[Last week in games] Detailed report of what led to Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League's $200M flop, Supercell's Squad Busters generates more than 30m lifetime downloads, and more!
News in games that caught our eyes in the last week [2 to 9 June 2024]
INDUSTRY NEWS
Ad revenue has "seen better years" on iOS, but some ad formats still pack a punch (pocketgamer.biz)
Insiders blame Suicide Squad's failings on changing vision and lack of live service skills (gamesindustry.biz)
Exploring game monetization: Traditional strategies (gameanalytics.com)
A New Report Details How A Troubled Development Led To Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League's $200M Flop (gameinformer.com)
INVESTOR
Infinite Reality acquires 3D avatar creator Action Face (venturebeat.com)
Hypersonic Laboratories raises $7m for modding platform Helix (gamesindustry.biz)
Wevr raises $3.5M for spatial computing and game production (venturebeat.com)
South Korea's NDUS Interactive raises $7.5M for third-person shooter game Xociety (venturebeat.com)
The Sandbox raises $20M in convertible debt at $1B valuation for sandbox metaverse (venturebeat.com)
MARKET DATA
Fallout 76 has 20M players thanks to boost from Prime series (venturebeat.com)
It’s another record-breaking year for Pokémon as revenue reaches $1.9 billion (pocketgamer.biz)
Rise of Kingdoms has raked in more than $3.5bn in global sales (pocketgamer.com)
Supercell's Squad Busters charges past 30m lifetime downloads (mobilegamer.biz)
The latest ESA report says more than a third of all players are mobile-exclusive (pocketgamer.com)
May’s top grossing mobile games worldwide (mobilegamer.biz)
May’s top mobile game downloads worldwide (mobilegamer.biz)
Mobile accounts for 49% of global games market share despite 2% revenue dip (pocketgamer.biz)
Honor of Kings garners 3 million pre-registrations ahead of global launch (pocketgamer.biz)
Data digest: Monopoly Go, Brawl Stars and Dungeon & Fighter numbers, YouTube playables, Newzoo stats and more (mobilegamer.biz)
Mobile app revenue reached a new quarterly record at $35 billion in Q1 2024 (pocketgamer.biz)
Asia & MENA gaming markets approach $100B, 2B players in 2028 (venturebeat.com)
Squad Busters generates $1.1m at launch (gamesindustry.biz)
Mobile accounted for $90.4bn of global games revenue in 2023 (gamesindustry.biz)
Nearly ten years in, Candy Crush Soda Saga is still quietly making up to $20m a month (mobilegamer.biz)
As RPGs and casual genres drastically decline, Monopoly Go! gives casino a 34% revenue surge (pocketgamer.biz)
Asia and MENA games market expected to hit $100bn by 2028 (gamesindustry.biz)
NEW GAMES
New games now: Squad Busters, Zenless Zone Zero, LEGO Hill Climb, Harvest Moon, Netflix’s 'reality universe' expands and more (mobilegamer.biz)
‘Skul: The Hero Slayer’ Mobile Gameplay Showcased in New Trailer for iOS and Android (toucharcade.com)
Command & Conquer: Legions is on Red Alert as pre-registration opens (pocketgamer.com)
‘Monster Hunter Puzzles’ Felyne Isles Is a New Match 3 Puzzle Game From Capcom Coming to iOS and Android (toucharcade.com)
Skul: The Hero Slayer is out now on the App Store and Google Play (pocketgamer.com)
Zynga’s Star Wars: Hunters launches globally today after three years of delays (pocketgamer.biz)
Ronaldo-backed soccer game UFL launches open beta on June 7 (venturebeat.com)
Pocket Kickball lets you play the classic schoolyard game on your phone (pocketgamer.com)
Ash of Gods: Redemption begins closed beta testing for mobile (pocketgamer.com)
Monster Hunter Puzzles may not be the puzzle game we need, but it's the one we want (pocketgamer.com)
Pocket Partner from Hyperbeard is now available on iOS, coming soon to Android (pocketgamer.com)
Netflix Reveals 14 New Games Coming Soon to iOS and Android Including The Case of the Golden Idol, Rotwood, and More (toucharcade.com)
Roia is a new, laid-back puzzler where you control the flow of a gentle stream, coming soon to iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
Planetarium Labs announces closed beta for Immortal Rising 2 (venturebeat.com)
Action RPG ‘Tribe Nine’ From Danganronpa Creator Confirmed for iOS, Android, and Steam Release With Closed Beta Set for August (toucharcade.com)
Sniper Elite 4, the hit World War II shooter, is coming to iPhone and iPad (pocketgamer.com)
Bioware reveals Dragon Age: The Veilguard, trailer coming on June 11 (venturebeat.com)
‘Disney Speedstorm’ Mobile Release Date Announced, New Season Launching Next Week (toucharcade.com)
Tactical Shooter ‘Sniper Elite 4’ Is Coming to iPhone, iPad, and macOS This Holiday Season (toucharcade.com)
Kiborg: Arena Is An Action Roguelite That Looks Like Cyberpunk Sifu (gameinformer.com)
Neopets: Tales of Dacardia lets you build your town in the land of Dacardia with your Neopets, out now on mobile (pocketgamer.com)
PUBLISHER NEWS
Supercell's Epic Ad for Squad Busters Stars Celebrities as Iconic Game Characters (adweek.com)
Looney Tunes to join Stumble Guys in equally loony collab (pocketgamer.com)
Azur Games moves into real money gaming with new iGaming spin-off (pocketgamer.biz)
GTA Publisher Take-Two Reportedly Looking To Get Rid of Indie Label Private Division (kotaku.com)
Voodoo’s Secret Sauce: From 0 to 250M Hybridcasual Revenue in 3 Years (deconstructoroffun.com)
Sybo partners with Skate like a Girl to champion LGBTQIA+ players in Subway Surfers (pocketgamer.com)
Amazon follows Fallout with Like a Dragon: Yakuza, premiering this fall (polygon.com)
Honor of Kings Launches global esports program with teams from around the world (pocketgamer.biz)
Avalanche closing Montreal and New York offices (gamesindustry.biz)
Worldwalker Games goes into hibernation (gamesindustry.biz)
Behaviour Interactive announces structural changes, lays off 95 employees (venturebeat.com)
Savvy Games Group invites Nintendo, Capcom, and others to establish Middle East (pocketgamer.biz)
AppsFlyer could IPO in 2025, says Bloomberg (mobilegamer.biz)
Aptoide is hoping to be first in the arms race to be the first non-Apple game store on iOS (pocketgamer.com)
David Polfeldt opens Bespoke Pixel game studio in Barcelona (venturebeat.com)
The Angry Birds Movie 3 Is In Production (gameinformer.com)
Candy Crush Saga rolling out new Gift Cards Galore tournament (pocketgamer.com)