Hello world! Welcome to episode six of the PocketGamer.biz Podcast, your regular round-up of the world of mobile gaming.

In this episode, we have a world exclusive chat with the ‘supergroup’ studio Original Games. Founded by veterans and executives from Machine Zone and Rovio, the developer has just raised a significant amount of money and plans to take their merge game mechanic into the big time. Listen in to find out more and hear from co-founders Ville Heijariand and Arseny Lebedev. (11m:45s)

The team also dive into the recent news, with a focus on funding and finance. According to Drake Star partners, the amount of investment in 2021 to date is already double that from the whole of 2020, with 844 individual deals identified, with a total value exceeding $71 billion. The PG team explores where this is taking us… (01m:37s)

Useful links:

• https://originalgames.io/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/77206/mobile-premier-league-raises-150-million/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77342/homa-games-raises-50-million/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77333/mygames-venture-capital-invests-tworogue-wideview/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/77337/nazara-raises-42-million-to-fund-growth-initiatives-and-acquisitions/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77335/bitkraft-ventures-75-million-fund-blockchain-gaming/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77308/original-games-6-million-seed-funding/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77328/zynga-closes-starlark-acquisition/
• https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77327/applovin-buys-mopub-from-twitter-1-billion/

We also run down the forthcoming events, conferences, pitches, parties and rap battles coming from the team at Steel Media. (36m:27s)

With thanks again to Ville, Arseny and the Original Games team. Do check out Merge Inn on your devices of choice.

We hope you’re enjoying the podcast. If you are, please let us know. You can drop us an email directly to: podcast@pocketgamer.biz or leave a comment on Twitter where we are @PGBiz. 

If you can leave a comment and a review for the podcast on whatever platform you’re listening to, we would truly appreciate it. It’s a fast, simple way to help us get the word out to a wider audience and helps us make the podcast better, faster, shiner and ever more fabulous.

Thanks again for listening.