[Last week in games] Scopely is lining up a “megadeal” acquisition for 2025, Roblox accused of conflating metrics, and more news!
News in games that caught our eyes in the last week [October 7 to October 13 2024]
INDUSTRY NEWS
Google must ditch anti-steering measures and open its Play store to rival storefronts, payments and more (mobilegamer.biz)
Savvy Moves: Saudi Arabias Gaming Vision (deconstructoroffun.com)
The Secret Developer: how Apple kneecapped new game launches (mobilegamer.biz)
Turkey blocks Discord in latest social platform ban (pocketgamer.biz)
Roblox accused of conflating metrics and inflating engagement hours by 100% (pocketgamer.biz)
Behind the scenes: Improving monetisation in the midcore battler Kingdom Clash (pocketgamer.biz)
The true cost of game piracy: 20 percent of revenue, according to a new study (arstechnica.com)
INVESTOR
Finnish developer Future Run secures second round of investment led by Supercell (pocketgamer.biz)
RIVRS raises €4 million to fuel its user generated content creations (pocketgamer.biz)
Saudi Arabia increases Japanese gaming investments (techinasia.com)
Screen Queensland awards $1.3m in funding to nine indie studios (gamesindustry.biz)
Ubisoft shares soar 36% as speculation swirls over buyout (pocketgamer.biz)
Future Run completes second funding round (gamesindustry.biz)
Clout Kitchen raises $4.45M for AI gaming pal that mimics content creators (venturebeat.com)
Third Dimension AI raises $7M to build game worlds with generative AI (venturebeat.com)
Aethir Catalyst will invest $100M in AI and gaming startups using decentralized GPUs (venturebeat.com)
Windwalk launches social software Harbor, raises $4.5M in funding (venturebeat.com)
MARKET DATA
Miraibo Go exceeds 700,000 pre-registrations and hits new milestones (pocketgamer.com)
53% of gamers prefer single-player games (gamesindustry.biz)
Fortnite maker "financially sound" as Epic Games Store hits 70 million monthly active users (pocketgamer.biz)
Wuthering Waves coasts to $150 million (pocketgamer.biz)
Africa's video games market projected to rise from $2.14 billion to $3.72 billion by 2029 (pocketgamer.biz)
Data digest: hypercasual's decline continues as Offline Games, Wuthering Waves and yes, Twerk Race 3D hit milestones (mobilegamer.biz)
Video game sales jump 20% in Europe during September (gamesindustry.biz)
NEW GAMES
Mad Skills Rallycross has released on Android and iOS with a new Nitrocross collaboration (pocketgamer.com)
Ragnarok: Monster World, the new strategy title inspired by the Ragnarok universe, is out now (pocketgamer.com)
The Sims Labs: Town Stories appears on the Google Play store (pocketgamer.biz)
New games digest: Archero 2, Wooga's next launch, Football Manager, Persona, Monopoly World and more (mobilegamer.biz)
Dragon Takers is a new JRPG adventure from Kemco, out now on iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
Monsarrat unveils outdoor RPG demo with AR gameplay (venturebeat.com)
MythWalker lets you save a parallel Earth across a new geolocation RPG, now in regional beta (pocketgamer.com)
Arcane Rush Battlegrounds is a high-octane blend of deck builder, battle royale and auto battler, out now (pocketgamer.com)
Castle Duels is a PvP tower defence title with card-based units, out now on iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
Disney Pixel RPG, the retro-inspired take on the classic multimedia world, is out now (pocketgamer.com)
GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition is coming to iOS and Android soon (pocketgamer.com)
EA Sports FC Mobile opens pre-registrations for its upcoming Webstore (pocketgamer.com)
Dredge will soon take Android and iOS users on a horrifying fishing adventure (pocketgamer.com)
King Arthur: Legends Rise reveals bountiful milestone rewards for pre-registrants on the official website (pocketgamer.com)
Midgard Heroes: Ragnarok Idle brings on the RO nostalgia in a new idle package, out now (pocketgamer.com)
A Little to the Left, a cutesy new puzzle game, is out now for iOS (pocketgamer.com)
Bazooka Tango launches open beta for Shardbound Web3 card game (venturebeat.com)
Players will need a quiet place if they want to survive the A Quiet Place game (theverge.com)
Resident Evil 2 REmake is now available for pre-order on the iOS App Store (pocketgamer.com)
Sunderfolk is the new game from Dreamhaven and Secret Door (venturebeat.com)
The real A Little to the Left arrives on iOS after a slew of rip-offs (mobilegamer.biz)
Emberstoria is an upcoming strategy RPG by Square Enix, where you survive using technology from lost worlds (pocketgamer.com)
PUBLISHER NEWS
Tencent and Guillemot family reportedly planning Ubisoft buyout (gamesindustry.biz)
Supercell, Playdemic, Rovio, First Touch, MAG and more join Special Effect’s One Special Day (mobilegamer.biz)
343 rebrands as Halo Studios, working on multiple Unreal Engine 5 games (gamesindustry.biz)
The Epic Games Store for mobile could introduce the iconic free games program by 2025 (pocketgamer.com)
Scopely is lining up a “megadeal” acquisition for 2025 (mobilegamer.biz)
Antstream makes redundancies in company's retro gaming division (pocketgamer.biz)
Nintendo announces new game hardware: an alarm clock called Alarmo (polygon.com)
Roblox refutes allegations of inflating metrics for investors and failing to protect minors (gamesindustry.biz)
Co-development outfit Kokku lays off staff at Portugal studio (pocketgamer.biz)
Bethesda, BioWare, and Naughty Dog alumni form Near Studios (gamesindustry.biz)
Roblox’s branded experience maker Talewind hit with "significant" layoffs (pocketgamer.biz)
Curve Games and Unity launch $10,000 Human Fall Flat design challenge in China (pocketgamer.biz)
Konami replaces EA as FIFA's esports partner (gamesindustry.biz)
Activision releases report on anti-toxicity tools for Call of Duty: 45M text messages blocked (venturebeat.com)
Layoffs expected at Star Wars Hunters studio NaturalMotion as Zynga reviews operations (mobilegamer.biz)
Amanotes Embraces Hybrid-Casual Movement to Enhance User Experience and Drive Growth (pocketgamer.biz)