Neil Long
@neillong.bsky.social
Founder and editor of mobilegamer.biz. Former editor at Apple, Edge, ONM, MCV.
Awards are for losers
Why do mobile games get ignored at awards shows? Because they recognise a specific type of cultural impact and artistry. Mobile is its own craft, so let’s not worry about getting validation from BAFTA, The Game Awards or elsewhere: mobilegamer.biz/why-mobile-g...
Why mobile games get ignored at awards shows
The Game Awards, BAFTAs and Golden Joysticks tend to ignore most mobile games entirely, and for good reason: these awards are about cultural impact, not downloads and revenue.
mobilegamer.biz
December 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Awards are for losers
Reposted by Neil Long
In this week’s data digest: Jam City’s $1.6m fine, November’s top games, big numbers and milestones for Little Farm Story, Budge, Rush Royale, Huuuge, Unico, more: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
Data digest: Jam City fined $1.6m, November’s top games, Little Farm Story, Budge’s 2bn installs, more
There are also numbers from Rush Royale, Huuuge, Unico plus the growing Asia and MENA markets in this week’s round-up.
mobilegamer.biz
December 10, 2025 at 11:21 AM
In this week’s data digest: Jam City’s $1.6m fine, November’s top games, big numbers and milestones for Little Farm Story, Budge, Rush Royale, Huuuge, Unico, more: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
Reposted by Neil Long
TikTok seems to be serving more mobile game ads than ever – so how are games like Kingshot, Palmon Survival, X-Clash and All In Hole trying to hook us in? With AI slop, Pokémon torture, innuendo, brainrot, giant zombies and more: mobilegamer.biz/whats-hot-in...
What’s hot in mobile game ads? AI slop, Pokémon torture, innuendo, brainrot, giant zombies, more
TikTok seems to be serving more mobile game ads than ever right now – so how are games like Kingshot, Palmon Survival, X-Clash and All In Hole trying to hook us in?
mobilegamer.biz
December 9, 2025 at 12:06 PM
TikTok seems to be serving more mobile game ads than ever – so how are games like Kingshot, Palmon Survival, X-Clash and All In Hole trying to hook us in? With AI slop, Pokémon torture, innuendo, brainrot, giant zombies and more: mobilegamer.biz/whats-hot-in...
If this goes through i'd wager a handful of Warner owned and licensed mobile games survive, if that
Here are the mobile games caught up in that potential Netflix-Warner Bros deal. Warner's own titles earn around $4.4m monthly combined, which is not great. It also has licensed games from Zynga, Jam City, Scopely and more – are they all now in danger? mobilegamer.biz/the-mobile-g...
The mobile games caught up in that potential Netflix-Warner Bros deal
All of Warner’s mobile games combined earn around $4.4m monthly, according to Appmagic, which is not great. It also has licensed games from Zynga, Jam City, Scopely and more – are they all now in d…
mobilegamer.biz
December 8, 2025 at 12:33 PM
If this goes through i'd wager a handful of Warner owned and licensed mobile games survive, if that
Will be doing a lot more with the newsletter next year but would like to pass 12k subscribers before I do - sign up here if you haven't already: mobilegamerbiz.substack.com/subscribe
Subscribe to The mobilegamer.biz newsletter
What's going on in the mobile games business. Click to read The mobilegamer.biz newsletter, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
mobilegamerbiz.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Will be doing a lot more with the newsletter next year but would like to pass 12k subscribers before I do - sign up here if you haven't already: mobilegamerbiz.substack.com/subscribe
Red Dead Redemption is $39.99(!) as a standalone premium game
In this week’s new game digest: Red Dead, Where Winds Meet, Fruit Ninja, MLB: The Show, Monument Valley, Total War, Moonton’s new game, a cosy life sim, an indie squad RPG and a brick-breaker in this week's round-up: mobilegamer.biz/new-game-dig...
New game digest: Red Dead, Where Winds Meet, Fruit Ninja, MLB: The Show, Monument Valley, Total War, more
There’s also a new soft launch from Moonton, a cosy life sim, an indie squad RPG and a new indie brick-breaker in this week’s round-up.
mobilegamer.biz
December 5, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Red Dead Redemption is $39.99(!) as a standalone premium game
In this week’s podcast: Digital Chocolate’s diaspora, Destiny: Rising woes, EA’s shooter revival, November’s top games, more: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...
