China and Asia show their influence over the top grossing mobile games

February 27th, 2020, 22:13 Posted By: wraggster

With more people in China and greater Asia choosing or needing to stay inside during the coronavirus outbreak, there has been an increased interest in home activities. Demand for Nintendo's fitness game Ring Fit Adventure is said to have soared. User spending in certain categories of mobile apps -- including games -- has also surged, as people have kept themselves busy while exercising safety precautions.
[h=2]Revenue and download growth[/h]Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates show that games revenue on the Chinese App Store during January 2020 increased by 36% compared to January 2019. The number of downloads also grew, rising by 38% year-on-year.
In January 2020, the Chinese App Store -- not including third-party Android stores -- generated more than 31% of global games revenue for the month, the largest share of any country. It also accounted for close to 24% of all App Store game downloads worldwide, just behind the US with 26%.
In fact, downloads for games in China during both January and February 2020 were at the highest level since July 2018.

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Plague Inc. pulled from Chinese App Store

February 27th, 2020, 22:12 Posted By: wraggster

Plague Inc. has been pulled from the China App Store.
"We've just been informed that Plague Inc. 'includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China' and has been removed from the China App Store," developer Ndemic Creations said today in an update on the game's official site. "This situation is completely out of our control."
The studio added it wasn't clear that the removal was related to the COVID19 novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in China late last year.

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PUBG Mobile was the top-grossing mobile game for the fifth month in a row

February 11th, 2020, 21:01 Posted By: wraggster

PUBG Mobile was the highest-grossing mobile game across the App Store and Google Play in January, bringing in a total of $176.3 million according to analysis from Sensor Tower.
That was nearly four times over its revenue at the same time last year, with just over half of that revenue coming from China (under the name Game for Peace). For comparison, the game earned at least $1.3 billion in the entirety of 2019. It was also the top game by revenue in the previous month of December 2019, bringing in over $148 million.

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With no profit motive, new kids' mobile IP from BBC

February 9th, 2020, 11:17 Posted By: wraggster

The BBC this week launched a new mobile game based on an original IP. The release marks a notable change in tact into how the state-funded broadcaster has previously approached video games.
Developed for BBC Children's by London-based Goodboy Digital, Nightfall is an online co-operative mobile title, playable in browsers or on iOS, Android, and Amazon devices. As a product of the BBC's non-profit model, Nightfall plays by slightly different rules than the conventional games industry.
In a statement, the BBC said Nightfall has been designed with the aim of "uniting young players with their friends in a safe gaming environment."
"Creating a positive and safe gaming experience is at the heart of Nightfall, and, to protect players, the game doesn't include loot boxes, ads or micro-transactions," said the BBC.
With a focus on creating a safe social space, the BBC has also veered away from data collection, and limited in-game communication to pre-set emojis. Although the BBC has a long history of dabbling with games from a brand-first approach -- and boasts over 200 kids' games in its web portfolio -- senior product manager Will Storer says this is the broadcaster's first attempt at a gaming-first approach, taking into consideration what the wider industry has to offer.



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iOS Jailbreak News: Checkra1n 0.9.8 released

February 6th, 2020, 18:02 Posted By: wraggster

Ever since checkra1n’s release in November, iOS devices with an A11 or older SoC became hackable on the latest firmware since the checkm8 exploit it uses is hardware-based and unpatchable. However, the community has had one major gripe with checkra1n which was its exclusivity to macOS but that has just changed since its long-awaited Linux port is finally here!
You can finally jailbreak your iOS 13 device without owning a Mac or running Hackintosh on your PC which is more difficult than it sounds on certain hardware!

