Appcharge secures $58m, Fortnite returns to iOS in Australia, and the Moshi Monsters relaunch stalls | 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.

Appcharge raises $58m to scale up with growing DTC demands

In last week’s newsletter I wrote about how publishers are performing in the shift to direct-to-consumer strategies as the App Store and Google Play open up.

To recap: Playtika DTC revenue was up and accounts for 25.3% of revenue. MTG saw 24% of direct sales, Stillfront 39% and SciPlay 18%. Take-Two and EA’s CEOs were also pretty bullish on the potential in earnings calls. Check out the article here for more data.

So it was good timing this week for Appcharge’s bombshell $58 million funding raise, right as the industry descends on Cologne, Germany for Gamescom.

In total, the company has secured some $89m to date, processing more than $500m in transactions.

It’s a huge shift for the industry that for years has been squeezed for tight margins, with high revenue shares and user acquisition costs, among other expenses.

The court and regulatory battles powering this movement are still ongoing around the world, but the direction of travel is only moving one way.

Epic Games hails “win for developers and consumers” as Fortnite to return to iOS in Australia

Epic Games has earned another win in its long-running war with Apple, this time in Australia. The ruling means that Fortnite is officially making a comeback on iOS in the country, but via the Epic Games Store. 

One thing you can say for Tim Sweeney is that he has shown serious persistence since 2020, when Apple removed Fortnite from iOS. Now, many years and millions of dollars later, Epic is finally achieving some of the results it has strived for. 

In this case, we don’t know the full ins and outs of the ruling, but Fortnite is back in Australia and Sweeney can continue to say Epic is fighting the good fight to try and see the mobile ecosystem open up and show that Apple’s walled garden can be shaken.

Wins like this, coupled with other regulations coming into play, continue to reshape the current mobile landscape. And behind stories like these lies the broader picture of what it all could mean for other studios that are hoping for greater market freedom. 

So, for now, Fortnite players in Australia can enjoy playing the game, Epic gets to put another win under its belt and Apple is again on the defensive. 

Mind Candy cancels Moshi Monsters Kickstarter as it targets campaign relaunch

The Moshi Monsters comeback story has taken many twists and turns already – from the announcement of its return by popular demand, to a Kickstarter campaign believed to have been completed in a single day, to the discovery that a malicious actor had made many false pledges.

It’s been two months since then, and with those misleading pledges removed, the fundraising target still hasn’t been reached. Now Mind Candy has cancelled the Kickstarter, taking a brief time of “pause” to reflect on fan feedback before bouncing back with a brand-new crowdfunding campaign.

I spoke to Mind Candy CEO Christianne Amodio after the first campaign was sabotaged and she assured that the company had even greater resolve to bring Moshi Monsters back than before.

Apparently, even new merch and toys are on the table – not just the mobile sequel – but whether the second attempt at crowdfunding pans out better than the first remains to be seen.