- 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
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Start your week right with our quick take on the stories that are 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) Turkey blocks access to Roblox
Roblox was blocked on August 7th in Turkey following an investigation carried out by the Adana chief public prosecutor’s office. The case for the block was in relation to content that could lead to child exploitation.
“It is everyone’s duty to look out for, protect and support the best interests of our children,” said Turkey’s minister of justice.
2) Social First bag a further $4.2 million investment as they get set to “redefine social gaming”
Finnish game studio Social First has raised $4.2 million in a seed funding round led by Nordic venture capital firm Crowberry Capital. Pre-seed investor Play Ventures also participated alongside Business Finland, the Finnish governmental organisation for innovation funding.
The new funds will be used to bolster Social First’s as-yet-unnamed social sandbox MMO, its first product which is already in testing with “thousands of players”. Ubisoft and Rovio veterans comprise part of the Social First team, which is currently 20 people strong.
3) Jam City has laid off 10% of its workforce
Mobile games developer Jam City has seen another round of layoffs, letting go of approximately 10% of its workforce or around 85 people, after laying off 17% of employees in 2022.
“After a challenging 2023, industry analysts predicted an upward trend for gaming in 2024. While we have seen moderate improvements in some areas, the overall upward trend has not materialised as expected,” said Jam City CEO Josh Yguado in an email to staff.
4) Supercell-backed studio Shipyard Games closes as investment dries up
Shipyard Games has closed without fanfare as a single Discord post has been discovered, thanking fans and supporters back in May 2024. Despite receiving an investment from Supercell in 2017, the studio didn’t bring a single game to full release and a “previous investor” has now stopped supporting the studio.
Seven years ago Shipyard Games looked set to be one of the first promising pioneers of the geolocation genre, and the company was “very excited to finally fulfil our dream of making an amazing new geolocation MMO in a shared world”.
5) NetEase’s Blood Strike rockets to 50 million installs in less than a year
Following its SouthEast Asia release last October and worldwide launch this March, NetEase Games’ Blood Strike has surpassed 50 million downloads. Downloads have almost doubled since April and the battle royale has topped charts in more than 15 different countries, including the US.
To celebrate this major milestone, NetEase has distributed an in-game gift to Blood Strike fans, who lead game designer Xie believes are playing for “three main reasons“.
