Mariam Ahmad
Mariam Ahmad covers the global games business through event-led interviews that focus on cross‑border partnerships, monetisation and long‑term strategy. She is Editorial Director – Events at PocketGamer.biz, linking the masthead’s journalism directly to the Pocket Gamer Connects conference series and its international games industry network. Her work centres on turning talks and panels into clear, practical narratives, with particular attention to how mobile and online games companies navigate regulation, markets like China, and shifting business models. A background in ad tech writing and content leadership feeds into this coverage, giving her a detailed grasp of advertising, user acquisition and privacy trends that impact games. Across articles, interviews and podcasts, her output is shaped by access to senior decision‑makers and by the themes emerging from major industry events.
China market entry and cross‑border due diligence
Ahmad’s coverage of China stands out for its focus on practical entry strategies and risk management rather than surface‑level market headlines.
In “MyGamez on why co-publishing could be your way into China”, she distils a summit talk into a structured guide to co‑publishing, explaining why developers should keep operational control while partnering with local experts, and why transparency and long‑term thinking matter in the world’s largest games market. She highlights the regulatory requirement for a Chinese publishing partner, the months‑long approval process for ISBN licences, and the operational complexity of modern free‑to‑play games, framing China as a viable growth path only for studios prepared to invest time, money and due diligence.
In related work such as “Publishers are returning to China and not just for ‘quick wins’” and “In the Hot Seat: Three ways Western developers are leaving a fortune on the table in China”, she tracks how foreign publishers are re‑engaging with the market, underlining the dangers of short‑term thinking and the missed revenue when Western studios underestimate local adaptation and live ops. Her conversations around due diligence for East‑West collaborations, echoed in industry posts about her Shanghai event work, reinforce a consistent thread: cross‑border deals need structured research, clear expectations and long‑term partnership models.
Interviews with mobile games leaders
A core part of Ahmad’s output is in‑depth interviews with senior figures across the games ecosystem, using their experiences to illuminate broader industry shifts. Her piece on DoubleDown Interactive’s Faith Price covers direct‑to‑consumer growth, ageing apps and the real cost of AI, exploring how a mature operator rethinks distribution, product and technology rather than treating AI as a quick fix.
In her interview with Sucker Punch co‑founder Chris Zimmerman, she draws out themes around the “attention barrier”, finding creative spark and the “arrogance of starting things”, using a respected console studio’s story to talk about focus and risk in game development more generally.
A feature with Neogames Finland’s Suvi Latva examines changing realities for Finnish studios, connecting a regional cluster’s experience to global trends in funding, talent and competition. These pieces typically foreground the interviewee’s voice while tying their comments back to audience growth, monetisation and strategic decision‑making, making them valuable for anyone tracking how established companies respond to shifting market pressures.
The subjects she selects – from social casino to AAA console and national industry bodies – reflect an interest in the business mechanics behind different segments of the games market, rather than focusing solely on products.
Events, podcasts and Pocket Gamer Connects coverage
Ahmad’s editorial role is explicitly tied to events, and that shapes both her topics and formats.
When PocketGamer.biz announced her appointment, it highlighted that she would connect the site more closely to Pocket Gamer Connects conferences, interview major industry figures and surface insights on key trends driving the sector. Her byline appears on event‑driven coverage such as the MyGamez co‑publishing talk at PGC Summit Shanghai, where she turns a conference session into a detailed breakdown of China market access for overseas studios.
She is a regular voice on the Week in Mobile Games podcast, joining the editorial team to discuss news and takeaways from events like PGC Barcelona, the UK’s social media regulations, mobile launches such as Pokémon Champions, and platform battles between Fortnite and Roblox. This blend of live event work, recorded discussion and follow‑up features gives her a vantage point that is closer to conference stages and closed‑door panels than to standard news feeds, and her stories often trace directly back to talks and sessions she has hosted or attended.
Ad tech, monetisation and broader media background
Before joining PocketGamer.biz, Ahmad built a career in journalism and content strategy across sectors including travel, energy and advertising technology. At Gamesforum she was introduced as head of content, describing her passion as sitting at the intersection of gaming enthusiasm and journalistic rigour. She outlined a beat that spans curation, in‑game advertising, monetisation and user acquisition, alongside close tracking of privacy law changes and the end of third‑party cookies.
Speaker profiles for Gamesforum events emphasise her interest in ad monetisation, UA and curation, and reference previous editorial leadership at an ad tech publication and hosting duties for a podcast featuring major global brands.
This background feeds into her current games‑focused work: topics like D2C growth, ageing apps, AI costs, East‑West player differences and long‑term monetisation strategies sit comfortably within a broader understanding of digital advertising and media economics. The result is coverage that treats games as part of a larger attention and advertising ecosystem, with particular sensitivity to how regulatory, privacy and monetisation trends shape what is viable for studios and publishers.
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