Earlier today, checkra1n 0.9.8 was released and this includes:

• Support for Linux on 32/64-bit x86 and ARM platforms meaning that it can even run on your Raspberry Pi!
  • Instructions on how to use it can be found here
• Support for iOS 13.3.1 which is the current version of iOS
• An option has been added which lets you jailbreak iOS versions that checkra1n isn’t officially compatible with
  • This option is usually needed when Apple releases a new version of iOS and checkra1n isn’t updated yet. It’s also useful for those on beta versions of iOS
• A new CLI has been introduced with support for fast DFU, the ability to set custom boot-args and a –version flag
• Low-Level patching is now done by pongoOS
  • PongoOS is a low-level OS that’s able to directly interface with the hardware and even boot other OSes like Linux
• Many bug fixes & webra1n (web-based GUI for headless solutions)

You can grab checkra1n from its official website by selecting the platform of your choice.

http://wololo.net/2020/02/05/news-yu...3-3-1-support/

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DeNA shuts down two of its Japanese mobile titles

February 5th, 2020, 22:02 Posted By: wraggster

Japanese mobile company DeNA is shuttering two of its Japan-only smartphone titles in the coming months: Fantasy Earth Genesis, and Torikago Scrap March.
Siliconera has reported on and translated the announcements of the shutdowns, both of which are happening to relatively young games. 50v50 action MMO Fantasy Earth Genesis was launched by Square Enix and DeNA in September 2018, and turn-based RPG Torikago Scrap March has only been around since April of last year.
Fantasy Earth Genesis has already ended sales of its in-game currency, and will officially close its servers on March 31, 2020. Torikago Scrap March will continue selling its currency until February 27, 2020, but its servers will shut down on the same day as Fantasy Earth Genesis does.
Neither shut-down announcement gave detail on the reasons for the games' closure, though Siliconera notes that Fantasy Earth had originally been part of a paid subscription service that failed due to low subscription numbers, and was retooled into Fantasy Earth: Zero by GamePot as a standalone title shortly after.

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Nintendo's latest subscription model is attached to Fire Emblem Heroes

February 4th, 2020, 21:31 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo appears to be getting comfy with subscription models for its games and services, as it's announced it is finally introducing one for its most successful mobile game: Fire Emblem Heroes.
Fire Emblem Heroes will be getting a "Feh Pass" on February 5, 2020, that will cost $9.49 per month. In return, subscribers will receive two special heroes each month complete with unique outfits, visuals, voices, and stat boosts (these will be available for non-subscribers to purchase following their period on the Feh Pass), unique quest objectives with in-game currency rewards, and additional gameplay assists and boosts for PvE play that will help speed play up, bolster characters, and redo undesirable player decisions.
The critical elements of the pass revolve around the included heroes and the ability to complete more quests for in-game currency such as orbs, which can be spent to acquire even more of the game's heroes. Fire Emblem Heroes' gacha system to acquire these characters has proven lucrative, as the game is now responsible for 61% of Nintendo's lifetime mobile game revenue, which reached $1 billion last month.
This is the second subscription service Nintendo has implemented in one of its mobile games, with the first being Mario Kart Tour's Gold Pass. Nintendo also has $20/year subscription for its Switch online services, including free NES and SNES games.

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The mobile games market is getting bigger -- and not just for the top ten

February 3rd, 2020, 21:43 Posted By: wraggster

2019 was another stellar year for mobile game revenue. Sensor Tower estimates show that worldwide spending in games grew 12.8% across the App Store and Google Play, from $54.7 billion in 2018 to $61.7 billion in 2019. For some perspective, that's 74% of all in-app spending for the year, which hit approximately $83.5 billion in total not including Android in China.
Tencent's Honor of Kings was once again the highest-grossing game of the year, generating close to $1.5 billion in gross revenue. Another title from the Chinese publishing giant, PUBG Mobile, shot up the charts in 2019 to hit No. 2 in the rankings with just under $1.5 billion as well. The battle royale game grossed close to $1.3 billion more than in 2018 thanks to its re-launch in China, where it's now known as Game For Peace.
The top five was rounded out by Sony Aniplex's Fate/Grand Order -- which became Japan's top grossing game of 2019, usurping Mixi's Monster Strike - King's Candy Crush Saga, which increased user spending by $84.5 million year-over-year, and Niantic's Pokémon GO, which had its best year ever.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...or-the-top-ten