Digital Chocolate’s diaspora, Destiny: Rising woes, EA’s shooter revival, November’s top performers, more
Podcast Episode · mobilegamer.biz digest · 04/12/2025 · 17m
podcasts.apple.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
In this week’s podcast: Digital Chocolate’s diaspora, Destiny: Rising woes, EA’s shooter revival, November’s top games, more: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...
Reposted by Neil Long
LastWar, Roblox and Monopoly Go lead the way in Appmagic's top grossing chart for November after Honor of Kings’ dramatic drop, while Kingshot, Gossip Harbor and Delta Force cement their spots in the top ten: mobilegamer.biz/novembers-to...
November’s top grossing mobile games
LastWar, Roblox and Monopoly Go lead the way in Appmagic’s top grossing chart after a dramatic drop for Honor of Kings as Kingshot, Gossip Harbor and Delta Force cement their spots in the top…
mobilegamer.biz
December 4, 2025 at 11:43 AM
LastWar, Roblox and Monopoly Go lead the way in Appmagic's top grossing chart for November after Honor of Kings’ dramatic drop, while Kingshot, Gossip Harbor and Delta Force cement their spots in the top ten: mobilegamer.biz/novembers-to...
Reposted by Neil Long
In November’s top downloads chart from Appmagic, Block Blast is on top again, Roblox drops and there are two surprise new entries - plus that baffling X-Clash game - in the top ten: mobilegamer.biz/novembers-to...
November’s top mobile game downloads
In November’s top downloads chart from Appmagic, Block Blast is on top again, Roblox drops and there are two surprise new entries – plus that baffling X-Clash game – in the top ten.
mobilegamer.biz
December 4, 2025 at 10:33 AM
In November’s top downloads chart from Appmagic, Block Blast is on top again, Roblox drops and there are two surprise new entries - plus that baffling X-Clash game - in the top ten: mobilegamer.biz/novembers-to...
Reposted by Neil Long
In this week’s data digest:
- Valorant, Honor of Kings, Clash Royale star in Tencent earnings
- A peek at Google Play revenue in Europe and MENA
- Sensor Tower’s top downloads and earners for October
- A very in-depth look at IAP and genre revenue
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
- Valorant, Honor of Kings, Clash Royale star in Tencent earnings
- A peek at Google Play revenue in Europe and MENA
- Sensor Tower’s top downloads and earners for October
- A very in-depth look at IAP and genre revenue
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
Data digest: Valorant, Honor of Kings, Clash Royale and Google Play numbers, fundraising news, genre analysis, more
This week’s need-to-know numbers at a glance.
mobilegamer.biz
December 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM
In this week’s data digest:
- Valorant, Honor of Kings, Clash Royale star in Tencent earnings
- A peek at Google Play revenue in Europe and MENA
- Sensor Tower’s top downloads and earners for October
- A very in-depth look at IAP and genre revenue
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
- Valorant, Honor of Kings, Clash Royale star in Tencent earnings
- A peek at Google Play revenue in Europe and MENA
- Sensor Tower’s top downloads and earners for October
- A very in-depth look at IAP and genre revenue
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
Reposted by Neil Long
Is EA taking another shot at Apex Legends and Battlefield on mobile? Probably: it is hiring a ‘head of mobile shooters’ that’ll report into Respawn and Battlefield GM Vince Zampella: mobilegamer.biz/is-ea-taking...
Is EA taking another shot at Apex Legends and Battlefield on mobile?
Probably: it is hiring a VP and ‘head of mobile shooters’ that’ll report into Respawn and Battlefield GM Vince Zampella.
mobilegamer.biz
December 3, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Is EA taking another shot at Apex Legends and Battlefield on mobile? Probably: it is hiring a ‘head of mobile shooters’ that’ll report into Respawn and Battlefield GM Vince Zampella: mobilegamer.biz/is-ea-taking...
Reposted by Neil Long
UK studio Magicave has struck a deal to publish puzzles from its Mindset Go mobile game in The Observer every Sunday: mobilegamer.biz/venn-diagram...
Venn diagram puzzler Mindset Go launches in print as well as on mobile
UK studio Magicave has struck a deal to publish its puzzles in The Observer after launching on app stores.
mobilegamer.biz
December 3, 2025 at 10:05 AM
UK studio Magicave has struck a deal to publish puzzles from its Mindset Go mobile game in The Observer every Sunday: mobilegamer.biz/venn-diagram...
