Google Play store fees, Kingshot's World Cup ads, AppsFlyer's $1bn raise, Kabam layoffs, Ex-King execs kill Queen, more

Google Play store fees, Kingshot's World Cup ads, AppsFlyer's $1bn raise, Kabam layoffs, Ex-King execs kill Queen, more

The mobilegamer.biz podcast is a concise, banter-free digest of what’s driving the mobile games business. Every week, mobilegamer.biz founder and editor Neil Long goes on a walk and tells you what’s going on in under 20 minutes. In this episode: * Google (re)confirms that it’ll be dropping store fees by around 5% for most folks using the Play Store. Though there are caveats and complications, of course * A cheeky look at Kingshot’s new set of World Cup ads, featuring ex-England and Brazil players  * AppsFlyer attracts a whopping $1bn investment from heavy hitters Google, Meta, Unity and Moloco, possibly to stop AppLovin conquering the world * Kabam lays off staff in its LA office but refuses to clarify how many or why, causing more confusion * Ex-King execs kill Queen, a start-up that has attracted as much as $50m in VC funding and has been been making casual puzzle games in stealth mode since 2022(ish) * A quick bit on Hoyoverse’s next game, Honkai: Nexus Anima, which appears to be Genshin Impact meets Pokémon: a pretty good idea, actually * Another quick fun one on No.10: Full Confidence, the political satire game that got a boost in the run-up to Keir Starmer’s resignation on Monday * Mag Interactive says AI tools could help it test four times more new game ideas per year – it also delivered some solid Q3 results * In data digest we’ve got World Cup and DTC stats, May’s ad charts, Rush Royale hit $500m, UEFN payouts and plenty more * A dash through the latest soft launch update, including Zynga’s take on Coin Master / Monopoly Go, a Rollic UFC game, Sega’s reworking of Sonic Blitz and some usual suspects * In new games we’ve got Pokémon Champions, a new Kingdom Rush game, a new Barbie game and the closure of blockchain game Pudgy Party * A rattle through some of the big companies making moves in the latest jobs digest  * PLUS: an overall drowsiness in my voice and demeanour thanks to the insane heatwave gripping the UK this week #52, 25/06/26. Supported by Xsolla.

Amateur devs score hits with 38-0, WWDC reactions, May’s top games, Orna, more

The mobilegamer.biz podcast is a concise, banter-free digest of what’s driving the mobile games business. Every week, mobilegamer.biz founder and editor Neil Long goes on a walk and tells you what’s going on in under 20 minutes. In this episode: * We run through two stories about football drafting games 38-0 and 38-0-0, each made by amateur developers using AI tools to jump on a trend and quickly land a hit * Some indie app developer reactions from WWDC, where Apple promised free use of its AI models and compute until your app gets 2m installs, though it’s unclear what happens after that * We’ve got a breakdown of May’s top grossing and most downloaded games, according to Appmagic * A quick one about Orna, a location-based game that arrived shortly after Pokémon Go and has outlasted the likes of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Minecraft Earth * Jobs, data and new games nuggets featuring Pixel Flow, Wuthering Waves, Neverness to Everness, Pokémon Go Fest attendance and more * Ambient noise from kids and dog walkers in the beautiful and historic Verulamium Park, next to St Albans Cathedral #51, 18/06/26. Supported by Xsolla.

Why Summer Game Fest is a mobile-free zone, Supercell kills US projects, yet more Xbox chat, EA's mobile misstep, data, more

The mobilegamer.biz podcast is a concise, banter-free digest of what’s driving the mobile games business. Every week, mobilegamer.biz founder and editor Neil Long goes on a walk and tells you what’s going on in under 20 minutes. In this episode: * A bit of a ramble from Summer Game Fest in LA, which had barely any mobile games in it. And actually that makes a lot of sense * News from Supercell US, which has closed one game project and seems to have wound down another * New Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball says that mobile is the biggest and most valuable part of the games business – but his first priority is the console business (the part with the least growth potential, he admits) * EA’s Laura Miele on why fans were unhappy about Command & Conquer Rivals when it launched in 2018 * Metacore confirmed 159 jobs are going in Helsinki, and it’ll be closing its offices in Germany and Sweden * Loads of data nuggets * Ambient background sounds from both Grand Hope Park in downtown LA and our usual stomping ground in Hertfordshire, UK #50, 11/06/26. Supported by Xsolla.

Supercell, King and Sybo slam EU plan, Atari buys Hipster Whale, Zynga's Mark Pincus on copycats, more

The mobilegamer.biz podcast is a concise, banter-free digest of what’s driving the mobile games business. Every week, mobilegamer.biz founder and editor Neil Long goes on a walk and tells you what’s going on in under 20 minutes. In this episode: * Ilkka Paananen, Todd Green and Mathias Gredal Nørvig have criticised incoming EU proposals that they believe could make free to play games “unplayable in Europe” * Atari bought Hipster Whale, its latest retro-adjacent acquisition * Zynga founder Mark Pincus’ thoughts on the art of copying and mobile game design * The Simpsons takes over Monopoly Go * Multi-award-winning indie game Consume Me is now on iOS * Apple has reveals its Design Award winners ahead of WWDC * Mattel launched its debut firstparty game, Master of the Universe - Skeleton: Until Next Time * A bit on the brief disappearance of Block Blast from the Play Store last week * News nuggets from our jobs, new games and data digests * Why I decided to run a 'best mobilegamer.biz stories you probably haven't read' listicle last Thursday * Ambient sounds of birdsong, passing dogwalkers and slightly squelchier footsteps thanks to a post-heatwave downpour #49, 04/06/26. Supported by Xsolla.

Take-Two, Ubisoft, Monopoly Go and SciPlay news plus data and soft launch nuggets

The mobilegamer.biz podcast is a concise, banter-free digest of what’s driving the mobile games business. Every week, mobilegamer.biz founder and editor Neil Long goes on a walk and tells you what’s going on in under 20 minutes. In this episode: * We rattle through Take-Two’s financials, which as ever show mobile earning roughly half the company’s cash with earnings from Zynga, Peak, Nordeus, Rollic and others up year-on-year  * We also pick through Ubisoft’s earnings which the company itself described as a “low point” – mobile is also down and those Rainbow Six and Division launches have been weak * Hasbro is banking about $40m per quarter from Scopely thanks to Monopoly Go – easy money, and perhaps the best bit of licensing business ever(?) * SciPlay has made staff cuts as its social casino portfolio declines, though D2C is rising and there’s a startling stat about the average monthly spend of a paying player * There’s also your regular data nuggets featuring Neverness to Everness, Tencent Games’ astonishing quarterly earnings, the top grossing games in the US and the most-advertised mobile games * We’ve also updated our soft launch list to include another new Metacore beta, and there are three new Century Games titles incoming, according to Appmagic * Ambient audio highlights include some delightful birdsong from the woods, gravel underfoot and a couple of sections recorded on a path near a Costa during a record-breaking heatwave #48, 28/05/26. Supported by Xsolla [https://xsolla.com/mobile-web-shop/instant?utm_source=banner&utm_medium=banner-cpc&utm_campaign=mobilegamerbiz_q2_25&utm_content=banneradblurb3].