Behaviour Interactive layoffs and Pokémon TCG Pocket’s staying power | 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.

Behaviour Interactive confirms layoffs amid declining external development demand

This week saw the unfortunate news of layoffs at Behaviour Interactive, the studio best known for its asymmetrical horror title Dead by Daylight.

According to the company, the layoffs come from a decline in demand for external development work in mobile and casual games. That means the roles affected were tied to Behaviour’s external development partnerships, which have previously supported work with companies including NetEase, Disney, EA, and Tencent.

We’ve seen a lot of big changes Behaviour Interactive in recent years, including the closure of its Midwinter Entertainment subsidiary and earlier rounds of layoffs in 2024. More recently, the company also acquired 7 Days to Die developer The Fun Pimps.

Despite the layoffs, Dead by Daylight remains unaffected and continues to sit at the centre of the company’s strategy. Though I do remember that Dead by Daylight’s mobile presence didn’t have the smoothest history, with the NetEase version shutting down in 2025 after a short life. 

While that’s separate from the current layoffs, it does make me wonder whether experiences like that have influenced this broader shift away from external development work.

Pokémon TCG Pocket makes $1.6bn in 1.5 years

Somehow, Pokémon TCG Pocket is already 1.5 years old. I’m not sure where that time went – I remember anticipating its release following the initial reveal, reporting on this upcoming title that no one seemed to be talking about, and then, it launched.

Suddenly, we had PokéMania 3.0. The latest hit game, ‘the next Pokémon Go’. It wasn’t as in-your-face as Go – you didn’t exactly see crowds of people gathered on the street to open packs – but online it certainly made waves, capturing that original Pokémon magic with the power of playground rumours. Digitally, this time.

Who had the coolest card? Should you pull for Charizard, Pikachu or Mewtwo? How did some players have a Mew card that wasn’t listed in any packs?

And, I did actually see the occasional player out in the real world too, leading to unexpected comparisons of our collections.

Now, 1.5 years on, data suggests spending is on the decline – inevitable when it started so high – but the game’s still catching tens of millions of dollars every month. The regular stream of new packs keeps players coming back to spend every time, just not on the same scale as a year ago.

Either way, I’m still here opening my two free packs a day, and celebrating with a friend who does the same each time we nab something exciting. In 1.5 years of almost-daily play, I’ve collected 6,700 cards, 37 Shiny Pokémon and nine Immersive cards – the latter a Pocket exclusive with special animations that are only possible in the digital world. So, whether you’re spending real money or staying free-to-play, I’d say just about anyone can expect to collect some artwork they’ll appreciate.