Pharm Labs

Casual mobile apps developer

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Top Dog
I’m working on my indie game: a runner where you lead a pack of Shiba Inus, multiply them at gates and battle cats. There are already 50 levels!
What do you think? I’d love some feedback 🙏
#indiedev #gamedev

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Electronic Arts has officially become a privately-owned company.

A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (@PIF_en / @PIFSaudi), Silver Lake (@silverlake_news) and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners (@jaredkushner) finalised a $55 billion deal in August 2026. This is the largest leveraged buyout in history and one of the biggest deals in the gaming industry (second only to Microsoft–Activision).

@EA is now a private company, with PIF controlling ~93 per cent. CEO Andrew Wilson remains in place. Shareholders received $210 per share.

#EA #ElectronicArts #PIF #SaudiArabia #Gaming #GamingIndustry #Buyout #PrivateEquity #EASports

Analysis: the pros and cons

**The pros:**

- The company is no longer under the pressure of quarterly reporting on the public market. In theory, this opens up the possibility of investing in longer-term and riskier projects, rather than just the annual iterations of EA FC, Madden and live-service titles.
- PIF has vast capital and a strategic interest in gaming and esports (Vision 2030). This could mean genuine investment in studio development, rather than merely financial optimisation.
- Silver Lake is an experienced tech investor. Working with them offers the chance for more professional management and the use of AI in development (which the buyers themselves have already announced).

**The downsides:**

- This is a leveraged buyout. The company has taken on around $18–20 billion in debt. Servicing such a debt (estimated at around $1.8 billion in interest per year) will almost certainly lead to severe cost-cutting: redundancies, studio closures, the scrapping of experimental projects and an even stronger focus on ‘safe’ franchises. Figures of $700 million in annual cuts have already been mentioned.
- Control by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund raises questions about potential influence over content (particularly in games with social or political elements – such as *The Sims* and certain narrative-driven projects). Even if there is no direct interference, the mere presence of such a shareholder creates reputational and regulatory risks.
- The involvement of Jared Kushner and Affinity Partners adds a political dimension. The deal appears to be a tangle of business, geopolitics and personal connections, which rarely benefits the creative industry in the long term.
- The gaming industry is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a very small circle of players (Microsoft, Tencent, and now PIF). This reduces diversity and increases the risk that decisions will be made based on geopolitical and financial interests rather than the interests of players and developers.

**Conclusion:** the deal provides EA with cash and ‘protection’ from the stock market, but the cost is high debt plus a geopolitically motivated owner. Most likely, the next 3–5 years will be about optimisation and squeezing the maximum out of existing franchises, rather than a new era of creativity. As for how good this is for players, we’ll see from the quality of future instalments of *Battlefield*, *EA FC* and *The Sims*.

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Anthropic has restricted Claude: it can no longer recreate existing games.

The company has added a rule to the Claude Code (Opus 5.5) system prompt that prohibits the creation of recreations of specific existing games — even if they are renamed or labelled as ‘original’. This is a response to a wave of AI clones and attempts at reverse engineering.

Original projects, games within a specific genre, and those built using the user’s own designs and assets are still permitted. The change was confirmed by Anthropic employee Addy Osmani: using Claude to infringe intellectual property rights contravenes company policy.

Post on X:

Anthropic has restricted Claude: it can no longer recreate existing games (to combat AI clones).

A rule has been added to the Claude Code (Opus 5.5): do not recreate specific games, even if renamed. Original projects, genre-based games and those using their own assets are still permitted.

Confirmed by Addy Osmani from Anthropic.

#Claude #Anthropic #AIgamedev #gamedev #IP

@AnthropicAI @addyosmani

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

📊 AppMagic: RPGs are faster, puzzle games are more profitable

Analysts at AppMagic (@AppMagic) examined 158 mobile games released in 2026 that generated $1 million in revenue. Their conclusion: casual puzzle games take longer to reach their first million, but ultimately generate more revenue.

Time to reach $1 million (median):
• RPGs — 62.5 days
• Puzzles — 126 days

Total revenue (median):
• RPGs — $2 million**
• Puzzles — **$4.3 million

In other words, RPGs get off to a flying start, whilst puzzle games take twice as long to reach the same revenue. It’s the classic choice between a sprint and a marathon.

#AppMagic #MobileGames #GameDev #Analytics #Gaming

@AppMagic

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Great news for fans of pixel-art roguelikes! ⛏️👾

Dome Keeper has arrived on mobile devices, and Pocket Gamer has already awarded the game an impressive 4.5 out of 5! 🔥

Highlights from the review:
🔹 Addictive gameplay — the perfect balance between meditative resource mining and the intense challenge of fending off waves of aliens from your dome.
🔹 Realistic physics — the more ore you carry, the slower you move. Every second counts!
🔹 Atmosphere and sound — gorgeous pixel art and deep ambient music (play with headphones on at all times!).
🔹 Replayability — loads of builds, with new characters, gadgets and dome types to unlock.

It’ll take a couple of attempts to get used to the touch controls, but once you do, you simply won’t be able to put the game down.

@Bippinbits @RawFury #DomeKeeper #MobileGaming #IndieGames #AndroidGames #iOSGames

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

@tepki_tr A classic example of over-enthusiasm. A pupil solved the problem of retaining heat in the most radical way possible, but completely ignored visual perception. The result: panic instead of a tasty lunch.