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In Europe, Google Play users spent more on mobile gaming in 2019 than App Store users

January 31st, 2020, 21:30 Posted By: wraggster

Across Europe, mobile users spent a total of $7.4 billion on games in 2019, accounting for 66% of all mobile app revenue in Europe.
Sensor Tower reports that while globally, the App Store generated more revenue than Google Play, the opposite occurred in Europe. There, the App Store brought in $3.3 billion in 2019 (up 13.6% year-over-year) while Google Play generated $4.2 billion (up 15.4%). Google Play represented 57% of all mobile game spending throughout the region.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...pp-store-users

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Nintendo mobile games have brought in $1b in lifetime revenue

January 29th, 2020, 21:37 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo's mobile portfolio of six titles has reached a new milestone, generating $1 billion in total lifetime revenue according to Sensor Tower.
Of that total, 61% ($656 million) of the revenue stemmed from Fire Emblem Heroes, which far outstripped its fellow Nintendo mobile brethren in revenue. The second-place title, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, has done a fraction of that total at $131 million, as has Dragalia Lost at $123 million.
A bit further down, Mario Kart Tour has brought in $86 million in lifetime revenue, only 8% of Nintendo's total despite seeing the best launch day of a Nintendo mobile title so far in terms of downloads. Super Mario Run is responsible for $76 million, or 7% of the total.

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Kernel Bug affecting iOS 13.2.2 and lower that can potentially result in a jailbreak

January 26th, 2020, 21:41 Posted By: wraggster

Moving over to newer versions of iOS, some exciting news has just dropped for those with A12/A13 devices running iOS 13 since the checkra1n jailbreak doesn’t support these devices. Due to this, these devices rely on app-based jailbreaks, like unc0ver and Electra, which make use of kernel exploits and have been the norm ever since 2016 (iOS 9.2/9.3).
If the kernel bug that Ian Beer just shared gets turned into a tfp0 exploit, unc0ver will probably get iOS 13 support!

Unlike the checkm8 exploit which powers the checkra1n jailbreak, app-based jailbreaks use exploits that are patchable with iOS updates and this means that people on the iPhone XS/11 and newer iPads are still waiting patiently for a chance to jailbreak their device on the latest version of iOS.
Now, Ian Beer of Project Zero, who’s released numerous kernel bugs & exploits which led to fully fledged jailbreaks in the past, has just shared details on a kernel bug, fixed in iOS 13.3, which according to Apple’s security content releases allows for execution of arbitrary code with kernel privileges thus providing the base part of a jailbreak. This means that there’s potential for an application-based jailbreak supporting iOS 13.0-13.2.2 on all devices including the iPhone 11 (Pro) but it must be noted that a tfp0 exploit hasn’t been provided and the code shared is effectively for PoC purposes. With this in mind, Pwn20wnd who’s behind the unc0ver jailbreak, has advised to “not get excited for now” on Reddit so you should adjust your hopes accordingly until an exploit gets developed.

As usual, the advice of staying on the lowest version of iOS holds unless you have an A11 or older device as these are permanently jailbroken with checkra1n since it uses a hardware-based BootROM exploit. If you’re on iOS 13.0-13.2.2, do not update to iOS 13.3. If you’re on iOS 12.x and already jailbroken, it’s advised to stay there for now. Remember to save blobs.

http://wololo.net/2020/01/26/ios-jai...for-jailbreak/

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Apple TV 3rd generation finally gets jailbroken on latest firmware (7.4)

January 26th, 2020, 21:40 Posted By: wraggster

Unlike the iPhone and iPad, the Apple TV is seen as a side offering in Apple’s lineup and while it’s gained popularity in some circles, adoption is still nowhere as high as Apple’s iOS devices.

