EA and Playtika: polar opposites
One is treading water, the other is aggressively flashing the cash. Both got time in the spotlight this week for very, very different reasons.
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This week’s stories:
New games now: The Sims, Palworld Mobile, Squid Game, Monument Valley, Civilization, Street Fighter, Rebel Moon and more
Also this week: Kabam closes Disney Mirrorverse, Disney Pixel RPG, Carmen Sandiego returns, several fresh indie games and plenty more.
Playtika will continue its M&A hunt following blockbuster SuperPlay deal
The Israeli publisher says it will be “continuing to look at opportunities” to grow its portfolio following its big money swoop for Dice Dreams maker SuperPlay.
Flappy Bird’s new owner attempts to clear the air – and flaps back at Dong Nguyen
The Flappy Bird Foundation is keen to note how “strikingly similar” Dong Nguyen’s 2014 viral hit is to a 2009 Facebook game made by French dev ‘Kek’, who is part of the 2024 revival.
Playtika to acquire Dice Dreams maker SuperPlay for an initial $700m
The transaction has a potential additional consideration of $1.25bn if certain targets are met in the next three years.
Data digest: Netflix’s GTA San Andreas hits 25m, Love and Deepspace spikes, insights from Unity, AppsFlyer, Niko, Perforce, more
Also this week: The Pokémon Company's IP lawsuit payout, Zynga owes IBM $45m, plus news from Cypher, Stillfront, InMobi and Magify.
EA only plans to make “concentrated bets” in mobile following a flurry of cancellations
Mobile only got around 30 seconds of airtime during a wide-ranging, three hour-long EA investor event yesterday.
Everdale has been killed again, this time by Metacore
Having acquired the game from investor Supercell, Metacore says it was “unable to find a path to improve its market fit and make it a sustainable business”.
Who killed TouchArcade?
Apple and Google’s shifting policies and a lack of support from mobile game publishers means the consumer mobile games site is closing after 16 years.
Flappy Bird’s comeback begins with a Telegram-only game that adds F2P and crypto elements
A teaser 'Flap-a-Ton' game designed to promote the Ton blockchain invites players to join a flock to compete on leaderboards and connect their crypto wallet.
Jobs digest: moves at Voodoo, Homa, Tactile, Trailmix, Apple, Mattel and more
There are also moves at Aptoide, Climax, PlayerUnknown Productions, Adikteev, Nexters, Redline, SuperGaming and Yodo1 Games in this week's round-up.
Flappy Bird’s creator confirms he has nothing to do with its comeback
Dong Nguyen has distanced himself from the revival, confirming he is not involved and didn’t sell the rights to the game to anyone.
EA and Playtika: polar opposites
One is treading water, the other is aggressively flashing the cash. Both got time in the spotlight this week for very, very different reasons.
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