TheGamingEconomy Daily Digest brings you the trending business stories in gaming. In today’s edition: Tencent and NetEase earn CN¥79.1bn (£9.04bn) from online games in H1 2019; Supercell launches Rush Wars; and Playtika acquires Seriously.

Tencent and NetEase earn CN¥79.1bn (£9.04bn) from online games in H1 2019

Chinese gaming companies Tencent and NetEase, which account for over 70% of the domestic market, have earned a combined revenue of CN¥79.1bn (£9.04bn) from online games in the first half of 2019, according to figures from Niko Partners. This represents a year-on-year increase of 8.6%, driven mostly by mobile gaming where revenue grew by 13.4%, whereas PC game revenue decreased by 0.1%.

The strong results indicate that the Chinese market is recovering following last year’s freeze on new title releases, with revenues set to increase markedly in the second half of the year as more titles are released in the market following the regulatory backlog.

Supercell launches Rush Wars

Supercell has rolled out a limited release of its latest mobile title, Rush Wars, in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The title is similar in format to its previously released IP from the studio, namely Boom Beach and Clash of Clans, in that it consists of a mixture of offensive and defensive stages. A global launch is expected to follow in the coming months.

While Helsinki-based Supercell did not enjoy a particularly lucrative 2018, with revenue falling approximately 21% from USD$2.029bn (£1.66bn) to USD$1.6bn (£1.31bn), the firm has experienced recent success with its Clash of Clans title, which saw a 72% increase in month-on-month player spending in May this year, following the introduction of Gold Pass in-app purchases.

Playtika acquires Seriously

Israeli casino gaming firm Playtika has acquired Best Fiends developer Seriously for a price believed to be around USD$275m (£224.6m). Playticker has been actively acquiring gaming companies in recent times, following the purchase of Supertreat in January 2019, Wooga for an estimated USD$100m (£81.7m) in December 2018, and Jelly Button in October 2017.

In a statement, Seriously CEO and co-founder Andrew Stalbow said, “Petri [Järvilehto, co-founder] and I could not be more excited to be joining the Playtika family. They have the technology, expertise and track-record to help us grow the Best Fiends franchise to new heights.”