Niko News is a filter of the most important news items and bits of information concerning the games markets of China and Southeast Asia uncovered by Niko each week. Our multilingual analysts review dozens of news sources from several countries, and as a team Niko reduces the long list of articles to 3-4 "must read" items for you. We then provide our Niko analysis to these items, making them relevant and highlighting the importance for the market. This service is one of the many ways we help distill the confusing, conflicting information about the games markets of Asia for our clients and readers. 

Plants vs Zombies 2's Chinese version seems to be more difficult and more expensive than the English version. Critics have said the game may be too difficult for casual gamers, and that it is "three times" more difficult than the English version. In the English version it costs 18 RMB ($3) to buy a snow pea shooter, but in the Chinese version it costs 400 "diamonds" equal to 40 RMB ($7) to make the same purchase. The Repeater (another pea shooter plant) is free in the English version, but 10 RMB in the Chinese version. This all led to the game ranking #1 in the App Store within 7 hours of its Chinese launch, but the rating promptly went down from 5 stars to 2 stars. 

Disney launched the Disney Magic 1 smartphone in China, targeting "stylish but budget-conscious Chinese women" in the words of Techinasia. The price is 1,999 RMB ($320).  

WeChat's first mobile game "WeMatch" ranked #8 in terms of revenue, and was downloaded more than 4 million times on August 5th alone. It is available on iOS and Android. The game is a contender with PVZ2 to generate top-ranking revenue as a mobile game for the foreseeable future.