Brawl Stars: Revenue Soars 9x, MAU Doubles in 2024

Supercell just dropped some mind-blowing stats about Brawl Stars at GDC, and let's just say, it's been one heck of a ride. Revenue soaring 8.8 times higher than last year, with MAU doubling to 2.4x - Talk about leveling up!? But wait, it gets even better. Back in the day, early 2023, Brawl Stars hit a bit of a rough patch – retention and revenue were on the ropes. So, what did the Brawl team do? They went full-on superhero mode, tossing out loot boxes like yesterday's news and rolling in with a slew of new features. We're talking randomized rewards, special moves for the die-hard fans – the works! And guess what? It worked like a charm! Revenue went from snoozeville to superstar status, shooting up by a jaw-dropping 8.8 times from June 2023 to February 2024. Plus, Brawl […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 27

Highlights

Supercell’s Big Swap: Clash Mini Dies, Spark Shines

Supercell pulled the plug of Clash Mini, revealing the termination of its development after two years in beta. Despite significant improvements, the game did not meet Supercell's quality standards. However, Supercell remains committed to delivering the Clash Mini experience within Clash Royale, reflecting its dedication to fulfilling its ultimate vision. The move aligns with Supercell's launch of Spark, a new greenlight process for external teams, demonstrating the company's dedication to innovation in game development. What's the bigger picture? In an exclusive interview with mobilegamer.biz, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen and former Hay Day lead Stephan Demirdjian shed light on an innovative process. A game-changing move from Supercell, the masterminds behind Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, Hay Day, and Brawl Stars. They're flipping the script with Team Lab, a fresh initiative that gives the green light to teams, not just game ideas. […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 16

Journal

Supercell To Superscale

The world’s least powerful CEO won’t lead Supercell’s next chapter. Supercell is superscaling, and with it comes bureaucratization and hierarchy. CEO Ilkka Paananen believes investing in their proprietary game engine is crucial for the company's future. One way to scale is by increasing each developer’s productivity. The engine functions like a platform with “out-of-the-box” tools to avoid re-building the wheel for every title. The challenge, however, is that each game and genre has its own “wheel.” Supercell's most ambitious project, Clash Heroes, opted for Unreal instead of the in-house engine, raising concerns about its effectiveness. The economics of proprietary engines haven’t worked. Engine development is expensive, with costs amortized over customers. The fewer the customers, the more expensive the development. This worsens when combined with new studio locations and remote work. EA’s Frostbite isn’t exactly setting the industry ablaze, and […]

Phillip Black August 1

Supercell