Voodoo racks up 1.5bn downloads, mobile user retention and session data, and Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards winners revealed
The second-ever Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards in association with Game Insight took place just under a week ago, celebrating the cream of the crop in mobile.
There were 20 winners on the night, from the top developers and publishers to the best tools, service and tech providers. We also reserved two special awards for very talented individuals.
We’ve revealed the winners on the site, in what was our most-read story of the week.
Our second most-read story of the week was some fascinating data on user trends, fresh from a GameAnalytics report that conducted research on over 60,000 games and three billion players.
Downloads, Nonstop Knight, hyper-casual
Hyper-casual games giant Voodoo continues to make blaze a trail on the mobile sector, racking up more than 1.5 billion downloads to date.
Lastly, Flaregames and Kopla Games have revealed work on Nonstop Knight 2 for a 2019 release, while hyper-casual may soon reach market saturation as more players enter the fray.
#5: Hyper-casual in 2019 "may be even more complicated to succeed without the product and marketing help from expert publishers”
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Hyper-casual in 2019 "may be even more complicated to succeed without the product and marketing help from expert publishers” »As it goes with big games industry trends - once you start hearing about it, it’s likely that the ‘easy’ times are over.
Hyper-casual was the big buzz word last year, an exciting genre of casual games built around ad monetisation.
During a talk at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019, Voodoo UA and monetisation manager Celine Droit predicted the hyper-casual space will continue to evolve in 2019 and likely reach saturation.
“At Voodoo, we think hyper-casual will continue to dominate, but it will also reach a certain level of maturation," explained Droit.
“There will be more and more competition; games will have to be very innovative and very attractive with deeper and more immersive experiences."
#4: Flaregames reveals Nonstop Knight 2 for 2019 release
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Flaregames reveals Nonstop Knight 2 for 2019 release »Flaregames and Kopla Games’ Nonstop Knight was a hit back in 2016.
Quickly racking up millions of downloads (more than 15 million), the idle action RPG title proved a real boon to publisher Flaregames’ business, encouraging it to acquire developer Kopla outright.
Now in 2019, the franchise is making a return with Nonstop Knight 2.
The game will feature the same gameplay its famous for, with new touches such as new customisations, a fresh progression system and added social features.
#3: Voodoo's portfolio of games builds up over 1.5 billion downloads
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Voodoo's portfolio of games builds up over 1.5 billion downloads »We already knew hyper-casual games giant Voodoo had a large and highly successful portfolio of titles both self-developed and published from other studios.
But during PGC London, the company shared just how popular its titles are: they’ve been downloaded over 1.5 billion times.
That’s a growth of 50 per cent during just the past four months.
Voodoo has published around 64 games to date, with 46 of those coming in 2018 alone.
#2: Three billion mobile gamers worth of data says that trivia and word games hold best week one retention
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Three billion mobile gamers worth of data says that trivia and word games hold best week one retention »GameAnalytics has conducted a report looking at trends from three billion users across 60,000 games and has kindly shared the results.
Speaking at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019, GameAnalytics CEO Ioana Hreninciuc delved into some of the key highlights. The team discovered that trivia and word games boast the best week one retention rates of any genre.
The report also found that kids and education games fared comparatively poorly over the same period.
When it comes to session length, casino and card games came out top with an average of 30-minute play-times, while hyper-casual titles typically have lower session times.
#1: Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019 winners revealed
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Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019 winners revealed »The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards in association with Game Insight returned for the second time on January 22nd.
The ceremony celebrated the best that the mobile games industry has to offer, from the top developers and publishers to the tools, service and tech providers helping provide the foundations for success.
Epic and Niantic were big winners on the night, taking two accolades apiece.
Resolution Games CEO Tommy Palm took the prestigious Mobile Legend award for his services to mobile games, and iDreamSky president Jeff Lyndon was given the brand new Eastern Trailblazer, honouring his fantastic career in the industry.
You can see the full list of Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards winners here.