Pokémon TCG Pocket’s big launch, Rainbow Six Mobile is back and is technology in a downward spiral? | 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.

Report: EU readies Digital Markets Act’s first-ever fine against Apple

Get ready for a rant.

The latest news on the Apple regulatory saga hit this week: the European Union is set to fine the tech giant for, as it sees it, failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

The penalties are likely to come by the end of the year, and could be substantial, as they will be based on global revenue. Finally, perhaps a fine that could actually hurt and Apple can’t just ignore (like it did in the Netherlands).

Amongst other news this week, it got me thinking how a lot of things in tech just aren’t really that great right now. I don’t mean the tens of thousands of layoffs, I mean the products they put out.

Apple and Google have reached a certain size where the Play Store and App Store aren’t really good at all for discoverability, unless you pay even more money to access the users. Those are the same users they tell you it already gives you access to, that’s why it charges 30%. Check out my article here on how they sell space at the expense of publishers and the user experience.

Elsewhere, searching on Google is distinctly worse than it was 10 years ago. I know, this complaint makes me sound old and out of touch at this point. Searches are now flooded with AI summaries, sponsored results, alternative questions and just the wrong answers.

Twitter, sorry, X, just provides me with a series of posts from Elon Musk. Facebook is flooded with memes from random groups the algorithm has decided I should like. 

Even when it comes to hardware, it feels like consumers are being shovelled products that should never have reached the market. The Apple Vision Pro is a fascinating glimpse of a possible future, but it’s so lacking in usefulness, you have to question its release in the first place. Other than Apple’s attempts to help force the virtual reality / augmented reality / mixed reality / spatial computing space into existence.

The first iPhone was great not just because it was innovative, it had real practical uses. Sure, it got a lot better, but the first one had a purpose. What’s the purpose of the Vision Pro right now?

It’s not all bad. But tech monopolies have reached a point where some of the former innovators look out of ideas and have no alternative but to squeeze their current products, the developer ecosystem, and users for growth. I’m glad to see regulators catching up, if only to spark these giants into action and make things worthwhile and useful again.

Rainbow Six Mobile is returning in three “phases” towards global launch

I’m back talking about Ubisoft, well, at least something related to Ubisoft.

Rainbox Six Mobile has had somewhat problematic development. The. The game entered soft launch in Canada last year, saw some expansion in other regions, and then the rollout paused so the team could address “areas for improvement.” It was clearly a blow to production, but I imagine they hope it pays off in the long run. 

Now, the game is making somewhat of a comeback, all be it in a series of phases. The first is a technical test period, followed by an engagement test. These two phases focus on the player’s reception of the game and how quickly the team can monitor and tackle any issues. The third phase will be final balancing and preparing to go global. 

How long will all of these phases last? Who knows, so it’s uncertain when the game could be ready for a global launch. Given everything that has been going on at Ubisoft as of late, every game they are working on is crucial and needs to hit the mark. While they have games on mobile, it would be great to see them have a big, successful mobile hit that they can carry for years to come. 

Look at Call of Duty mobile, which has been in operation for some years now and recently surpassed one billion downloads; sure, Warzone isn’t off to the best start, but there is a market for FPS games on mobile, and maybe some variety would be a good thing.

Also worth noting is the loyal Rainbow Six franchise fanbase. Rainbow Six Siege has crossed 85 million unique registered players and has been going for almost a decade. Nothing will likely ever beat Rainbow Six 2 or Rainbox Six Vegas for me, but I certainly wouldn’t say no to a great Rainbow Six game to play on the go.

Hopefully, taking time to slow development and monitoring through a series of phases will make for a better game when the global launch comes around.

Pokémon TCG Pocket has second best mobile launch in the franchise, beaten only by Pokémon Go

Another week, another Pokémon pick for my Week in Views…

But Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is worth talking about, even with its mouthful of a name. The title seems to be flying somewhat under the radar for what a success it’s been already, making over $33 million in its first week and landing the second-strongest launch of any mobile Pokémon title, according to AppMagic data.

Pokémon Go takes the gold, which is no surprise, but Pocket’s securely landed the silver prize, having managed to outperform Masters, Cafe Remix, Sleep and even Tencent’s Pokemon Unite when comparing their first seven days on mobile.

Leveraging the power of all 151 Kanto classics and plenty of original art, Pocket’s scratching that same nostalgic itch that Go did over eight years ago with 90s Pokémon fans, who are also likely to have the most disposable income to spend on these digital collectables.

There are a handful of newer Pokémon and some original cards too, giving Pocket enough freshness to appeal to younger fans as well. And, clearly it’s paying off. In fact, Pocket’s second-place medal comes with more than double the revenue of now-bronze medallist Masters.

Whether it’ll go on to overtake Masters’ lifetime revenue is another matter, but at least for now business is clearly booming for this latest TCG iteration.