[Last week in games] NetEase execs arrested for alleged money laundering and bribery, Nintendo is definitely suing Palworld developer, and more news!
News in games that caught our eyes in the last week [November 11 - 17, 2024]
INDUSTRY NEWS
Nintendo is definitely suing Palworld developer over throwing Poké Balls (polygon.com)
The Secret Developer: a shocking number of VCs and startups "haven't got a f**king clue what they're doing" (mobilegamer.biz)
The Sweet Art of Feature Adaptation (deconstructoroffun.com)
New lawsuit may force Apple to open the App Store in China like the Epic lawsuit did in Europe (bgr.com)
Midnite’s Strategic Use of GameAnalytics for Game Development Mastery (gameanalytics.com)
How Supercell Boosts LiveOps with IP Collaborations (appmagic.rocks)
INVESTOR
Netmarble CEO cites slowed growth in Q3 2024 as revenue hits $478.6 million (pocketgamer.biz)
Unity beats guidance with Q3 revenues of $429M, down 2% (venturebeat.com)
Sony's Q2 game/network service sales rise 12% to $7.01B (venturebeat.com)
Animoca Brands raises $10M for open metaverse platform Mocaverse (venturebeat.com)
Neon raises $14M to build direct-to-consumer stores for games (venturebeat.com)
MTG acquires Raid: Shadow Legends maker Plarium for $620m (mobilegamer.biz)
Clash of Clans creator's Bit Odd takes eccentric approach to mobile game design, raises $18.2M (venturebeat.com)
Neowiz signs $8m publishing deal with game dev Zakazane (gamesindustry.biz)
Funstop Games secures $5 million to accelerate game development and expand globally (pocketgamer.biz)
Starform secures $6 million to bolster shooter game Metalstorm (pocketgamer.biz)
Neon raises $14 million to create web shops for developers (pocketgamer.biz)
Dungeon & Fighter Mobile boosts Nexon's Q3 revenue (gamesindustry.biz)
Winking Studio raises $10m as part of dual listing on London Stock Exchange (gamesindustry.biz)
Ruckus Games raises $19M for 'suburban invasion' RPG shooter with disruptive multiplayer (venturebeat.com)
Miniclip acquires Easybrain from Embracer for $1.2bn (mobilegamer.biz)
MARKET DATA
PlayStation's rising game sales boost Sony financials as PS5 passes 65m shipped (gamesindustry.biz)
Infinity Nikki surpasses 30 million pre-registrations and announces global beta test (pocketgamer.com)
India’s games industry is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2028 (pocketgamer.biz)
Death Stranding reaches 19m players globally (gamesindustry.biz)
India's game market could grow from $3.8B to $9.2B by 2029 (venturebeat.com)
Pokémon TCG Pocket hits $5m in daily earnings, closes in on $50m total (mobilegamer.biz)
Ludus: Merge Arena hits over £2 million in monthly revenue and secures 3 million installs (pocketgamer.biz)
Royal Kingdom surpasses $20m in soft launch revenue with November 21st global release date set (pocketgamer.biz)
Monster Hunter Now’s Carnival Global a "roaring success" with 151% revenue surge (pocketgamer.biz)
Dragon Ball and Undisputed deliver big sales in October, as Call of Duty claims No.1 (gamesindustry.biz)
Report says 76% of kids are asking for video games this holiday (venturebeat.com)
MENA start-up investments decline 52% to $134 million in October (pocketgamer.biz)
Data digest: Sensor Tower's Q3 report, ATT research, Sega/Rovio, Playtika, Take-Two/Zynga financials, more (mobilegamer.biz)
Swedish games industry revenue hit $3.3 billion in 2023 (pocketgamer.biz)
Xsolla: Mobile gaming market forecast to reach $98.7bn in 2024 (gamesindustry.biz)
NEW GAMES
The global version of Gran Saga, the eagerly awaited MMORPG, is now available in Early Access (pocketgamer.com)
New games digest: Royal Kingdom, Rust, Rainbow Six, more SpongeBob plus new games from Habby, Homa, Century and more (mobilegamer.biz)
UniqKiller has opened registrations for its first closed beta test (pocketgamer.com)
Journey of Monarch is NCSoft's upcoming MMORPG with 4 million pre-registration sign-ups and counting (pocketgamer.com)
Monpic: The Hatchling is a short, adorable adventure game coming to iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
Dinkum Together's new cinematic trailer shows off Australian wildlife (pocketgamer.com)
Honey Grove is a cosy garden sim launching this week (pocketgamer.com)
Dustbunny: Emotions to Plants is a casual game about mental health, out now (pocketgamer.com)
Genvid reveals interactive story for mobile game DC Heroes United (venturebeat.com)
Poring Rush is an upcoming idle RPG with adorable Porings to collect, now in pre-registration (pocketgamer.com)
Monster Hunter Outlanders brings a full-fledged entry in the hit series to mobile, coming soon (pocketgamer.com)
Hello Neighbor 3 is currently being developed by tinyBuild (pocketgamer.com)
The Crown Saga: Pi's Adventure, Supercrown's latest 3D action RPG, has launched (pocketgamer.com)
Ahead of the Game: Go Go Muffin is an idle MMO for lazy adventurers, and we're all for it (pocketgamer.com)
Japan’s hit MMORPG Gran Saga celebrates its highly-anticipated global launch today (pocketgamer.com)
Monster Hunter Outlanders is new mobile game coming from TiMi and Capcom (venturebeat.com)
Ash Echoes Global officially launches - One and only real-time tactical mobile game (pocketgamer.com)
Warcraft Rumble is coming to PC to mark the 30th anniversary of the iconic franchise (pocketgamer.com)
CookieRun India is an upcoming runner designed specifically for Indian fans (pocketgamer.com)
PUBLISHER NEWS
NetEase execs arrested for alleged money laundering and bribery (gamesindustry.biz)
Tencent’s Lightspeed Studios opens new Japan studio (pocketgamer.biz)
The former Hollywood exec looking to transform Sega into the next Disney (gamesindustry.biz)
More layoffs at Payload Studios (gamesindustry.biz)
Magic Story launches AI-based media platform for children to create their own adventures (venturebeat.com)
Team Liquid launches MyBlue fan platform on Sui blockchain (venturebeat.com)
Xbox considers buying another mobile studio as it ‘figures out a plan’ for its delayed app store (mobilegamer.biz)
Report: Disney eyes EA's Andrew Wilson as potential CEO (pocketgamer.biz)
Microsoft eyes potential mobile studio acquisition (pocketgamer.biz)
SayGames to invest $30 million in hybridcasual studios over next three years (pocketgamer.biz)
Thunderful announces second restructuring program resulting in more layoffs (gamesindustry.biz)