PGC London is almost here, Archero 2’s first week, and Nintendo Switch 2 revealed | Week in Views

The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of.

So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over, here’s our weekly digest where members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming over the past week.

See who YOU could Connect with at this month’s PGC London

My Week in Views is dedicated to Pocket Gamer Connects London, which takes place from January 20th to 21st (that’s just a few days away!).

It’s our biggest event of the year and, to boast a bit, I think it’s established itself as one of the key annual conferences in the games industry.

We’re expecting over 2,750 games industry professionals from 900+ companies at the show, spanning from developers and publishers to investors, services and tool providers, and more.

It’s a great opportunity to network with thousands of industry peers, whether through chance meetings, scheduled discussions, parties or our side events like Publisher SpeedMatch and Investor Connector.

We’ve also got a great speaker schedule with fantastic speakers. Some of our star sessions include:

Navigating Growth – Opportunities & Challenges for The UK In 2025.

• A panel including: London & Partners’ Louise Conolly-Smith, Curve Games’ Stuart Dinsey, Curve Games, Sporty Group’s Jon Hare, Ustwo Games’ Maria Sayans, and NextBeat’s Simon Hade.

Unleashing Creativity – Transforming Engagement On TikTok

Playing The Long Game – Lessons From Balatro For Maximising Success

Admonetisation Tips & Tricks!

It’s Morning in Mobile Gaming – Preparing for Success in 2025

Survive to 25? We’re now in 25 – What’s Next For The Games Industry?

Hay Day – 12 Years of Growth & Scaling For Longevity

UP DOWN UP – The Learnings Generated While Writing A Business Book For The Games Industry

• A panel featuring moderator Nick Button-Brown, PlayerUnknown Productions’ Kim Nordstrom, Super Evil Megacorp’s Kristian Segerstrale, Cult Games’ Helen Burnill

Paradigm Shifts – The Evolving Mobile Market And 3P Marketplaces

• A panel featuring Steel Media’s Chris James, Epic Games’ Sarah Thomson, Playdigious’ Antony Marthinho, Ustwo Games’ Jane Campbell, and Epic Games’ Walter Somol.

The Rise Of Rewarded UA – How To Take Advantage Of The Marketing Revolution

• A panel that includes Mistplay’s Aaron Thandi, Prodege’s Christine Rubin, Tripledot Studios’ Danil Moskovoy, KashKick’s Brad Shapiro, and Brown Boots’ Lenny Rabin

Let The World Play – Case Studies Of Web Game Hits

What Did I Learn Whilst Growing From A 10-Million-Euro-A-Year Studio To A 700-Million-Euro-A-Year Games Group?

• A fireside chat with Stillfront’s Alexis Bonte

…and many more. The event will be covering the hottest trends in development, UA, direct-to-consumer, monetisation, rewarded play, browser gaming and a host of other topics.

You can find out more details about the conference and see the full schedule on the PGC London website.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Habby’s Archero 2 makes $6.6m in first week from player spending

Habby’s Archero 2 has shown an impressive first-week performance, generating $6.6 million in its first week since global launch. With the first game’s popularity, demand for a sequel was always going to look promising.

But releasing a sequel comes with challenges, not only does the game have to be good but it needs to capture what made the first game great and expand upon it. Something that Archero 2 looks to be doing well, building upon the hybridcasual genre that the original game is famous for pioneering.

Despite it only being the first month of the new year, Archero 2 is already one to watch in the mobile market in 2025. It’s got the ability to be a major hit if it can continue to build off the first game’s success and go on to surpass it. 

A key factor for success will be longevity. Naturally, after launch, many games see a drop-off, but Habby has already incorporated new features such as its competitive leaderboard, which could play a role in maintaining long-term retention along with other game updates. 

With the first game bringing hybridcasual into the mix, it’s time to see if Archero 2 can leave its mark on the genre and perhaps set a new standard. 

Nintendo Switch 2 Unveiled

After years of speculation and rumours, Nintendo’s next console has finally been unveiled. And… it’s the Switch 2. Shown off via a slick cinematic, I feel the trailer struck a nice balance between the new and the familiar, transforming the original Switch console into its successor model, reflective of what fans should expect from it overall: it’s the Switch, but more.

The new model is bigger, blacker, with sleeker remotes, and it has a much more flexible kickstand – presumably for the convenience of multiplayer. And, of course, it was shown running Mario Kart.

With Mario Kart 8 being the best-selling Switch game and one of the best-selling games ever, it came as little surprise to see it as the first and only franchise shown so far; more surprising was its tease of a potential 24-player mode, which would be a new record for the series beyond its standard 12. Again, perhaps this points towards an increasing focus on multiplayer for the Switch 2.

As for the name, I really didn’t think Nintendo would go for something so obvious. Before its reveal, everyone already colloquially referred to it as the Switch 2, but Nintendo never did so before dropping the trailer. And a numbered name just seems outright strange, compared to past successors like the Super NES, the 3DS and the Wii U, but here we are.

In all likelihood, the name was chosen in an attempt to assure Switch fans and investors that they can expect more of the same: a high-selling, quality product with plenty of games. That this isn’t some zany, experimental product at risk of a Wii U level flop. No, this is the Switch 2.