Digital Chocolate is quietly one of the most influential mobile game companies ever
The talent Trip Hawkins hired at Digital Chocolate is now running large chunks of today’s mobile game business. Here he talks about the ‘Dchoc mafia’ and being Apple's 'culture enforcer' under Steve Jobs: mobilegamer.biz/trip-hawkins...
Trip Hawkins and the ‘DChoc mafia’ shaping today’s mobile game business
The talent Trip Hawkins hired at Digital Chocolate is now running large chunks of today’s mobile game industry. “I probably helped a lot of these people realise they could do it, like Steve J…
mobilegamer.biz
December 2, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Digital Chocolate is quietly one of the most influential mobile game companies ever
More thoughts from the Destiny frontlines courtesy of @rygilliam.bsky.social
Destiny: Rising could be in trouble. The second season flopped, numbers are in freefall and players are even having trouble matchmaking. A full launch in China might be its last roll of the dice: mobilegamer.biz/can-a-full-c...
Can a full China launch save Destiny: Rising?
Our Destiny correspondent Ryan Gilliam says Destiny Rising’s second season has flopped, and the numbers aren’t looking good. A full China launch could be the game’s last roll of the dice.
mobilegamer.biz
December 1, 2025 at 1:47 PM
More thoughts from the Destiny frontlines courtesy of @rygilliam.bsky.social
Reposted by Neil Long
Our latest jobs digest has moves and promotions at Metacore, Hutch, Everplay, Nordeus, Ace High Sports, Ludia, Funday and Raptor: mobilegamer.biz/jobs-digest-...
Jobs digest: moves and promotions at Metacore, Hutch, Everplay, Nordeus and more
Our latest recruitment round-up also has moves at Ace High Sports, Ludia, Funday and Raptor.
mobilegamer.biz
December 1, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Our latest jobs digest has moves and promotions at Metacore, Hutch, Everplay, Nordeus, Ace High Sports, Ludia, Funday and Raptor: mobilegamer.biz/jobs-digest-...
Reposted by Neil Long
In this week’s new game digest: Vampire Crawlers, Arknights, Netflix Puzzled, Sega’s F2P football manager game, NERF: Superblast closes, Tripledot and Supercent soft launches and more: mobilegamer.biz/new-game-dig...
New game digest: Vampire Crawlers, Arknights, Netflix Puzzled, Sega’s F2P football manager game, soft launches, more
NERF: Superblast closes and there are soft launches from Tripledot and Supercent in this week’s round-up.
mobilegamer.biz
November 28, 2025 at 10:06 AM
In this week’s new game digest: Vampire Crawlers, Arknights, Netflix Puzzled, Sega’s F2P football manager game, NERF: Superblast closes, Tripledot and Supercent soft launches and more: mobilegamer.biz/new-game-dig...
Every week I go for a walk and tell you what's going on in the mobile games business in under 20 minutes. In this week's podcast: App Review woes, GTA leaves Netflix, Türkiye's hot streak, iconic icons, Zombies Run, more: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
App Review woes, GTA leaves Netflix, Türkiye's hot streak, iconic icons, Zombies Run, more
Podcast Episode · mobilegamer.biz digest · 27/11/2025 · 17m
podcasts.apple.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Every week I go for a walk and tell you what's going on in the mobile games business in under 20 minutes. In this week's podcast: App Review woes, GTA leaves Netflix, Türkiye's hot streak, iconic icons, Zombies Run, more: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Reposted by Neil Long
GTA: San Andreas is one of 13 titles set to leave Netflix soon as its big games reboot continues: mobilegamer.biz/netflix-game...
Netflix Games ditches top performer GTA: San Andreas as reboot continues
Rockstar’s gangster epic is among over a dozen titles leaving the service in the next two weeks as the steaming giant continues to reshuffle its games portfolio.
mobilegamer.biz
November 26, 2025 at 12:24 PM
GTA: San Andreas is one of 13 titles set to leave Netflix soon as its big games reboot continues: mobilegamer.biz/netflix-game...
