Scopely x CD Projekt: Mobile Power Combo Incoming

CD Projekt x Scopely: A Mobile Power Combo Is ComingWitchers, Cyberpunks… and Monopoly? Witcher Puzzle-RPG? 😅 Big news in gaming: CD Projekt, the studio behind The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077, is teaming up with mobile giant Scopely, the force behind Monopoly Go, to bring one of its iconic franchises to mobile. The collab was quietly dropped during CD Projekt’s earnings call. No title yet, no gameplay, just a hint: something big is brewing. And with Scopely recently buying Pokémon Go dev Niantic for $3.5B, the timing is exciting. Imagine Ciri leading a monster-hunting AR game. Or a neon-lit Cyberpunk squad battler. This could be the moment deep RPG storytelling truly hits mobile, powered by Niantic’s tech and Scopely’s hit-making magic. Meanwhile, CD Projekt has 400+ devs full speed on The Witcher 4, starring Ciri. “We can do a lot of […]

Gamigion March 26

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: New Games & New Money

Hey Fam, My buddy, Andre, prepared a cool Gaming Recruitment Survey. Both for Founders & Employees. Let’s support our industry. 🤟🏻 Candidate Survey Employer Survey 👌🏻 Top Gaming Content » Engaging Mini Games & Where to Find Them! Mini games have become the secret sauce for keeping players hooked. While strong core loops get things rolling and long-term motivation keeps them around, it’s mini games that fill the gap—offering variety, quick fun, and a break from the grind. Hits like Royal Match, Toon Blast, and Monopoly GO are leading the charge, using them to boost retention and bust boredom. What once started as “fake advertising” turned into actual mini games :)) As LiveOps takes center stage, expect mini games to level up, built into calendars, tailored to genres, and optimized for engagement. What started as ad bait is now baked […]

Gamigion March 25

Highlights

Public Mobile Gaming Publishers: Resilience & Adaptation in a Shifting Landscape

Written by our Partner, InvestGame. Survival Strategies, Market Trends, and the Path Forward The mobile gaming market remains one of the largest segments in interactive entertainment, with in-app purchases (IAP) generating ~$60B in 2024. However, the mobile gaming industry has undergone a significant transformation over the past five years, shifting from a high-growth expansion to a mature market characterized by operational efficiency, financial discipline, and single-digit growth. During the 2020–2021 boom, mobile gaming saw record-high UA spending, valuation surges, and aggressive M&A activity. Between 2020 and 2022, mobile gaming accounted for over 60% of all gaming M&A transactions’ value, with major deals such as Zynga’s $12.7B acquisition by Take-Two and Scopely’s $4.9B sale to Savvy Games Group. Even in Q4’24, mobile remained at the center of industry consolidation, with three of the four largest M&A deals involving mobile gaming assets. The momentum has continued into 2025, with Dream […]

Gamigion March 25

Journal

Four Things from GDC

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝗗𝗖 𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚This revelation insight from former Machine Zone CEO Gabe Leydon spun my head throughout the conference. He's right: our passion isn't dead, but it's undoubtedly been crowded out. Mobile obsesses over acquisition, while HD fixates on fundraising. New platform dreams—web3, AR/VR, HTML5, UGC—have largely fizzled. Yet these platforms persist, surviving but not thriving. Mock AR/VR as the "Dippin' Dots of Games" if you like, but at least those developers burn with genuine passion.The rest of the industry must reignite the will to survive—the kind we see from firms like Supercell, Lessmore, and Hypehype.𝟮. 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆-𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲; 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄Michail Katkoff made an excellent observation about the absence of the "world-changing" bravado heard from SF founders intoxicated by Paul Graham essays. Instead, the talks were pragmatic—topics like " 'Angry Birds' and AI […]

Phillip Black March 24

Journal

How Turkey became a Mobile Games Powerhouse

How did 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘆 became a mobile games powerhouse b/t 2020-2025? 💪 Here's an eye-opening retrospective from Investgame."Following Peak’s landmark acquisition, a wave of entrepreneurship emerged, with over 80 new startups founded by or employing former Peak employees. Approximately half of these startups remained in the gaming sector, fostering knowledge transfer and driving the ecosystem’s rapid growth." - InvestgamePersonally, I hadn't realized the impact of the Peak acquisition on the local industry.This also, (coupled with the agile / 'fail fast' culture) explains the dominance of Casual in Turkish development.

Matthew Emery March 24

Journal

New Match-3: Block Genre?

Is Block 🟥 the new Match3? Block Blast by Hungry Studio continues to scale past 1,2 Million downloads a day 🤑 its the 11th most downloaded App on all of the stores and 2nd most downloaded game after Garena FF for last month. On the other side Color Block Jam by Rollic did $12 Mil. in IAP 💰 revenue last month. We have already covered Block Blast on two & a half gamers podcast in January, but since then it has aggressively grown its active users by nearly 40% 😱. And the giant market appeal of this core gameplay (which stems from Tetris) is starting to be very obvious. In June it should comfortably hit 500 Mil. lifetime downloads 🏆.Interestingly, the next game in the genre charts based on downloads is Color Block Jam, which is still heavily monetized by […]

Jakub Remiar March 21

Journal

Alternative App Store… for Cars?

