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The video games trade strikes shortly and whereas tales could come and go there are some that we simply cannot let go of…
So, to offer these notably thorny subjects an additional going over we have created a weekly digest the place the members of the PocketGamer.biz workforce share their ideas and go that little bit deeper on a few of the extra fascinating issues which have occurred in cellular gaming prior to now week.
Craig Chapple
Head of Content material
Former Unity CEO David Helgason exits firm as Bernard Kim joins board
Unity co-founder and former CEO David Helgason has formally left as of February fifth, 2026.
The position he’s performed within the video games trade’s historical past, alongside together with his Unity co-founders, is substantial. Their chief slogan was to democratise recreation improvement – a objective they went on to attain by turning into the main recreation engine in the marketplace.
Such was their success, others would additionally undertake that mantra for varied different components of the enterprise – and nonetheless do.
It’s a disgrace what would occur to all that work later with the announcement of that Runtime Price. Years of labor increase a largely developer-friendly repute was misplaced in a single day.
There’s a purpose that individual announcement hit such a nerve – Unity constructed itself right into a key place of significance. Unity has accomplished loads of work to recuperate its repute, but it surely would possibly by no means be the identical.
The lack of Helgason is critical. Unity has misplaced one other a part of its previous and a trusted associate.
The arrival of Bernard Kim as an unbiased director would possibly soften the blow – he’s nicely preferred within the sector and is himself an enormous gamer.
We’ll see what the longer term holds. As Helgason says although: “it’s the tip of an period.”
Resident Evil Survival Unit surpasses 5m downloads following world enlargement
Late final 12 months, Resident Evil Survival Unit was launched, and it not too long ago hit a brand new milestone of 5 million downloads. Nonetheless, I’m already not sure in regards to the longevity of this recreation.
The sport begins with these fascinating exploration sections that really feel very harking back to older Resident Evil Video games, and for me, these are the highlights of the sport.
But it surely’s possible exhausting to construct a viable reside cellular recreation round simply these sections. So then you definitely’re launched to base-building, useful resource administration, and tower defence.
One of many massive points is the sport’s aggressive monetisation. Sure characters are locked behind needing to pay, a few of the timers felt very lengthy, once more tipping me towards feeling like paying was vital, and I believe in-game purchases want to take care of a superb steadiness of engaging you sufficient to bask in spending occasionally, with out making you’re feeling prefer it’s vital.
I used to be interested in what different gamers thought, so I appeared by means of some evaluations, and there’s a mixture of positives and negatives. Gamers reward the early sections, the ambiance, visuals, and the sport’s normal idea.
However there have been so many detrimental evaluations, all saying the identical factor: the bait-and-switch of the intro, pulling you into what looks like a survival horror, solely to show right into a base builder. The heavy monetisation was additionally continuously talked about, with many saying it is merely pay-to-win.
Basically, many mentioned it is a generic cellular battle recreation with a Resident Evil pores and skin.
It’s nonetheless early days, so possibly it’ll get updates or make modifications, but when it is nearly followers’ nostalgia for the franchise, gamers will possible burn out.
Whereas it is nice to see extra downloads, retaining these gamers is an entire completely different problem.
Pokémon and Mario splash the money with Tremendous Bowl LX advertisements
Pokémon kicked off its thirtieth anniversary promoting marketing campaign on the Tremendous Bowl, selling its recreation franchise at one of many greatest sports activities video games of the 12 months.
The spot didn’t promote any particular recreation or merchandise, however moderately spent a full minute celebrating the model. It’s price allowing for 30 seconds of screentime on the Tremendous Bowl was reported to value upwards of $8 million.
So, what did the advert include? It featured varied celebrities – from singer Girl Gaga to footballer Lamine Yamal – shouting out their favorite Pokémon and telling the world why this one creature beats all 1,024 others.
For some Gen 1 classics got here out on prime, however others celebrated Gen 4’s Luxray or Gen 6’s Zygarde, representing spectacular variety I didn’t notably count on.
The advert marks one thing of a watershed second for Pokémon’s 12 months forward, with The Pokémon Firm already confirming that the Tremendous Bowl advert is only the start of a “huge year-long marketing campaign”. The model will probably be calling on followers to share their favorite Pokémon all through 2026.
Now, followers like myself are much more desirous to see what the thirtieth anniversary will deliver – with simply two weeks left to attend for the inevitable Pokémon Day presentation. And possibly, simply possibly, some American Soccer followers will verify the franchise out too.