Reposted by Neil Long
In this week’s data digest:
- Royal Match beats Candy Crush (again)
- Monopoly Go tops US earners
- Vita Mahjong is (still) the top ad spender
- Disney Magic Match 3D so far
- Further Ubisoft shenanigans
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
- Royal Match beats Candy Crush (again)
- Monopoly Go tops US earners
- Vita Mahjong is (still) the top ad spender
- Disney Magic Match 3D so far
- Further Ubisoft shenanigans
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
Data digest: Royal Match, Monopoly Go, Vita Mahjong and Disney Magic Match numbers, Ubisoft shenanigans, more
There’s also fresh China info and Resident Evil: Survival Unit numbers in this week’s round-up.
mobilegamer.biz
November 26, 2025 at 11:05 AM
In this week’s data digest:
- Royal Match beats Candy Crush (again)
- Monopoly Go tops US earners
- Vita Mahjong is (still) the top ad spender
- Disney Magic Match 3D so far
- Further Ubisoft shenanigans
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
- Royal Match beats Candy Crush (again)
- Monopoly Go tops US earners
- Vita Mahjong is (still) the top ad spender
- Disney Magic Match 3D so far
- Further Ubisoft shenanigans
- More: mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-...
Reposted by Neil Long
Getting your app icon right is incredibly important - here, we ask three experts for their best practices to help make your game icon iconic: mobilegamer.biz/how-to-make-...
How to make an iconic icon
Experts from around the industry weigh in on what makes a good app icon and what best practices you should employ.
mobilegamer.biz
November 25, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Getting your app icon right is incredibly important - here, we ask three experts for their best practices to help make your game icon iconic: mobilegamer.biz/how-to-make-...
Reposted by Neil Long
Why is Türkiye mobile gaming’s heartbeat right now? Relentless, results-driven workers, highly competitive founders and huge financial backing from both the government and local investors: mobilegamer.biz/the-secret-o...
The secret of Türkiye’s success is not a secret at all
Relentless, results-driven hard work, highly competitive founders and financial backing from both the government and local investors have created the hottest startup scene in mobile.
mobilegamer.biz
November 25, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Why is Türkiye mobile gaming’s heartbeat right now? Relentless, results-driven workers, highly competitive founders and huge financial backing from both the government and local investors: mobilegamer.biz/the-secret-o...
Reposted by Neil Long
Bestselling author Naomi Alderman has bought back the games she cocreated, Zombies Run and The Walk, for a ‘high six-figure sum’, we’re told: mobilegamer.biz/author-naomi...
Author Naomi Alderman buys back Zombies Run for six figure sum
Fellow walking app/game hybrid The Walk is also part of the deal which sees the games return to their original co-creator.
mobilegamer.biz
November 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Bestselling author Naomi Alderman has bought back the games she cocreated, Zombies Run and The Walk, for a ‘high six-figure sum’, we’re told: mobilegamer.biz/author-naomi...
“Apple can accuse you of fraud, shut down your account, keep your money, and never tell you why”
Apple is withholding millions from developers wrongly accused of App Store fraud, says the former head of App Review: mobilegamer.biz/app-store-fr...
App Store fraud crackdown wrongly nukes accounts and withholds millions from devs, says former Apple exec
“Apple can accuse you of fraud, shut down your account, keep your money, and never tell you why,” claims former App Review boss Phillip Shoemaker.
mobilegamer.biz
November 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
“Apple can accuse you of fraud, shut down your account, keep your money, and never tell you why”
Reposted by Neil Long
In our latest soft launch update: a Match Factory follow-up(?), Moon Active pulls its tile-matching puzzler plus more betas from EA, Playrix, Rovio, Supercell and more: mobilegamer.biz/the-soft-lau...
The soft launch games you need to know about
Take a peek at the games in testing from Supercell, Playrix, EA, Ubisoft, Rovio, Miniclip and more.
mobilegamer.biz
November 24, 2025 at 11:04 AM
In our latest soft launch update: a Match Factory follow-up(?), Moon Active pulls its tile-matching puzzler plus more betas from EA, Playrix, Rovio, Supercell and more: mobilegamer.biz/the-soft-lau...
Reposted by Neil Long
In this week’s new game digest: Ubisoft dates The Division and Rainbow 6 (sort of), Supercent’s match 3-meets-Monopoly Go game, Cosy Coast, Resident Evil, Plants vs Zombies, The Sims, more: mobilegamer.biz/new-game-dig...
New game digest: The Division, Rainbow 6, Cosy Coast, Resident Evil, Plants v Zombies 3, The Sims, more
There’s also Supercent’s match 3-meets-Monopoly Go game and plenty more besides.
mobilegamer.biz
November 21, 2025 at 10:35 AM
In this week’s new game digest: Ubisoft dates The Division and Rainbow 6 (sort of), Supercent’s match 3-meets-Monopoly Go game, Cosy Coast, Resident Evil, Plants vs Zombies, The Sims, more: mobilegamer.biz/new-game-dig...