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Start your week right with our quick take on the hottest stories impacting the mobile industry right now.
To help get you primed and ready for another week in mobile gaming, we’ve curated the biggest stories you need to know from the last seven days.
1) Playtika to acquire Dice Dreams developer SuperPlay for up to $1.95 billion
Israeli games company Playtika has entered into an agreement to acquire Dice Dreams dev SuperPlay in a deal worth up to $1.95 billion.
The publisher will pay an upfront $700 million with a further $1.25 billion possible, subject to SuperPlay achieving certain financial targets in the coming years.
Playtika expects SuperPlay to be a “meaningful growth driver” once the acquisition is completed sometime in Q4.
2) Nintendo and The Pokémon Company file lawsuit against Palworld eight months later
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocket Pair’s Palworld, a breakout hit this January known colloquially as Pokémon with Guns.
Palworld quickly racked up millions of installs, and its popularity was heightened by the buzz around its character designs, which bear a striking resemblance to many Pokémon, from Pikachu to Lucario. But the legal filing is actually believed to relate to Palworld’s catching mechanics, which could infringe on the Poké Ball patent.
After Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced around 650 layoffs at the company, both the Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile and Warcraft Rumble teams were reportedly affected.
Warzone Mobile has generated less than 10% of its predecessor Call of Duty: Mobile’s revenue when comparing their first six months, but Spencer assured no games are being cancelled as part of the cutbacks. Rather, Microsoft is aligning its “post-acquisition team structure”.
4) Less than 2% of mobile gamers make an in-app purchase
A new Unity report has revealed that only 1.83% of mobile gamers spend money on in-app purchases, but among those that do, 28.81% are likely to spend again. Most repeat spenders will do so within 30 days of the initial purchase.
Beyond those 30 days, the rate of players making repeat purchases falls to only 1.37%, making timing imperative when encouraging further spending.
5) Ubisoft wants workers back in the office three days a week
Ubisoft has ordered staff to return to the office for at least three days a week in a move to decrease remote working at the company. Each studio will be able to decide when to enact the policy, but changes are expected to roll out over the coming months.
“Increasing in-person time is key to learn from each other in an industry that’s constantly evolving,” said Ubisoft chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert. “And this is even more important for newcomers who need to master our tools and understand our ways of doing things.”
