Games veterans launch Playful.AI, Apple’s Games app and the Nintendo Switch 2 breaks records | Week in Views

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The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of…

So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we’ve created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.

Ex-Netflix VP Mike Verdu and Zynga founder Mark Pincus form AI games startup Playful.AI

The generative AI revolution in games appears to be well underway.

We’ve already seen it harnessed in marketing for ad and app store creatives by major publishers. Just last week at PGC Barcelona, The AI Guys co-CEO Ken Noland discussed how he used genAI tools to rebuild the original X-COM: UFO Defense in North America in three months.

Though as he has put it, the tech doesn’t “even remotely” live up to the hype right now.

“You can’t create a game using generative AI, and at the current level, to create any kind of playable experience, it still requires an experienced engineer,” he previously said.

He did strike a more optimistic tone still, though, stating it was a “huge accomplishment” to build an engine in just three months. Check out our breakdown here, or for a more detailed look at the development process, read the full X-COM case study.

Now former Netflix VP of games Mike Verdu and Zynga founder Mark Pincus have teamed up to form Playful.AI. 

The company aims to “reinvent game development and game experiences with AI”. Verdu has previously been bullish on genAI, saying he hadn’t been this excited about an opportunity in the industry since the 90s.

“It was an incredible time to be making games as talented creators showed all of us what the future looked like. Guess what? We’re back to those days of seemingly unlimited potential and the rapid pace of innovation, which resulted in mind-blowing surprises for players every few months.”

The news comes as Homa co-founder and former CRO Olivier Le Bas launched his new AI-first studio Everyday. Similar to Playful.AI’s mission statement, the tagline is to “rethink how we build mobile game experiences and create products people come back to, every day”.

The hype machine at the top of the generative AI is farfetched. But it feels like a genuine trend, with experienced and highly successful founders getting behind the tech and major publishers finding uses for it.

It feels different from the grifters flocking to blockchain and the metaverse. There are some tangible use cases already – though how far its practical uses go over the next few years is anyone’s guess. 

Perhaps these new, nimble startups that aren’t entrenched in their current production processes (which large companies are for good reason!) can experiment and show the way forward. Or they’ll crash and burn trying.

New Apple Games app offers recommendations, challenges, and leaderboards

Apple is launching a new games app that offers recommendations, leaderboards and challenges. Which all sounds fine but also a little basic?

The standalone Apple Games app aims to put everything in one place, which is a good thing and may even make discoverability a little bit easier.

However, while some of the features sound like a step in the right direction, I also can’t help but think they technically already exist, but you’re just getting them in one place. I’m not sure it’s the big announcement Apple may have thought it would be. 

It would have been interesting if the games app itself came with new and better tools for developers and the ability to create a more personalised and unique experience for players. What we are getting feels more in line with what some other game stores have been doing for years.

I think this year’s WWDC felt underwhelming, and while the games app itself is welcome, it feels more like catching up rather than creating something truly great and innovative for developers and gamers.

Right now, it doesn’t appear to be doing anything special, but that could always change. We also asked our Mobile Mavens to share their insights on Apple Games this week so check out their thoughts too.

Nintendo Switch 2 breaks records with 3.5m unit sales in four days

Nintendo has officially confirmed that the Switch 2 surpassed 3.5 million unit sales in its first four days. This makes it the fastest-selling console in Nintendo’s history.

There aren’t any direct four-day comparisons to draw to the original Switch, but we do know that the 2017 console surpassed 2.7m sales in its first 29 days. This means the Switch 2 has already outperformed the Switch’s launch month with many still to go.

The latest launch has also already sold more than 25% of the Wii U’s lifetime sales – speaking to what a flop the old console was and just how big a comeback Nintendo’s had in recent years.

I’ve previously reported on analysts’ predictions for the Switch 2’s first year, which generally trended towards it outperforming the original Switch’s launch. So far, it looks like they were right. Whether it reaches the predicted 13m this year is still hard to say for sure, but a record-breaking launch is certainly a great way to start.