[Last week in games] Jam City has laid off 10% of its workforce, GameStop Shuts Down Game Informer, and more news!

News in games that caught our eyes in the last week [5th to 11th August 2024]

INDUSTRY NEWS

• Esports World Cup halftime report: 175M+ hours watched, 60K tickets sold (venturebeat.com)

• The US spearheads mobile games sector back to growth as Asia markets stumble (pocketgamer.biz)

• Win Streak: the Gift That Keeps on Giving (deconstructoroffun.com)

• 2024's games industry lay-offs: The stories so far - all in one place (pocketgamer.biz)

• Seven psychology-inspired tips for perfect video game design (pocketgamer.biz)

• Mobile games revenue growth is at a snail’s pace on Apple as Android closes the gap (pocketgamer.biz)

• China approves 15 import games, delivering a total of 76 import approvals in 2024 (pocketgamer.biz)

• It’s Time for Games to Embrace Aggregation Theory (gameeconomistconsulting.com)

• Playtika’s profits surge 63.4% to $86.6 million as it reverses 'no new games' strategy (pocketgamer.biz)

INVESTOR

• NCSoft invests $3.5 million in Swedish studio Moon Rover Games (pocketgamer.biz)

• 2weeks raises $1.25M for Homestretch Bet on the open web (venturebeat.com)

• Roblox bumps up daily active users by 21% Y/Y as revenue grows to $894m in Q2 (pocketgamer.biz)

• Amber snaps up co-development studio Madbricks (pocketgamer.biz)

• Cartridge raises $7.5M in funding for onchain game development (venturebeat.com)

• Nazara subsidiary Absolute Sports to acquire US games content platform Deltias Gaming (pocketgamer.biz)

• South Korea's Hybe IM raises $80M for games (venturebeat.com)

• Social First bag a further $4.2 million investment as they get set to "redefine social gaming" (pocketgamer.biz)

• Curio announces $5.7M funding round, launches new strategy game Duper (venturebeat.com)

• nunu.ai has raised $2 million towards AI playtesters and QA with bot detection on the way (pocketgamer.biz)

• MixRift raises $1.6m for mixed reality games (gamesindustry.biz)

• Nintendo profits down 70.6% with falling sales across Switch and other IP ventures (pocketgamer.biz)

• Second Dinner invests in W4 Games and will make Godot games (venturebeat.com)

• Nazara’s $100m M&A war chest takes India’s largest games company global (pocketgamer.biz)

• Sega's $102.5m full game sales help offset overall decline (gamesindustry.biz)

• NCSoft profit bounces back with 59% of revenue on mobile but not all Lineage games are thriving (pocketgamer.biz)

• Square Enix's Q1 profits rise 68% to $72m despite sales decline (gamesindustry.biz)

• Nazara acquires UK-based Fusebox Games for $27.2 million (pocketgamer.biz)

• Warner Bros games revenue down 41% during Q2 due to Suicide Squad (gamesindustry.biz)

• Bandai Namco profits rose 56% during Q1 FY25 (gamesindustry.biz)

MARKET DATA

• US game spending had a 5% decrease in June (gamesindustry.biz)

• July’s top mobile game downloads (mobilegamer.biz)

• NetEase’s Blood Strike rockets to 50 million installs in less than a year (pocketgamer.biz)

• Game of Thrones: Legends fires past $1 million with daily earnings rising fast (pocketgamer.biz)

• July’s top grossing mobile games (mobilegamer.biz)

• Marvel Rivals crosses 7M hours watched during closed beta (venturebeat.com)

• Nine years of Seekers Notes and 43 million downloads across 195 countries (pocketgamer.biz)

• Data digest: insights on the US market, ATT, investments, M&A, Q224, CPIs and more (mobilegamer.biz)

• Xsolla releases quarterly report on the future of gaming and game development for summer 2024 (pocketgamer.biz)

• 15% of monetised players spend more if actively engaged in a community (pocketgamer.biz)

• Fewer than 19% of mobile games receive ATT consent as game CPIs rise 6% on Apple (pocketgamer.biz)

• Sony's Gaming Q1 revenue grows 12% YoY, ups FY24 projections (venturebeat.com)

• Sword of Convallaria hits five million downloads in its first week since launch (pocketgamer.com)

NEW GAMES

• New games now: Nordeus' new game, BTS gets cooking, Exploding Kittens, Madden, Vampire Survivors and more (mobilegamer.biz)

• Temple Run: Legends, the newest version of the iconic endless runner, is out now on Apple Arcade (pocketgamer.com)

• 60 top mobile games in soft launch: Subway Surfers City, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, Austin's Odyssey, and more (pocketgamer.biz)

• Domination Dynasty is a multiplayer, low poly take on the Civ formula (pocketgamer.com)

• Rift of the Ranks is a new match-3 puzzler that pits you against and as beastmen (pocketgamer.com)

• Square Enix and Tencent to team up on mobile game based on Final Fantasy XIV (pocketgamer.biz)

• Cat Quest 3 Is A Fun New Swashbuckling Action-RPG (kotaku.com)

• Mountaintop will launch closed beta for Spectre Divide shooter on August 13 (venturebeat.com)

• Monster Train, Shiny Shoe's excellent roguelike deckbuilder, is coming to Apple Arcade (pocketgamer.com)

• BTS Cooking On is now available on iOS and Android, with special launch giveaways on social media (pocketgamer.com)

• Arknights: Endfield will make its western debut as it joins showcase at Gamescom (pocketgamer.com)

• Former Arkane Studios devs announce new retro sci-fi action RPG (polygon.com)

• ‘Dragon Ball Project:Multi’ Is a 4v4 Team-Oriented Free To Play Battle Game Coming to iOS, Android, and Steam With a Closed Beta This Month (toucharcade.com)

PUBLISHER NEWS

• Intel to lay off 15,000 staff as part of $10 billion cost savings plan (pocketgamer.biz)

• GameStop Shuts Down Game Informer, The Longest-Running Gaming Magazine In The US [Update] (kotaku.com)

• Paradox Interactive delays Prison Architect 2 indefinitely (gamesindustry.biz)

• Jam City has laid off 10% of its workforce (pocketgamer.biz)

• Report: Microsoft sets up new AA studio within Blizzard (gamesindustry.biz)

• Supercell-backed studio Shipyard Games closes as investment dries up (pocketgamer.biz)

• Industry veterans partner to launch game publisher Digital Bandidos for indie developers (pocketgamer.biz)

• Ex-Hitman, Raid: Shadow Legends devs found Chamo Games (venturebeat.com)

• Fortnite’s future battle pass-exclusive skins may be sold in the store (polygon.com)

• Former NFL star and ex-Activision producer team up to launch new mobile game studio (pocketgamer.biz)

• Foretold Studios is struggling to pay wages, leaving staff "begging" for help (gamesindustry.biz)

• Roblox banned in Türkiye due to child safety concerns (gamesindustry.biz)

• Playtika is launching new games again (well, one at least) (mobilegamer.biz)

• Meta reportedly shutters Ready at Dawn (gamesindustry.biz)

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