1）据pocketgamer报道，GungHo旗下热门游戏《Puzzle & Dragons》在日本下载量已经突破2500万次，它还是首款在短短两年时间内创收超过10亿美元的手机游戏。

该游戏于2013年10月初实现2000万次下载量，平均每月新增100万安装量，历时29天从2400万下载量增长至2500万次。

2）中国移动分析公司TalkingData最近数据显示，中国有5.5亿活跃智能设备中至少有96%安装了游戏应用（这一点并不令人意外，因为Android设备制造商一般都会给设备预装一些手机游戏）。

china-heavy-gamers_2013(from TalkingData)

值得注意的是，每天有1小时以上时间玩手机游戏的用户比例已从2013年初的9%上升至第四季度时的28%。

Android仍是最主要的手机游戏平台，其设备市场份额高达71%。从收益来自，Android与iOS两个平台收益比例分别为50.3%和44.3%，功能性手机则占比5.5%。

mobile-game-share-china_2013(from TalkingData)

2013年约10%的中国手机游戏玩家是付费用户，其数量增长了5倍。

3）Gartner最新数据显示，2013年出售的1.95亿台平板电脑中，Android设备占比62%（1.21亿台），首次超越iOS成为最受欢迎的平板电脑操作系统。

与此同时，iPad销量则占比36%（7000万台），而在2012年时iPad销量占比曾高达53%。

tablet_sales_figures(from Gartner）

Gartner认为，低端而小屏幕的平板电脑是Android平板设备去年销量增长3倍的主要推动因素。

值得注意的是，亚马逊Kindle Fire平板电脑在2013年既有增长也有下降，据App Annie数据显示，Kindle Fire是美国最受欢迎的Android游戏设备，它在2013年的设备销量仅增长了200万台，其市场份额从2012年的6.6%降至4.8%（销量为900万台），但亚马逊尚未透露任何官方销量数据。

微软平板电脑则成了一匹黑马，销量从2012年的110万台增长至2013年的400万台，但在平板电脑市场仅占比2.1%。

4）据gamasutra报道，独立开发者Adam Saltsman（代表作《屋顶狂奔》）日前宣布与妻子Rebekah Saltsman一起在奥斯丁成立Finji Games工作室。

Finji-logo(from superpunch.net)

这对夫妻自费创办Finji Games，其宗旨是让Saltsmans与自己认为合适的开发者合作开发项目，该工作室目前已经有一系列游戏投入开发，其中多数是与其他开发者合作的产品，包括《Night in the Woods》（主要由Alec Holowka和Scott Benson开发，Finji帮助制作和发布）、《Portico》、《Capsule》、《Overland》等游戏。

5）据gamasutra报道，Zynga日前宣布在未来数周推出移动版《FarmVille 2：Country Escape》，以及《New Words With Friends》以及《New Zynga Poker》这两款衍生游戏，目前这三款游戏将瞄准“指定的市场”，预计于2014年第二季度末面向全球发布。

FarmVille 2 mobile(from gamezebo.com)

这三者均由Zynga内部团队开发，该公司在1月份所收购的NaturalMotion团队并没有参与。

6）据gamasutra报道，Konami发言人日前宣布前Konami数字娱乐部门执行副总裁Tomohiro Uesugi将升职为该部门总裁，而该部门前总裁Tomoyuki Tsuboi则将返回日本的Konami财务部门就职。

值得注意的是，新上任的Uesugi在2013年才刚加入Konami数字娱乐部门，之前曾担任Sanyo北美执行副总裁。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Puzzle & Dragons hits 25 million downloads milestone in Japan

by Matthew Diener

There’s no stopping GungHo’s massively successful Puzzle & Dragons, which has just passed the 25 million download total in Japan.

The total is across iOS, Google Play and Amazon and comes after a string of tie-ins that involved everything from Hello Kitty, Yoplait Yoghurt, Angry Birds, Batman: Arkham Origins, to Clash of Clans.

Puzzle & Dragons was also revealed as the first mobile game to generate over $1 billion in revenue – all in just two short years.

Nothing puzzling here

After hitting 20 million downloads in early October, Puzzle & Dragons increased its install base at a rate of roughly one million per month. Crossing from 24 million to 25 million players, for example, took GungHo a matter of only 29 days.

The game also has multiple millions of players outside of Japan, with the US and UK, in particular, being strong markets – as considered in a recent Charticle.

And next up, GungHo is transforming it into Puzzle & Dragons W: a combination of two play modes, including the original game and a second mode which strips away the dungeon exploration to focus on puzzles.（source：pocketgamer）

2）Number of Chinese mobile game payers up 5-fold during 2013

by Jon Jordan

Similar in scope to recent research from Swrve, Chinese mobile analytics outfit TalkingData has been considering mobile gamers.

According to TechNode, TalkingData reckons that 96 percent of China’s 550 million active smart devices have at least one game installed.

That’s not a big surprise as the OEMs selling Android devices typically have games pre-installed on their devices.