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

@gta6hubfr It’s 2026, and GTA 6 is being advertised on entire towers.
Meanwhile, the PC version will probably be released sometime in 2028.

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

I’ve made my own mobile game! 🚀🐕

Introducing an arcade runner: collect a pack of fluffy tails, solve maths problems with gates on the go, break through obstacles and win in the bonus Plinko round! I’ve tried to make it fast-paced and fun.
It’s still being finalised at the moment, but the world will soon get to know it

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

@HSTBLS @alexkoch_ai Idk

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

@Necca @CallofDuty The new Possession mode in MW4 is where even capturing a point looks like a Hollywood action scene.
Activision has finally remembered the next-gen capabilities and created a mode where 120 fps and good netcode really do matter.
The clips will be coming thick and fast.

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

@FGPerfectShots Rest in peace professor

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

@luccacerf ‘Build me a Clash Royale × Super Smash Bros web game with PvP.’
Codex Terra 6.1: built in an evening using Three.js with stunning AI-generated VFX.
Me: ‘Right, AI, you’ve won – I’m off to bed.’
Technology in 2026 already allows us to build games faster than we can think them up.

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Lana and Mui are back! 🌿✨

The long-awaited sequel is here — **Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf** has launched in Early Access on Android, with pre-orders for iOS already on the horizon! 📱

What’s new in the sequel:
🔹 **A more mature Lana** — the heroine is now older and has gained new dynamic movements: for example, wall-jumping and faster parkour.
🔹 **In-depth co-op** — the focus is on teamwork with Mui, timing, observation and solving unique puzzles.
🔹 **No dialogue** — the story is still told exclusively through stunning visuals, cinematic sequences and a magnificent orchestral soundtrack.
🔹 **The perfect format** — the game takes around 6–8 hours to complete, and best of all: **the start of the game is available completely free of charge**, whilst the full version can be unlocked for $8.99.

https://t.co/NcdxIX7etY

#IndieGames #AndroidGames

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Monster Hunter Outlanders has been released today on iOS and Android.

TiMi Studio Group (Tencent), under licence from Capcom, has adapted the series’ formula for mobile: hunting, an open world, co-op for up to 4 players, classic weapons and original monsters. They worked directly with Capcom veterans on the core mechanics and balance.

F2P. Look for it on the App Store / Google Play.

#MonsterHunter #MHOutlanders #mobilegamedev #gamedev

@CAPCOM_e @monsterhunter @MHO_English @TiMiStudioGroup @LevelInfinite

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Are you ready for me to show you one of the cutest games?

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Epic has released its October package of free tutorial content on mobile development in Unreal Engine.

The official round-up on the Unreal Engine website focuses on mobile development: the basics of starting a project, optimisation for mobile devices, packaging and shipping, creating realistic cross-platform characters, as well as an overview of new tools and features for mobile in UE 5.8.

The collection includes official guides and documentation from Epic, community tutorials (including how to build an Android game from scratch), free sample projects on Fab (Cropout, Lyra and others), plus resources on integrating Epic Online Services for the mobile store.

It’s also worth highlighting the recent Inside Unreal stream ‘State of Mobile Workflows in Unreal Engine 5.8’ (around 15 October): it covered what’s already working on mobile devices (MetaHuman, PCG, Substrate, Lumen), profiling for iOS and Android, and the mobile roadmap.

Everything is free and available now.

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

The 18th India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) kicks off today in Chennai (28–31 October).

Venue: Chennai Trade Centre. Organised by GDAI, with support from ELCOT (Government of Tamil Nadu) and partners Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON India and Tencent. Over 10,000 attendees and more than 90 speakers are expected. The focus is on indie studios (a showcase of 60 projects), Investor–Publisher Connect and the development of the Indian games industry. The first two days are dedicated to B2B events, whilst the final days feature a public Playground.

Post for X:

IGDC 2026 kicks off today in Chennai (28–31 October) – the 18th India Game Developer Conference.

Chennai Trade Centre, over 10,000 attendees, a focus on indie games, a showcase of 60 studios and Investor–Publisher Connect. Partners: Nazara, KRAFTON India, Tencent.

#IGDC2026 #gamedev #IndiaGaming

@theindiagdc @NazaraTech @KRAFTONIndia @TencentGames

[Pharm Labs @pharm_labs]

Azra Games is investing over $50 million in UnGodly and optimising it for the iPhone Duo.

The studio’s CEO, Mark Otero, revealed that UnGodly — a dark fantasy action RPG without auto-battle — was one of two games showcased by Apple at the launch event for the foldable iPhone Duo (alongside Monster Hunter Outlanders). The game launches on 11 November on iOS, Android, PC, Mac and Vision Pro.⁠Pocketgamer

Key points:

On the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro, it will run at an uncapped 120 fps.
Full native support for the Duo (including Auto Resizability and functionality in both folded and unfolded states) from day one.
The budget has exceeded $50 million — a significant increase compared to the previous generation of mobile RPGs ($10–20 million).
The studio is positioning this as the ‘fourth generation’ of mobile RPGs: true, console-quality real-time 3D combat in your pocket, with no idle or auto-play.
This is one of the most notable examples of how developers are already adapting high-budget projects for the new generation of Apple foldable devices.