Since recently, I tried many different cars. Not because I like to switch cars but because during the COVID period, I frequently visited Jeju Island, where renting a car was essential due to the limited public transportation. This gave me the chance to drive a variety of models in Korea from the Hyundai Kona Electric to the Kia EV6, and even the lesser-known Renault SM3 Electric. Also after a few (unfortunate) accidents where I was always the victim (100%! 😅), I even got to experience higher range models like the Porsche, Range Rover, Benz etc. while my car was being repaired. But despite testing so many different cars, one thing remained constant: I never used the built-in navigation or media system. Most in-car navigation systems were outdated and inconvenient. I also couldn't access my media except using my phone (who […]

Laurent Pawlowski March 20

Journal

Indian Hybridcasual Studio Qila Games Raises $1M

Qila Games Secures $1M to Disrupt India’s Hybridcasual Gaming Scene Bengaluru-based Qila Games has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to supercharge its mission of redefining hybrid-casual gaming in India. The round was led by Chimera VC, with support from Visceral Capital, Atrium Angels, Ventatana Ventures, 91 Ventures, Untitled Ventures, and a cohort of angel investors. Founded in 2024 by industry veterans Dhananjai Hari and Neeraj Mishra, Qila is setting its sights on the sweet spot between casual and midcore gaming. Hari, now CEO, brings his experience from launching Dream Cricket at Dream Game Studios, while Mishra draws from his eight-year stint at Zynga, where he led game design in India. With this funding, Qila will build original IPs, expand its game lineup, and sharpen its tech and design edge—all with a laser focus on delivering socially driven, culturally resonant […]

Gamigion March 20

Highlights

U.S. Economy Shapes Mobile Gaming’s Future

𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴'𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆. 𝗜𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 If you're European, you need the U.S. economy to grow. If you're Canadian, you need the U.S. economy to grow. This sobering reality underscores nearly every Western mobile development hub today: for mobile gaming to grow, the U.S. needs to grow. Although optimistic narratives from developing markets like India and Brazil are abundant, their growth rates still pale compared to the U.S.'s real spending power growth. For the foreseeable future, it's U.S. or bust in mobile gaming, a reality suggesting mobile gaming doesn't control its destiny. Political literature in the early 2000s enthusiastically promoted the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) as future economic powerhouses. Since then, however, these countries have largely underperformed expectations. Rather than converging with the U.S., the gap has widened, […]

Phillip Black March 19

Analysis

What the Hex! is Going On? Agave Games’ New Soft Launch

Soft-launching in Canada & Brazil. Data: AppMagic Casual puzzle game lovers, it’s time to pay attention—Agave Games just dropped a new title into soft launch, and if you’ve been following their recent $18 million investment, you know the industry has its eyes on them. The game? What the Hex!—a mix of color-sorting puzzles with a Monopoly GO! style town-building meta. I played it, and here’s the scoop on what it’s all about, how it plays, and why people are curious about Agave’s next move. A Hexagonal Spin on Sorting Puzzles If you’ve played Hexa Sort, you’ll feel right at home with What the Hex! The gameplay is simple but strategic: you stack and merge hexagonal tiles of the same color to clear space and meet level goals. Sounds easy? Well, not so much. The game doesn’t hold your hand for long—later levels introduce more colors, trickier […]

Aylin YAZICI March 18

Highlights

Future of Mini-Games: PlaysOut Secures $7M

PlaysOut, the UAE-based mini-game platform, just secured $7 million in seed funding, catapulting its valuation to $70M. The fresh capital will fuel its mission to revolutionize digital engagement by integrating its vast mini-game library into "Super Apps," driving Higher Revenue & User Retention. Power Players Behind the Round The funding was led by OKX Ventures, KBW Ventures, and Kenetic Capital, with backing from industry heavyweights like Pacific Century Group, Gam3Girl Ventures, Oak Grove Ventures, and Aptos. Big Moves & New Tech Last year, PlaysOut teamed up with Tencent Cloud, leveraging its mini-program framework to expand content ecosystems. Operating like a "Steam for Mini-games" or "Netflix for Game Catalogs," PlaysOut’s platform supports multi-engine compatibility and SDK tools, enabling seamless integration into high-traffic apps. 🚀 Coming in May: PlaysOut is set to launch its embedded SDK.

Ömer Yakabagi March 18

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: Gaming Investments Week

Hey Folks, GDC Week 🤟🏻 Hope you’re enjoying the show there. Me? Fully focused on growing Gamigion.com, so much going on here! 😄 Not sure about the next event, but I miss my Event MAFIA! 🔫 👌🏻 Top Gaming Content » Let Players Play Their Way: Personalization 🤟🏻 Gaming personalization isn’t just about algorithms tweaking things behind the scenes, it’s about giving players control. From Candy Crush’s speed toggle to Monopoly Go’s event rewards, the best games let players shape their own experience. More choice = more engagement, better retention, and a game that feels personal. The future? Less invisible segmentation, more meaningful player decisions. Full article here 🤟🏻 🤟🏻 Game of the Week » Lucky Defense Analysis: 111%’s Risky Bet That Won Big They took the classic tower defense genre, rolled the dice, and ended up creating one of […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 18

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