Gameloft vs Zynga

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.

Zynga Launches Halloween Events Across 16 Live Games

Zynga is running Halloween-themed events across 16 of its live mobile games, including popular titles like Dragon City, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, and FarmVille 3. The seasonal campaigns began as early as October 1st and will run throughout the month, with most content already live. Game-specific events include a haunted Pirate Attraction in FarmVille 3, a Harrenhal-themed event in Game of Thrones Slots, and a Corn Maze Special Challenge with a new haunted course in Golf Rival. CSR2 is the only title yet to launch its event, scheduled for October 22nd, featuring a limited-time Blood Moon Run event. A charity event with the Blue Cross is also running in FarmVille 2: Country Escape until November 10th. This extensive seasonal outreach demonstrates Zynga's strategy to boost player engagement and monetization through live ops events.

• Zynga is running Halloween events across 16 of its live games.
• Events include specific in-game content for FarmVille 3, Golf Rival, and Game of Thrones Slots.
• CSR2's Halloween event launches October 22nd, featuring a Blood Moon Run event.

Zynga Blog: Further Together: Six Races, Six Makers Labs, One Cause

Zynga's blog features a new post about a charity running event, alongside other recent corporate announcements including game partnerships and updates.

FarmVille 2: Country Escape Partners With Blue Cross To Drive Real-World Impact

Zynga has partnered with UK pet charity Blue Cross for a new FarmVille 2: Country Escape event called 'Pet Pals'. Running from October 14 to November 10, the event tasks players with caring for virtual guinea pigs by earning and feeding them 'nibbles' through farm activities. Each nibble contributes to a shared progress bar. If the community reaches the donation goal, Zynga will make a donation to Blue Cross to support pet welfare initiatives such as veterinary care, rehoming, and pet food banks. The event coincides with Guinea Pig Awareness Week (October 26-30). Ratheesh Mallaya, general manager of FarmVille 2, and Mary Haisman, head of corporate partnerships at Blue Cross, both expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, emphasizing the chance to make a real-world impact.

• Zynga partners with UK pet charity Blue Cross for FarmVille 2: Country Escape event.
• Event 'Pet Pals' runs from October 14 to November 10, 2026.
• Players care for virtual guinea pigs and earn nibbles to contribute to a donation goal.