As a result, interest in jailbreaking Apple TV devices is pretty limited but the Apple TV 2nd generation, 4th generation and 4K are permanently jailbroken thanks to the BootROM exploits that affect them and because more developers showed interest in them. However, the Apple TV 3rd generation didn’t see any love and was left without a jailbreak partially because finding an entry point on the Apple TV firmware is more difficult than on iOS and because of the aforementioned lack of interest.
Now, that has finally changed as tihmstar, who’s behind jailbreaking iOS 8.4.1 and 9.3.5/6 with Siguza et al among other contributions, has released EtasonATV which is capable of jailbreaking Apple TV Firmware 7.4 (12H876; based on iOS 8.4.3) on the AppleTV3,2 with support for AppleTV3,1 units coming when someone steps in to help him with some minor things. Installing this jailbreak is a little different than traditional jailbreaks as it requires you to set a custom DNS address, add a profile and then open the Trailers app in order to jailbreak your device. After that, you can install a DEB file via SSH which gives you an untethered jailbreak (you needn’t apply it every reboot) for your device! For those asking why you should jailbreak an Apple TV, the main reason right now is the ability to install Kodi/XBMC (installation instructions).

You may learn more about EtasonATV by following this link which also contains installation instructions.

http://wololo.net/2020/01/26/ios-jai...for-jailbreak/

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EA ends support for mobile Tetris, Tetris Blitz

January 23rd, 2020, 17:41 Posted By: wraggster

Electronic Arts is shutting down its Tetris games for mobile devices, including both Tetris and Tetris Blitz.
An announcement on the iOS store page (reaffirmed to GamesIndustry.biz by EA) for Tetris Blitz confirms the games will soon be removed, and in fact already appear to have been taken down from Google Play.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...s-tetris-blitz

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Mobile gaming projected to surpass $100b in spend in 2020

January 15th, 2020, 20:35 Posted By: wraggster

Mobile gaming continued to grow in 2019, with App Annie predicting the industry is on track to surpass $100 billion in revenue across all mobile app stores in 2020.
According to its State of Mobile 2020 report, mobile game spending neared $90 billion in 2019, and made up 56% of all gaming spending last year. Mobile game spend was 2.4 times that of spending on PC and Mac, and 2.9 times that on console.
In total, App Annie found 1121 mobile games that brought in over $5 million, and 140 games that brought in over $100 million.

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NPD: Growth of mobile gamers slows while revenue continues rising

January 15th, 2020, 20:33 Posted By: wraggster

The mobile gaming population in the US and Canada seems to be nearing saturation, but that hasn't stopped revenues from climbing. That's according to the industry-tracking NPD Group, which today released information from its Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming 2020 report.
According to the report -- conducted in collaboration with Sensor Tower and based on a survey of 5,000 active mobile gamers in the US and Canada -- the number of mobile gamers in the two countries grew 2% year-over-year in 2019 to 214.1 million. While still growing, the pace of growth has slowed; in 2018, the number was up 5 percent from the previous year.
Despite that, the collective mobile gamer community in the two countries has upped its spending considerably. Mobile game revenues in the two countries were up 24 percent year-over-year, totaling more than $11.82 billion. More than half of that was attributed to three genres -- puzzle, skill/chance, and strategy -- but gains were found across all genres.
"Mobile gaming continues to be a dynamic and expanding market, offering appealing content to all types of game players," NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella said. "New hit games in 2019, such as Call of Duty: Mobile, and Mario Kart Tour, along with the launch of the Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass subscription services, are just some examples of the breadth and depth of mobile gaming's rapid evolution and why it remains gaming's largest, and most diverse, platform."

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ntinues-rising

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Line Ridder Zigzag v0.1 (Android Game)

January 14th, 2020, 19:26 Posted By: wraggster

Line Ridder Zigzag is a game by StarCity Games and has simple rules to play. The rider moves in a zigzag way and you have to tap the screen as soon as you see it hitting the walls or the obstacle to save it and swift it ahead. The game has exciting levels to explore with different kinds of obstacles and the perfect graphics that drift your mind to even play it more.

https://pdroms.de/google-android/lin...1-android-game

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2019 was Pokemon Go's best year ever

