million monthly users, up from 40 million DAU a...
Jobs Digest: Reshuffles at Xbox and Unity Plus Moves at Rovio, Hoyoverse, Google, Stillfront and More
Microsoft Gaming announced a top‑level reshuffle, with former CoreAI president Asha Sharma taking over as EVP and CEO and veteran Matt Booty becoming EVP and chief content officer. Unity added Bernard Kim to its board while co‑founder David Helgason and...
Spencer and Bond Out at Microsoft Gaming as AI Exec Sharma Takes Over
Microsoft Gaming announced a leadership overhaul as longtime Xbox chief Phil Spencer retired and COO Sarah Bond departed. Asha Sharma, former head of Microsoft’s CoreAI division and veteran of Instacart and Meta, was appointed CEO of the entire gaming portfolio,...
The Ares Gameplan Is Built on UA Financing, Non-US Devs – and Kim Kardashian, Sort Of
Ares Interactive announced a $70 million raise to broaden its cross‑platform free‑to‑play portfolio, adding former Glu executives and high‑profile advisors. The funding enabled the acqui‑hire of 7th Inning, which will launch the baseball title Baseball Hits 26 in March, and the outright...
Honkai: Star Rail Fans Think It Got Caught up in Political Tensions Between Japan and China
Hoyoverse postponed Honkai: Star Rail’s major 4.0 update by two weeks. The official notice cited “better experience,” but no further details were given. Fans and leakers argue the delay aims to strip Japanese‑inspired elements after rising China‑Japan tensions. The move...
New Game Digest: Tomb Raider, EA Sports FC Tactical, Paranormasight, Oceanhorn, More
The weekly digest highlights a wave of mobile and cross‑platform releases, including Tomb Raider’s first mobile entry at $19.99 and the upcoming Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse launching Feb 19 on Switch, PC, iOS and Android. EA Sports FC Tactical will be pulled...