Gameloft vs Poki

Gameloft Sunsetting Minion Rush After 13 Years

Gameloft is shutting down Minion Rush, its long-running mobile game based on the Minions franchise, after 13 years. The game will be removed from app stores and in-app purchases disabled on October 30, 2026, with servers shutting down on January 29, 2027. Players can continue playing offline after server closure, but no content updates will follow. A special farewell event will run in October, with potential price and reward adjustments. Gameloft cited the evolving mobile gaming landscape as the reason for the wind-down. The game has nearly 500 million downloads and generated over $45.7 million in in-app purchases, according to AppMagic estimates.

• Gameloft will remove Minion Rush from app stores and disable in-app purchases on October 30, 2026.
• Minion Rush servers will shut down on January 29, 2027.
• The game has been downloaded nearly 500 million times and generated over $45.7 million in IAP revenue.

Data Digest: Pokémon Go at $9bn, Gameloft Profits, GungHo Stake Sale

This weekly data digest presents key mobile gaming industry metrics. Pokémon Go surpassed $9 billion in lifetime revenue per Sensor Tower. Gameloft reported $153.5 million in H1 2026 revenue with an EBITA of $10.5 million. Sony Music Japan acquired a 23.29% stake in GungHo Online Entertainment for about $179 million. Burlingame Studios secured $12 million in non-dilutive user acquisition financing. Newzoo forecasts the global games market to reach $213.9 billion in 2026. Roblox creators contributed $752 million to the US economy. Niko Partners predicts Southeast Asia's games market to pass $7 billion by 2030.

• Pokémon Go generated over $9 billion in lifetime revenue and 800 million downloads per Sensor Tower.
• Gameloft reported $153.5 million revenue in H1 2026, up 10% year-on-year.
• Sony Music Japan acquires a 23.29% stake in GungHo Online Entertainment for ~$179 million.

Rovio: Live Ops Shifted Mobile Games to Event-First

At Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona, Anastasiya Kara, lead product manager at Rovio, argued that live operations (live ops) have transformed mobile games from a core-first model to an event-first model, driven by time-limited events, offers, content updates and retention strategies. She traced modern live ops features back to social casino titles like Slotomania and cited Clash of Clans, Coin Master and Royal Match as examples of escalation in social, gating and monetisation mechanics. Kara highlighted a new wave where hypercasual cores are adopting full live ops — Color Block Jam is the cited example — and predicted further cross-genre feature adoption (mini-games, merge mechanics, pets) and continued copycatting across studios.

• Anastasiya Kara is lead product manager at Rovio and spoke about live ops at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona.
• Kara argued live ops shifted mobile games from a core-first to an event-first model centered on time-limited events, offers, content updates and retention tactics.
• She traced many modern features back to social casino titles such as Slotomania and cited Clash of Clans, Coin Master and Royal Match as influential examples.

Green Game Jam 2026: Meet Poki’s Winners

Poki announces the winners of the Green Game Jam 2026, a sustainability-focused game jam, with a new blog post dated 22 SEP 2026.

3AM Experiences' Roblox Games Surpass 1 Billion Plays

3AM Experiences, a game studio founded in 2015, announced that its games on Roblox have surpassed 1 billion total plays. The milestone was shared on May 1st, 2026, and credited to years of development and community support. The company, co-founded by Mistik and Nation, focuses on instant-play multiplayer and UGC experiences across web, mobile, and Roblox. Its portfolio includes titles like Diep.io and Mope.io, which were acquired from Addicting Games in 2024. The studio has also collaborated with partners such as CrazyGames, Poki, and Xsolla. 3AM Experiences plans to continue expanding its Roblox content and exploring new ideas.

• 3AM Experiences' Roblox games surpassed 1 billion plays, announced on May 1st, 2026.
• The studio was founded in 2015 by co-founders including Mistik and Nation.
• The company acquired Mope.io and Diep.io in 2024 from Addicting Games.

Make it Meme launches mobile app after web success

Make it Meme, a multiplayer browser party game by prealpha, is expanding to mobile after amassing over 600 million games played since its March 14, 2021 web launch. The dedicated app entered public beta on Android in mid-August 2026 and the iOS version launched fully; a full Android release is targeted for September 2026. The studio (prealpha) monetises primarily via web advertising, tiered subscriptions (including an Elite plan) and an in-game currency (MiM Coins). The team emphasises keeping web and mobile experiences closely aligned, cross-play support, minimal personal data collection (age gate for under-13s), and continued investment in moderation and ad partner testing.

• Make it Meme has recorded more than 600 million games played since its web release on March 14, 2021.
• The dedicated Make it Meme mobile app entered Android public beta in mid-August 2026; the iOS app has launched in full and a wider Android release is aimed for September 2026.
• Around 60% of Make it Meme's web traffic comes from mobile devices and 37% comes from iPhones.