Mobile apps news roundup: WeChat now has 190M MAU, PvZ 2 launching in July, Amazon launches Appstore in China and more

WeChat now has 190 million MAU -- Tencent's deputy general manager Hou Xiaonan revealed on the final day of the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Bejing that the company's messaging app WeChat now has 190 million monthly active users (MAU). This put's WeChat on par with U.S. messaging app competitor WhatsApp, which reveled in April that it has north of 200 million MAU. Viber reaches 200 million user mark, launches desktop client -- Mobile communication app Viber recently reached the 200 million user mark, up from its last reported user figure of 140 million in December 2012, and launched a desktop client. Viber's main competitors are messaging apps like WhatsApp and VoIP services like Skype. Plants vs. Zombies 2 launching this July -- Electronic Arts'-owned game studio PopCap revealed that its upcoming Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time will launch sometime this July. No platforms have been revealed yet. Gameloft announces movie tie-in mobile game for Blue Sky Studios' Epic -- French mobile game developer announced a new game based on the upcoming animated feature Epic from Fox Digital Entertainment and Blue Sky Studios. This is the second game partnership between Gameloft and Fox Digital Entertainment for a Blue Sky Studios, with Ice Age Village as the first title, which launched in April 2012. The game will launch in May to coincide with the film's theatrical release. Amazon launches Appstore in China -- Amazon launched its Android in Appstore in China this week. Amazon becomes the first western company to offer paid Android apps in the county, beating Google to the punch since Google Play only offers free apps in China, not paid apps. Gameloft launches Blitz Brigade for iOS and Android -- Gameloft recently launched its free-to-play team-based shooter Blitz Brigade, which is takes place in a World War 2 setting. Look for our review of the game sometime next week. Sunstorm Games currently sees 10M MAU, 1M DAU, 140M downloads -- A relatively unknown mobile game developer and publisher called Sunstorm Games announced that its user base has grown to 10 million monthly active users (MAU) and one million daily active users (DAU) along with seeing 140 million downloads of its titles. The game studio's most popular franchise is its "Maker" series, while the company has also built long-term partnerships with brands like Icee and SuperPretzel. Game Insight brings 2020: My Country to iOS and Amazon -- Russian mobile game giant Game Insight released its city builder 2020: My Country, which was first available for Android, on the Apple App Store and Amazon Appstore. The title is the follow up to Game Insight's other city-building strategy game My Country. Kamicat raises a round of funding from iVentureCapital -- German mobile-social game maker recently raised a round of funding for an undisclosed amount from iVentureCapital. The Hanover, Germany-based Kamikat is most known for its game Kamicat Football for Facebook, which currently has five million registered users. TenFarms raises $2.7M in a round of funding -- Mobile startup TenFarms, which is working on two products -- Photopoll and Adtile -- recently raised $2.7 million in a round of funding from an undisclosed angel investor. The funds are going toward the deployment of Adtile, a new mobile advertising product that allows native integration with apps and websites, and to support the contiuous development of Photopoll, a multi-photo polling app. Folks from Paltalk, MessageMe and Tango will be speaking about mobile messaging at our Inside Social Apps conference June 6 to 7 in San Francisco. Learn more here.

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Mobile apps news roundup: WeChat now has 190M MAU, PvZ 2 launching in July, Amazon launches Appstore in China and more

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