Other winners across the 16 categories included platform games like Little Orpheus, hypercasual titles like Clusterduck, big-name RPGs like Knighthood and AAA franchises like Pokemon and Call Of Duty. Riot Games, famous for League Of Legends, picked up the best developer category. The full list of winners is below. This year, the Pocket Gamer Awards were sponsored by RedMagic.

A new Hall Of Fame category celebrates landmark titles that have had a major impact on the mobile games industry over the years. It’s the only category picked by the editorial experts rather than put to a public vote. Angry Birds, Rovio’s classic franchise first launched in 2009, is the first recipient. Editor of PocketGamer.com, Dann Sullivan, said of Angry Birds: “No IP has done more for mobile games than Angry Birds, and while we might remember it as a lightning-strike for touch controls, over the years Rovio’s flagship franchise forged the way into social gaming and was one of the first mobile games to pioneer major licensing deals in the mobile space. The birds have also had more movies and TV episodes than Mario and Sonic combined.”

Sullivan continued: “While some of these milestones might not have anything to do with the small touchscreen, it’s impossible to deny that Rovio’s Red & Co managed to become a cultural powerhouse, and played a critical role in getting mobile gaming to where it is today.”

The award ceremony itself took place this evening, March 16, on Twitch and PocketGamer.com and broadcast across YouTube and the Enthusiast Gaming network of sites. For more information, visit https://www.pocketgamer.com/pgawards2021/ now. A recording of the Pocket Gamer Awards ceremony will be available soon on the site and also on the official YouTube channel.

Editor of PocketGamer.com, Dann Sullivan, added: “We’re overjoyed with the reaction from the fans in the voting process. Just looking at the sheer variety of games that have been championed by their players and communities really cements how diverse and rapidly-evolving the mobile games sphere is. The development speed and growth of the mobile games industry is truly amazing – every year is a milestone year, as can be seen from the amazing selection of winners.”

Chris James, CEO of Steel Media, said: “We’re genuinely thrilled by how many people voted in this year’s awards, and how many tuned in to watch the ceremony streamed live. When we launched Pocket Gamer 15 years ago, mobile gaming was still niche. But now – thanks to the success of games like Hall Of Fame inductee Angry Birds – mobile is THE dominant force in the games industry. Over the last 12 months, iOS and Android titles saw further huge surges in popularity as people hunted for experiences to keep them occupied during lockdown. And the quality has never been higher. Games like Genshin Impact prove that the device in your pocket can match the addictiveness and playability of the best consoles have to offer.”

James added: “As well as celebrating the best of the current crop of games, we’re always on the lookout for the next generation of blockbuster mobile titles. That’s why we’ve invented activities like the Big Indie Pitch and Pocket Gamer LaunchPad to champion new arrivals. So if you want to get an inside track on the next hidden gaming gem in 2021, there’s really nowhere else to go!”

More information on Pocket Gamer:
Follow Pocket Gamer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PocketGamer/
Like Pocket Gamer on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PocketGamer1/
Visit the Pocket Gamer website: https://www.pocketgamer.com
Visit the official Pocket Gamer Awards website: https://www.pocketgamerawards.com

About Pocket GamerLaunched by Steel Media, Pocket Gamer has been delivering news, reviews, tips, guides and features that inform and entertain mobile and handheld gamers since 2006. Enthusiast Gaming, the largest gaming network in North America, has owned Steel Media and Pocket Gamer since 2019. Since 2020, Pocket Gamer has hosted quarterly LaunchPad online events celebrating new and updated mobile games to an audience of three million viewers on Twitch.

About Steel Media:Steel Media Ltd is a consumer and b2b technology publisher and events company based in the UK. Its biggest consumer brand is PocketGamer.com, the longest running and biggest games site dedicated to the mobile and handheld scene. It also publishes a range of b2b sites, including mobile industry portal PocketGamer.biz, PCGamesInsider.biz, plus recent additions InfluencerUpdate.biz and BlockchainGamer.biz. Steel Media Ltd also organises many international events, including the world-renowned Pocket Gamer Connects conference series and the Big Indie Pitch events in locations from the UK and the USA to Hong Kong and Helsinki. In 2016, PG Connects became the biggest dedicated mobile games industry conference series in Europe and has stayed on top ever since.