PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: Develop's Indie Showcase, Kakao and WeChat boom, and is The Drowning drowning?

The word 'independent' has been thrown around a lot this past week.

The United States just wrapped up its celebration of Independence Day, and next week Develop Brighton will celebrate some of the brightest indie games in the world.

But what does it truly mean to be independent?

When starting off as a developer, it's easy to be independent as it's the only world you know - but as companies grow and revenue flows in, an unexpected change happens and many creative game developers long for the independence to create simple, engaging games for fun once again.

So let's take a moment to celebrate independence in all of its forms by looking back at the week that was!

• Poised to launch its FireFox phones, Mozilla believes that Android is too bloated for low-end devices.
• Mobile messaging apps are going strong - KakaoTalk announced that it's just hit the 100 million user milestone in a surge of exponential growth.
• Not to be outdone, Tencent's WeChat mobile messaging app just hit 70 million users outside of China - and that's before it introduces support for games.
• Who's doubting now? Windows 8 passes Vista as Microsoft's third most popular OS.
• Amazon expands its GameCircle feature to support all Android devices (not just Kindles), iOS is left out in the cold.
• And let's not forget that PG.biz just launched a new iPad-exclusive app to help keep you up-to-date on the latest mobile business news.

• GungHo's Puzzle & Dragons tops 1 million users in Korea, but its performance in the United States is less clear.
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Where's My Mickey head to the Quality Index’s Top 10 rated iOS and Android games of June.
• Toca Boca's Emil Overmar warns that free-to-play is a major no-no when it comes to apps for kids.
• And the Japanese social gaming giant GREE notes that more than 40% of its Android revenue comes from just 2 devices.

• Alistair Aitcheson argues that allowing players to cheat is a great way to keep them engaged.
• 148Apps' Carter Dotson believes that Google should put the kibosh on its plans for an Android unconsole.
• Xavier Carrillo Costa of veteran shop Digital Legends talks about the learning process behind its first free-to-play release.
• Fraser MacInnes examines the difference between apps and games, and looks at the long-term value of both.
• Monster Blade's Ken Tan shares some tips on how to get a million downloads without spending a single dollar on marketing.
• Lee Bradley takes a look at the making of Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage, the first third-party title to be published by Rovio.

• Our Charticle for this week looks at DeNA's three-month-long soft launch for its highly anticipated FPS The Drowning, which is currently available in 9 countries.
• Meanwhile, TIGA and Chartboost team up to help indie games with discovery.
• Looking for a bigger audience? Windows 8 apps could be on their way to the Xbox One.

Some of the biggest news to come from the upcoming Develop Brighton conference is that 5 of the 10 games nominated to the Indie Showcase are mobile titles.

We interviewed the minds behind all five games to see what they thought about the honour.

• Derk de Geus (Paladin Studios), Momonga Pinball Adventures
• Jennifer Schneidereit (Nyamyam Ltd), Tengami
• Neil Glenister (232 Studios), Epic Eric
• Stephen Morris (Greenfly Studios), Drop that Candy!
• Guus Hoeve (Mango Down!) Catch 22

Also, if you're planning to attend Develop Brighton you may want to keep the night of July 9 free so you can attend our next Mobile Mixer.