[Last week in games] Dungeon and Fighter: Origin surpasses $500 million in its first month, Apple approves Epic Games Store for iOS after rejecting it twice, and more!
News in games that caught our eyes in the last week [8 to 14 July 2024]
INDUSTRY NEWS
“Arbitrary, obstructive” Apple has rejected the Epic Games Store twice (mobilegamer.biz)
Amir Satvat forecasts 4,463 more game workers will be laid off in 2024, but rate is slowing (venturebeat.com)
Squad Busters One Month Later: Down, But Not Out (deconstructoroffun.com)
Brightmine: UK games industry's gender pay gap is 17.1% (gamesindustry.biz)
Apple approves Epic Games Store for iOS after rejecting it twice (gamesindustry.biz)
Trends shaping the mobile gaming industry in 2024 (gamesindustry.biz)
Gamescom Latam grew to 100K visitors, 124 exhibitors from 66 countries (venturebeat.com)
ASA rules Golf Clash ad misled around loot boxes disclosure (gamesindustry.biz)
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review June 2024 (gamerefinery.com)
A year after Scopely acquisition, gaming is different (venturebeat.com)
Starting an Analytics Org From Scratch — Lessons From a Decade at DoorDash (review.firstround.com)
Saudi Arabia set to host first Olympic Esports Games (pocketgamer.biz)
INVESTOR
Kwalee takes 3.58% minority stake in Devolver Digital via new equity placing (pocketgamer.biz)
Summer Games Done Quick 2024 raises $2.5m (gamesindustry.biz)
SGDQ 2024 fundraised $2.5M despite declining viewership (venturebeat.com)
Infinite Reality raises $350M and acquires Landvault for $450M (venturebeat.com)
Voice-controlled game developer Volley closes Series C fundraising with $55m (gamesindustry.biz)
Series Entertainment acquires mobile studio Pixelberry (venturebeat.com)
Animoca Brands reports bookings fell 30% for 2023 fiscal year (venturebeat.com)
Felicity Games raises $700,000 (gamesindustry.biz)
Stellar Blade developer Shift Up raises $320m in IPO (gamesindustry.biz)
Voice-enabled Volley secures $55 million in Series C funding round (pocketgamer.biz)
Goddess of Victory: Nikke propels Shift Up to $2.5 billion valuation (pocketgamer.biz)
MARKET DATA
Pokémon Go catches nearly $8 billion in eight years (pocketgamer.biz)
Squad Busters nets 40 million installs in first thirty days, and $24m in net revenue (pocketgamer.com)
June 2024 mobile game charts: Dungeon & Fighter Mobile hits No. 1, and Supercell rises to No. 2 (pocketgamer.biz)
Dungeon and Fighter: Origin surpasses $500 million in its first month (pocketgamer.biz)
650 million players drive mini games growth (pocketgamer.biz)
2024's top grossing mobile games (so far) (mobilegamer.biz)
Zenless Zone Zero tops 50m downloads worldwide (gamesindustry.biz)
2024's top mobile game downloads (so far) (mobilegamer.biz)
Pokémon Sleep earns $100m in first year revenue (gamesindustry.biz)
Ghost of Tsushima tops charts four years after launch (venturebeat.com)
Toon Blast surpasses $2.5 billion with newfound revenue resurgence (pocketgamer.biz)
Elden Ring sales jump 467% on Shadow of the Erdtree release (gamesindustry.biz)
Android VR Game downloads up 40% YoY, setting new benchmark (venturebeat.com)
US game spending fell 6% in May (gamesindustry.biz)
Data digest: Zenless Zone Zero launch numbers, DnF dominates, Squad Busters dips and more (mobilegamer.biz)
From Honkai: Star Rail to Wuthering Waves, gacha giants made $357 million in June (pocketgamer.biz)
2024’s top grossing mobile game publishers (so far) (mobilegamer.biz)
My Talking Hank: Islands tops the app store charts with over 10 million downloads in just one week (pocketgamer.com)
2024's top publishers by downloads (so far) (mobilegamer.biz)
First Descendant Hits 10 Million Players Despite Controversy (kotaku.com)
NEW GAMES
New games now: Zenless Zone Zero, Antstream, Resident Evil 7, Crunchyroll's Game Vault, The Pathless and more (mobilegamer.biz)
Command & Conquer: Legions will launch Closed Beta Test in select regions, with pre-registrations still on-going (pocketgamer.com)
Heaven Burns Red, the post-apocalyptic narrative-driven RPG, is getting an English version published by Yostar Games (pocketgamer.com)
Ace Force 2 launches on Android, flaunting stylish visuals and interesting character skill sets to play with (pocketgamer.com)
Disney Pixel RPG Is An 8-Bit Adventure Starring Mickey Mouse Coming To Mobile (gameinformer.com)
Battle Star Arena is a lane-battling micro strategy game out now for iOS (pocketgamer.com)
UniqKiller is an upcoming shooter with a big focus on customisation from Brazilian developer HypeJoe Games (pocketgamer.com)
Theme Park And Rollercoaster Simulator Planet Coaster Is Getting A Sequel (gameinformer.com)
Sybo's new game Subway Surfers City stealth-drops into soft launch on iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
New games now: Two new Disney titles, Touchgrind X, Need For Speed, Temple Run, Vampire Survivors, Metal Slug and more (mobilegamer.biz)
Retro Slam Tennis is a new tennis game from the folks behind Retro Bowl (pocketgamer.com)
FinFin Play AG announces Fashion League mobile launch (venturebeat.com)
Wildlife Studios' Mistland Saga jumps into soft launch on iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
PUBLISHER NEWS
Animoca Brands eyes IPO in Hong Kong or Dubai come 2025 (pocketgamer.biz)
Network N lays off eight from games marketing agency Project N (gamesindustry.biz)
Embracer-owned studio Piranha Bytes has been shut down (gamesindustry.biz)
Apex Legends Doubles The Price Of Keeping Up With Battle Passes In What It Promises Is A Good Deal For Players (kotaku.com)
Kotaku Australia to shut down (gamesindustry.biz)
Audiomob forms exclusive partnership with Voodoo on audio ads (venturebeat.com)
Voodoo signs partnership with Audiomob for audio ads (pocketgamer.biz)
Sony Music, Aniplex, and Pocketpair form Palworld Entertainment (gamesindustry.biz)
Netmarble’s mobile gamers have higher satisfaction than its PC cohort (pocketgamer.biz)
Report: League Of Legends Maker Canceled A Smash Bros.-Style Fighter Because Of What Happened To MultiVersus (kotaku.com)
Stumble Guys sees two major new additions, and the return of its SpongeBob collaboration (pocketgamer.com)
Embracer secures new €600m revolving credit facility (gamesindustry.biz)
Embracer bats its $1.5 billion debt back into 2026 and beyond with new €600m credit deal (pocketgamer.biz)