[Last week in games] Tencent and Ubisoft in talks over potential management-led buyout, Fortnite players could earn nearly $100 from a massive Epic Games settlement, and more news!
News in games that caught our eyes in the last week [December 8-15, 2024]
INDUSTRY NEWS
Are the UK's top grossing mobile games really breaking loot box rules? (pocketgamer.biz)
Pocket Gamer Awards 2024 winners and game of the year announced (pocketgamer.com)
How Rovio is helping Sega take flight in mobile (mobilegamer.biz)
Fortnite players could earn nearly $100 from a massive Epic Games settlement (polygon.com)
Hybrid Monetization Buzz Doesn’t Quit: Brat or Basic? (deconstructoroffun.com)
The mobilegamer.biz awards: game of the year that isn’t Balatro: Minute Cryptic (mobilegamer.biz)
Ex-dev leader Chris Barrett accuses Sony/Bungie of firing him to avoid a $45M payment (venturebeat.com)
The mobilegamer.biz awards: 2024’s best squabble, cheekiest switcheroo and most mysterious company (mobilegamer.biz)
The mobilegamer.biz awards: 2024’s biggest no-shows, hardware flop and worst use of AI (mobilegamer.biz)
Apple names the App Store's best games and apps of the year (venturebeat.com)
The nuance of a successful sequel: Balancing familiarity and refreshing experiences in AFK Journey (pocketgamer.biz)
Squad Busters nabs iPad Game of the Year at the 2024 Apple App Store Awards (pocketgamer.com)
INVESTOR
Reforged Studios acquires South Africa’s Yellow Lab Games (pocketgamer.biz)
Aethir and partners pour $40M into decentralized infrastructure for AI and blockchain (venturebeat.com)
Cyprus-based studio Top App Games secures $10m funding (pocketgamer.biz)
UAE leads MENA start-up investments in November with $146m across 11 deals (pocketgamer.biz)
Build A Rocket Boy acquires UK developer PlayFusion (pocketgamer.biz)
Moonray raises $10M to date for Web3 sci-fi arena multiplayer game (venturebeat.com)
Beam Ventures launches $150M fund to make Abu Dhabi into a global gaming hub (venturebeat.com)
uBroker Spa acquires a 49% stake in Italian indie Memorable Games (gamesindustry.biz)
MARKET DATA
Royal Kingdom’s $2.4m debut, Infinity Nikki’s launch and Pokémon TCG Pocket rivals Pokémon Go's early success (pocketgamer.biz)
93% of Web3 game projects are dead (venturebeat.com)
Infinity Nikki is series’ strongest launch with $4m in four days on mobile (pocketgamer.biz)
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake tops November charts (gamesindustry.biz)
Marvel Rivals tops 10m players in 72 hours (gamesindustry.biz)
Infinity Nikki has hit 10 million downloads in less than a week since launch (pocketgamer.com)
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete surpasses $3m with highest daily spend since 2017 (pocketgamer.biz)
Pokémon TCG Pocket Getting Mew-Themed Booster Set Amid Whopping 60 Million Downloads (kotaku.com)
Data digest: Zynga sells Chartboost, Infinity Nikki, Capybara Go, Netflix Games, Rush Royale numbers, more (mobilegamer.biz)
62% of SEA gamers discover new games through social media - find out more in Niko Knowledge Brief (nikopartners.com)
NEW GAMES
Dream League Soccer is now available on Android and iOS with a myriad of enhancements and new features (pocketgamer.com)
New game digest: Garena takes on GTA, Infinity Nikki, Sonic Rumble, Marathon and more (mobilegamer.biz)
Alterworlds is a low-poly puzzler taking you on a journey across the galaxy (pocketgamer.com)
Delta Force pre-orders now open for Android and iOS (pocketgamer.com)
Nighty Knight lets you defend against things that go bump in the night, now in pre-registration on Android (pocketgamer.com)
Path of Exile 2 launch has long queues, outages after surpassing 1M pre-orders (polygon.com)
CarX Drift Racing 3 is out now on Android and iOS, promising high-octane action (pocketgamer.com)
Forrest in the Forest is a fast-paced hack 'n slash platformer, coming soon (pocketgamer.com)
Blob Attack: Tower Defense is out now on the iOS App Store (pocketgamer.com)
Urban Legend Hunters 2: Double mixes live-action with virtual worlds, coming soon (pocketgamer.com)
Sakamoto Days Puzzle Game is an upcoming Japan-only release based on the anime (pocketgamer.com)
Zen Sort: Match puzzle is Kwalee's newest release, out now on Android (pocketgamer.com)
Ultimate Myth: Rebirth is an Eastern mythology-themed idle RPG that's now in open beta on Android (pocketgamer.com)
Ubisoft will launch Captain Laserhawk Web3 game on December 18 (venturebeat.com)
Monument Valley 3 has launched on Netflix with a new wave of mind-boggling puzzles (pocketgamer.com)
Tarasona is a new isometric anime-styled battle royale from Krafton, soft launched in India (pocketgamer.com)
PUBLISHER NEWS
Fortnite goes first person with Ballistic, a 5v5 tactical shooter (venturebeat.com)
Brendan Greene's PlayerUnknown Productions unveils massive game projects (venturebeat.com)
itch.io says it was taken down by Funko (polygon.com)
Tencent and Ubisoft in talks over potential management-led buyout (pocketgamer.biz)
Deck Nine Games lays off more staff (gamesindustry.biz)
Lego and Epic Games unveil Lego Fortnite Brick Life for December 12 (venturebeat.com)
Xsolla partners with StarNest to launch game development academy in Azerbaijan (pocketgamer.biz)
PUBG Mobile commits $10 million to 2025 Esports circuit prize pool (pocketgamer.biz)
Arkadium confirms record year for its browser games library (venturebeat.com)
Gamefam integrates Ubisoft's Brawlhalla into Roblox games (venturebeat.com)
Xsolla teams with StarNest to establish new game development academy (gamesindustry.biz)
Arkadium unveils six new games to end the year with 18 releases (pocketgamer.biz)
Buzz Lightyear joins Brawl Stars in Toy Story crossover (pocketgamer.biz)
EsportsXO partners with Abu Dhabi Gaming to open regional headquarters in the MENA region (pocketgamer.biz)
Epic Games Store to come preinstalled on Android Telefónica devices (pocketgamer.com)
Glow Up Games shuts down after facing ongoing industry challenges (pocketgamer.biz)