On the up

Where things get more interesting is the news that TalkingData reckons that the group of mobile games who play for more than 1 hour per day has jumped from 9 percent at the start of 2013 to 28 percent by Q4 2013.

Of course, it’s Android that remains the main platform for mobile gaming, with a marketshare of 71 percent over iOS in terms of device numbers.

However, when looking at revenue, TalkingData reckons the Android-iOS split is 50.3 percent to 44 3 percent, with feature phones accounting for the remaining 5.5 percent.

Around 10 percent of Chinese mobile gamers become paying users in 2013; that’s up five-fold during the year in terms of absolute numbers.（source：pocketgamer）

3）Tipping point: Android tablets oust iPad in terms of 2013 sales

by Matthew Diener

The latest figures from Gartner have unveiled an upheaval in the tablet market.

For the first time ever, Android toppled iOS to become the most popular tablet OS worldwide.

Of the 195 million tablets sold in 2013, Gartner reckons a 62 percent – 121 million – were powered by Android.

By contrast, 36 percent – 70 million – were iPads.

This figure is a marked reversal from last year’s trends, in which iPad tablets accounted for 53 percent of tablet sales.

Think small, win big

Although many consumers still consider Apple’s iPad the quintessential tablet, it seems they’re having a difficult time justifying its cost.

According to Gartner, ‘Low-end, smaller screen’ tablets propelled Android to almost triple its number of tablets sold in the past year.

Intriguingly, Amazon’s Kindle Fire line of tablets saw both growth and decline in 2013.

After App Annie pointed to the Kindle Fire as America’s most popular Android tablet for gaming, sales of the slate only increased by 2 million in 2013 – leading its market share to slip from 6.6 percent in 2012 to 4.8 percent with 9 million units sold.

Of course, Amazon is yet to reveal any official sales numbers.

Microsoft’s tablets, meanwhile, ranked as a dark horse fourth. Sales increased from 1.1 million in 2012 to 4 million in 2013, but the Redmond tech titan managed to secure only 2.1 percent of the tablet market with its product line.（source：pocketgamer）

4）Canabalt dev launches new indie studio

By Alex Wawro

Indie developer Adam Saltsman, creator of Canabalt announced today that he is launching Finji Games, a new indie studio based in Austin, TX, with his fellow developer and wife Rebekah Saltsman.

The pair are funding Finji Games out of their own pockets, and the studio’s remit appears to be, “allow the Saltsmans to formally work with people they like on projects they think are cool.” To that end, the studio already appears to have a bevy of games in the works, most of which are collaborations with other developers.

Among them are Night in the Woods, which Finji plans to help produce and distribute (the game is actually being developed primarily by Alec Holowka and Scott Benson), Portico (the game previously known as Grave), Capsule (which features audio and design work by Robin Arnott, creator of SoundSelf) and Overland, a turn-based tactical strategy survival prototype developed in collaboration with Deep Plaid Games’ Shay Pierce. （source：gamasutra）

5）Zynga continues its move into mobile with new Farmville game

By Alex Wawro

Zynga announced today that it will launch a mobile version of Farmville alongside major updates to two of its flagship mobile franchises in the coming weeks, making good on stockholder assurances it made back in January to “address the mobile market.”

The games — Farmville 2: Country Escape, New Words With Friends and New Zynga Poker — will be rolled out across “select markets” in the coming weeks, and Zynga claims all will be available worldwide by the end of the second quarter of 2014.

These games were all developed by Zynga’s internal teams and not NaturalMotion, the Clumsy Ninja developer Zynga acquired in January for an estimated $527 million.

The mobile version of Farmville is interesting because it will permit players to play offline and in short bursts — requiring players to wait as little as ten seconds for select crops to grow — according to interviews with Zynga personnel conducted by Re/code.

The updated mobile versions of Words With Friends and Zynga Poker will sport new features and interfaces, but their core gameplay will remain unchanged.（source：gamasutra）

6）Konami promotes Tomohiro Uesugi to president of Konami Digital

By Alex Wawro

Konami representatives announced today that Tomohiro Uesugi, former executive vice president of the Konami Digital Entertainment division, will be stepping up to become president of said division.

Konami Digital Entertainment serves as the Japanese video game development and publishing division of Konami proper, and is responsible for franchises like Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania and Silent Hill.

Konami representatives tell Gamasutra that the previous president of Konami Digital Entertainment, Tomoyuki Tsuboi, will be returning to Japan to serve in Konami’s Finance division.

“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the head of our talented and passionate employees, and I have a deep respect for our community of fans,” Uesugi stated in a press release announcing the promotion. “We will focus on our talent and iconic brands as we continue to provide innovative products for even deeper and more enjoyable experiences to our customers.”

Uesugi only joined up with Konami Digital Entertainment recently — he signed on as executive vice president in 2013 after serving as executive vice president of Sanyo North America.

No word yet on what this means for the future of Konami Digital Entertainment or Konami proper.（source：gamasutra）