News
Google India allows fantasy sports on Play Store (for now)
Google will launch a pilot permitting fantasy sports apps and rummy games on Play Store in India, changing its stance on disallowing real-money fantasy games. Read more…
mobile games
News
China’s ByteDance in talks to buy into mobile games publisher CMGE
China’s ByteDance is in talks to buy into mobile games publisher CMGE Technology Group in moves to strengthen its next pillar of growth. Read more…
News
China grants license to South Korean mobile game raising hopes
China has granted a license to a South Korean mobile game, raising hopes of an improvement in the two countries’ relations. Read more…
News
Tencent slashes games marketing budget, sources claim
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese tech giant Tencent is cutting the marketing budget for its key gaming division, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, amid a crackdown on the industry in the mainland and a lengthy Read more…
News
Tencent loses $20b in market value over games crackdown
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings’ market value slumped by around $20 billion on Friday after China intensified a crackdown on online gaming citing rising levels of myopia, heightening regulatory risks for companies in the Read more…
Features
Women coders in Afghanistan develop apps targeting opium and inequality
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Think Super Mario Bros, but with an Afghan twist. This is how Afghanistan‘s first generation of female coders explain their abilities as game-makers after uploading more than 20 games on digital app stores this Read more…
News
Q: What is China’s hot new mobile craze? A: Quiz shows
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – It seems like a game everyone wins: some of China’s biggest tech companies, looking to hook in new consumers, are using cash prizes to draw millions of contenders to mobile-based online quiz Read more…
News
Honour of Kings could boost Tencent’s Q1 revenues 50%: analysts
HONG KONG (Reuters) – With as many active players as the population of Germany, the Honour of Kings mobile game will likely help boost Tencent’s quarterly revenue by about 50%, shrugging off play-time curbs imposed Read more…
News
Rovio revenues still getting a boost from Angry Birds movie
HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish mobile games and animation studio Rovio Entertainment said on Tuesday its sales in the first half of the year almost doubled following the success of “The Angry Birds Movie.” First-half revenue Read more…
News
Rumor: Tencent to export “Honour of Kings” to EU and US
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings will launch its mega-hit smartphone game “Honour of Kings” in the EU and United States this year, a person familiar with the plans said, amid a backlash Read more…
News
Tencent shares hammered as People’s Daily slams “Honour of Kings”
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese communist party mouthpiece People’s Daily stepped up its criticism of a mobile game developed by Tencent, a day after the country’s top gaming and social media firm said it is Read more…
News
Tencent to impose time limits for kids playing “Honour of Kings”
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Tencent, China’s biggest gaming and social media firm by revenue, said it will limit play time for some young users of “Honour of Kings”, responding to complaints that children were getting Read more…
Off the Wire
3 HK aims to boost gamer cred with Gash points card
3 Hong Kong and regional digital entertainment payment platform Gash Point have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch a co-branded game points card. The game points card – which Hong Kong gamers can Read more…
News
Netmarble Games IPO debut tripped up by regulator ban
SEOUL (Reuters) – Netmarble Games stumbled in its market debut on Friday as a regulatory ban on minors playing its mega-hit game spooked some investors who had clamored to buy into the success of the Read more…
Views
Tencent’s AI advantage: gaming AI isn’t all that difficult
Tencent is finally jumping into artificial intelligence (AI), and while experience and time matter when developing meaningful AI, Tencent’s advantage is that it’s not very difficult to create good algorithms for the vast majority of Read more…
News
It’s SK Telecom’s turn to partner with Niantic for Pokémon GO
SK Telecom has entered into a joint marketing agreement with Niantic to promote the augmented reality game sensation Pokémon GO by turning SK Telecom’s 4,000 authorized retail stores into PokéStops or Gyms. Also, new and Read more…
News
Pokemon Go is no longer a threat to South Korea’s national security
SEOUL (Reuters) – Nintendo’s smash hit Pokemon Go was unleashed on South Korea on Tuesday, six months after it was released elsewhere in the world, a delay caused by security fears over Google Maps. The Read more…
News
Super Mario Run sets download record but unlocking fee turns off gamers
TOKYO (Reuters) – Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first Mario smartphone title, has set a download record but gamers balked at the one-time cost of unlocking content, prompting investors to push the Japanese game makers’ stock Read more…
Off the Wire
China’s e-sports industry – big in 2016, huge in 2017, says IDC
China’s e-sports games revenues are expected to exceed RMB50 billion (around $7.3 billion) for 2016, up more than 50% from 2015 thanks to the increasing popularity of tournaments as more organizers and players jump on Read more…
Off the Wire
Reliance Jio partners with Niantic to bring Pokémon GO to India
Pokémon GO is finally coming to India via Reliance Jio, who has struck a partnership with game developer Niantic to launch the augmented reality game in India. With this partnership, thousands of Reliance Digital Stores Read more…