RedLynx
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🚨📢BREAKING NEWS: New Adnetwork AdSURGE is here, Supercell Kills Squad Busters, Ubisoft Quits Mobile
The mobile gaming industry is currently experiencing a significant shift characterized by the emergence of new ad-tech infrastructure and a wave of high-profile project cancellations.
- Miniclip, in partnership with Tencent and Easybrain, has launched AdSurge, a new ad network leveraging first-party data to compete in the mediation and ad-tech space currently dominated by AppLovin and Unity.
- Supercell is shutting down Squad Busters, with the game being pulled from stores on December 1 and servers closing on December 14, marking a rare global launch failure for the studio.
- Ubisoft is exiting mobile game development in Europe, highlighted by the closure of its Helsinki-based studio RedLynx and the cancellation of Rainbow Six Mobile.
What’s going on at Rovio, Miniclip’s new ad network, Squad Busters’ last rites, RedLynx closes, more
The mobile games industry is currently undergoing a period of significant restructuring, characterized by studio closures, project cancellations, and a strategic pivot toward established intellectual property.
- Mobile game spending declined by 7% in Q3, with only three of the top 20 grossing titles being less than two years old, highlighting a significant barrier to entry for new games.
- Major publishers are aggressively pruning portfolios, resulting in the cancellation of Supercell’s Squad Busters, Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Mobile, and Fingersoft’s Lego Hill Climb Adventures.
- Ubisoft is closing its Helsinki-based studio RedLynx as part of a broader industry trend of studio closures and project cancellations.
Building Bridges Instead of Silos - Celine Pasula, Ubisoft RedLynx
Celine Pasula, Managing Director at Ubisoft RedLynx, argues that the future of the gaming industry lies in breaking down traditional silos between mobile, PC, and console development.
- Cross-platform development is not merely a technical challenge of porting games between devices, but a strategic imperative to embrace diverse player preferences and reach audiences across mobile, PC, and console simultaneously.
- Industry data indicates that an increasing number of players are actively mixing platforms, creating a solid foundation for developers to prioritize cross-play and unified progression.
- Leaders must foster 'psychological work safety' to enable teams to innovate, speak up, and take risks, which is essential for navigating the complexities of cross-platform development.
RedLynx on taking Trials from console to mobile
RedLynx, a developer with over 14 years of experience and a portfolio of more than 100 titles, successfully transitioned its established Trials motorbike franchise from console to mobile with the release of Trials Frontier.
- RedLynx successfully adapted the Trials franchise for mobile by shortening track lengths to approximately 30 seconds, enabling the one-to-five-minute play sessions preferred by mobile users.
- Trials Frontier achieved 12 million downloads within two months of its launch by transitioning from a premium console model to a free-to-play mobile environment.
- The development strategy prioritized a robust metagame—focused on bike upgrades and character progression—to satisfy mobile players who prioritize meta-progression over the pure mechanical mastery favored by console audiences.
How Finland change the direction of the mobile games industry
The Finnish mobile gaming industry owes its foundational success to the strategic influence and patronage of Nokia.
- Nokia served as the foundational corporate patron for the Finnish mobile gaming industry, providing the essential investment, technical infrastructure, and distribution channels that enabled studios like Rovio, RedLynx, and Bugbear to scale.
- The Finnish 'demo scene'—a culture of programmers dedicated to maximizing hardware performance—provided the core talent pool that Nokia leveraged to pioneer early mobile gaming concepts.
- Nokia’s N-Gage hardware, despite its commercial failure, acted as a critical bridge to the modern era by introducing early mobile connectivity standards and concepts that prefigured modern ecosystems like Game Center and mobile MMOs.