Rainbow Six Mobile’s shutdown, Minecraft Blast’s next steps and AI’s risks for games | Week in Views

The games industry moves at a relentless pace, and while countless stories come and go, there are always a few major developments that demand a closer look. To unpack these particularly thorny topics, the PocketGamer.biz team has pulled together its weekly digest, offering deeper insights, expert commentary, and critical analysis of the most interesting movements across the mobile gaming landscape over the past week.

This week’s focus spans the abrupt shutdown of a major Ubisoft shooter franchise on mobile, an exclusive look inside King’s growing testing pipeline for a massive Microsoft IP crossover, and a sobering reality check on artificial intelligence from a seasoned industry veteran who spent a decade shaping tech strategies for Zynga and Take-Two.

Rainbow Six Mobile to Shut Down in January 2027

Ubisoft’s high-profile tactical shooter, Rainbow Six Mobile, is officially shutting down in January, bringing an abrupt end to the project less than a year after its official global launch in February 2026. For many industry observers, the news comes as a profound disappointment, especially when considering the sheer volume of time, resources, and iterative development Ubisoft poured into getting the mobile adaptation right.

The title’s journey to the market was a famously arduous process. After initially entering soft launch back in 2023, the project hit a major roadblock that forced a temporary hiatus in 2024 aimed at implementing critical structural improvements. It eventually returned to the spotlight with comprehensive reworks and multiple extensive testing phases before finally securing a worldwide release earlier this year.

Despite all of that rigorous development and optimization work, Ubisoft has ultimately decided to pull the plug. While the game managed to generate a respectable $1.6 million globally during its first two weeks on the market, early player momentum steadily tapered off. This closure serves as yet another stark reminder that adapting a massive, established console and PC franchise for mobile platforms does not automatically guarantee commercial success.

Rainbow Six undoubtedly arrived with a built-in audience of loyal fans, but successfully translating that complex, tactical gameplay loop into a sustainable, long-term mobile ecosystem is an entirely different beast. Industry analysts are left questioning whether the existing fanbase truly wanted a mobile iteration of the shooter, or if the addressable market was simply too saturated. Bearing in mind the fiercely competitive landscape of the mobile shooter genre, capturing and retaining a brand-new audience proved to be an uphill battle.

While it is undeniably a shame to see the project close its doors, it appears that Ubisoft ultimately felt it had exhausted all viable options to keep the title afloat in a crowded and unforgiving market.

Minecraft Blast Testing Phase Expands: Developing for New and Lapsed Fans

A few weeks ago, the team had the unique opportunity to return to King’s London headquarters with one specific objective: securing an exclusive inside look at Minecraft Blast. Ahead of its first major playtest in Western markets, editors got a firsthand taste of the core gameplay mechanics, interacting with puzzle boards featuring iconic elements such as potions, fireworks, and End Crystals. Completing traditional blast-style puzzle challenges rewards players with energy, which can then be spent constructing and developing a classic Minecraft-style world—building houses, balconies, and other structures designed to make a familiar companion character feel right at home while keeping them safely hidden from lurking creepers.

Following its initial trials, the puzzle title has recently returned to Malaysia for its second playtest and is slated to expand its testing footprint into Canada and Australia. According to King’s Gavin Lammin, the title is still firmly in its earliest developmental days, meaning players who happen to miss the strict, weeks-long window of availability will not be able to download or access the game. The primary objective of these ongoing regional tests is to validate core player engagement, gather early data on how monetization strategies are received by the community, and test overall product-market fit.

Lammin also shared fascinating details regarding the origins of Minecraft Blast, revealing that the project’s roots trace back three years to initial conversations with Mojang Studios. King had been eager to develop a mobile title leveraging the powerhouse franchise for some time, and Mojang’s Magnus Nedfors noted that the eventual acquisition of Mojang by Microsoft played a pivotal role in making the collaboration possible.

Reflecting on the timeline, Nedfors noted that while the corporate acquisition process took a considerable amount of time for various reasons, the moment it neared completion, the priority was clear: reaching out to King immediately. With internal interest already bubbling on both sides, the partnership kicked off the very first day it was legally and operationally possible.

In the Hot Seat: Ex-Take-Two AI Chief Luke Dicken on the $2tn Bubble, Junior Jobs, and the Next 2008

Conversations surrounding artificial intelligence within the video games industry typically fall into one of two polarized camps. Optimists claim that generative tools are going to completely revolutionize and streamline every facet of game development, while pessimists warn that the technology will inevitably ruin the creative medium. However, a recent conversation with Dr. Luke Dicken managed to sidestep both extremes entirely, offering a grounded and critical perspective that continues to resonate across the sector.

Having spent a decade building Zynga’s applied AI group before taking the reins of AI strategy at Take-Two until April, Dicken has spent a significant portion of his career advocating for the integration of artificial intelligence in games. Ironically, this background makes him one of the most uniquely sober and skeptical voices currently speaking on the subject.

One of the most striking points to emerge from the discussion centered on the tech industry’s current hiring trends, particularly regarding junior positions. As companies increasingly lean on AI tooling to cut costs and boost short-term output, the proliferation of the technology has created a severe bottleneck for entry-level hiring. While freezing junior positions might look fantastic on a quarterly earnings report, Dicken warns that the games industry is careening toward its first major retirement wave—leaving a gaping hole where the next generation of leadership should be, with nobody seeming to ask who will replace those senior professionals ten years down the line.

For studio executives and developers who have managed to resist the pressure to immediately adopt every new generative tool, Dicken’s advice is remarkably straightforward: stay on the sidelines. In a corporate climate dominated by an incessant demand to plaster the letters "AI" across every pitch deck and press release, making a deliberate choice to wait out the hype is a remarkably bold stance. His core reasoning is that foundational tooling will eventually settle into standardized industry norms, much like 3D graphics tools did decades ago. Studios currently rushing headfirst into chaotic productivity gains, he argues, are simply "running on a treadmill."

Dicken also issued a stark warning regarding the financial sustainability of current software pipelines built on cheap, venture-subsidized AI services. Studios that base their long-term operational costs on artificially low current pricing could easily find themselves caught completely off guard when service prices inevitably rise—a foundational risk that every development team should be actively planning for.

Walking away from the conversation leaves observers feeling equal parts fascinated and genuinely unsettled. If Dicken’s cautious outlook is accurate, that complex mix of excitement and apprehension might just be the exact, appropriate mindset the games industry needs to adopt as it navigates the uncertain future of artificial intelligence.