January 14th, 2020, 17:42 Posted By: wraggster

Pokemon Go just had its best year ever in 2019 -- even better than its 2016 launch.
Last year, Niantic's location-based Pokemon title brought in $894 million, according to Sensor Tower. That's up from its previous high year in 2016, when it brought in $832 million. Pokemon Go brought in $589 million and $816 million in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
That made it the fifth-highest-earning mobile game worldwide this year, behind Candy Crush and above Monster Strike. The top-grossing game in 2019 was Honor of Kings, which neared $1.5 billion in revenue.
In particular, August and September helped bolster Pokemon Go's revenue -- its best months since the summer of 2016. $116 million was generated in August, and $126 million in September following a major update to the game that added Team Rocket. The only months Pokemon Go has seen that were bigger than those were in 2016: $256 million in July 2016, $195 million in August, and $141 million in September.
The US was responsible for most of Pokemon Go's revenue this year, contributing $335 million. Japan was in second, with $286 million, followed by Germany at $54 million. 54% of spending was on Google Play, and the rest was on iOS.

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Apple Arcade now has a cut-price annual payment tier

January 1st, 2020, 11:38 Posted By: wraggster

Apple has introduced an annual tier for its mobile game subscription service, Apple Arcade.
The new payment option was added without fanfare, but it was spotted by the German website iFun.de. A screenshot shows the option to purchase an annual subscription to Apple Arcade for €49.99.
At present, a monthly subscription in Europe costs €4.99, so the annual tier effectively grants two free months of Apple Arcade.

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Mobile's fast risers of 2019 could be leaders in 2020

January 1st, 2020, 11:32 Posted By: wraggster

Last month, we reflected on the increasing influence of console and PC IP on mobile, headlined in October by the launches of Mario Kart Tour and Call of Duty: Mobile. In November, there was no place in the worldwide top ten grossers for those big releases.
Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data shows Activision's Call of Duty: Mobile falling to 24 from 12 month-on-month, though it still brought in an impressive $31.8 million in gross revenue. Nintendo's Mario Kart Tour dropped to 57 from 27, generating $16.4 million. There was still room in the top 30, however, for eight franchises that started life on PC and console -- down just two from October.
New to the overall top ten in November was Sony's hit mobile RPG Fate/Grand Order, which generated $54.3 million, a 10% month-on-month increase. NetEase's Fantasy Westward Journey picked up $53.3 million, despite a fall of 11% from October.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...eaders-in-2020

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Mobile games made 15 times more revenue than entertainment apps in a single year

December 16th, 2019, 22:16 Posted By: wraggster

The combined revenues generated by mobile games reached $41.5 billion in a single 12-month period -- more than 15 times higher than the $2.77 billion generated by the next biggest category, Entertainment.
That's according to Liftoff's Mobile App Trends Report, which looked at the entire breadth of apps on iOS and Android between September 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019.
During that time, iOS apps made $22.51 billion based on in-app purchases and advertising in games, while Android titles made $18.94 billion. The combined total was 4.27% higher than last year's $39.8 billion. Entertainment apps, meanwhile, made $2.42 billion on iOS, $351 million on Android.
The report also shared average retention rates, with casual games the fourth highest category on Day One, retaining 31.1% of users. This was only beaten by news, comics and social casino games, none of which were higher than 33%. For day seven, casual games' retention average dropped to 9.8%, then to 3.5% on Day 30.
Hardcore games, meanwhile, showed Day One, Seven and 30 retention rates of 29%, 9% and 3% respectively. Midcore games were reported at 29.3%, 7.3% and 2%.
The average time between installation and an in-app purchase for games was reported as one day, 22 hours and 35 minutes -- longer than shopping, dating and finance (the latter of which was one hour, ten minutes).
Games were also the biggest category in terms of the number of downloads. 15.3 million downloads were recorded on iOS and 41.2 million on Android, making for total of 56.5 million. Again, the second biggest category was Entertainment with 8.4 million (2.7 million on iOS, 5.7 million on Android) -- 573% lower than games.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...es-in-one-year

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