Squad
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Documents about Squad
Supercell’s First Flop? Squad Busters Still Busting
Supercell is currently facing a critical juncture as its recent performance, particularly regarding the mobile title Squad Busters, suggests a shift from its historical culture of innovation toward a more stagnant, corporate structure.
- Supercell is struggling to maintain its historical culture of agility as the underperformance of Squad Busters, two years post-launch, signals a shift toward a stagnant, corporate structure.
- The company has not produced a major successful game launch since 2018, putting significant pressure on its current portfolio and growth strategy.
- Internal pressures related to a potential IPO have created a reluctance to sunset underperforming titles, contradicting the studio's long-standing philosophy of killing unsuccessful projects.
🎬 Creative Trends June 2025: Why AI, ASMR & Copy-Paste Are Redefining Mobile Ads
The mobile gaming advertising landscape in mid-2025 is defined by a strategic shift toward long-form video content and the aggressive iteration of proven creative concepts.
- Mobile gaming ads are shifting toward long-form content ranging from 50 seconds to five minutes to improve user pre-qualification and secure better auction placement.
- AI tools like Topaz AI are now the primary engine for mobile ad production, enabling rapid generation and upscaling of assets to mimic user-generated content styles.
- Developers are increasingly utilizing a 'copy-paste' strategy by re-skinning proven mechanics like resource management and character-saving puzzles to minimize innovation risk.
BBC Interview Reveals Supercell’s Next Move!
Supercell is currently navigating a period of strategic transition, characterized by a push for bold innovation and a potential move toward an initial public offering.
- Supercell is signaling a potential IPO by shifting its communication strategy toward institutional investors, emphasizing AI integration and risk-taking via new labs in Helsinki and San Francisco.
- The company’s portfolio performance has declined by approximately 20% when comparing the first half of 2024 to the same period in 2025.
- Brawl Stars revenue has experienced a sharp correction, falling from a peak of $80 million to roughly $40 million in monthly revenue.
Week in Mobile Games E53 - Will Squad Busters 2.0 revive its fortunes?
Supercell is currently navigating a critical juncture for its mobile portfolio, specifically regarding the performance of Squad Busters.
- Supercell is attempting to pivot Squad Busters from a squad-based mechanic to a hero-centric model in its 2.0 update to resolve an identity crisis between casual and midcore audiences.
- The 2.0 update for Squad Busters has triggered significant player backlash due to the aggressive removal of established progression systems and features.
- The mobile industry is experiencing increased volatility, highlighted by the recent indefinite delay of a major title just one week before its scheduled launch.
Squad Busters 2.0 and Supercell's YOLO Game Launch Strategy
Supercell’s Squad Busters 2.0 represents a strategic pivot from a casual, broad-market mobile game to a midcore-focused experience.
- Supercell has abandoned its traditional 18-month iterative testing cycle in favor of an aggressive 'YOLO' launch strategy, prioritizing rapid market entry over the rigorous internal feedback gauntlets that previously defined its success.
- Squad Busters 2.0 is underperforming financially, with monetization metrics currently falling below one dollar per download.
- The game suffers from a lack of cohesive identity, remaining caught between the strategic depth of auto-battlers and the real-time action of brawlers, which contributes to persistent issues with gameplay chaos and limited depth.
TWIG #331 Supercell’s Second Shot, Triple Dot’s Power Move, Microsoft's Strategic Shift
The mobile gaming industry is currently undergoing a significant structural transformation characterized by the concentration of capital and engagement within large-scale franchises.
- Microsoft’s gaming division is potentially deprioritizing hardware and subscription services in favor of AI, with the Activision acquisition increasingly viewed as a short-term financial misstep that may lead to a transition toward third-party publishing or asset divestiture.
- The mobile gaming market is experiencing a 'hollowed-out middle,' where mid-tier players struggle to compete against the concentration of capital and engagement within large-scale franchises.
- Triple Dot acquired AppLovin’s mobile portfolio for $800 million to achieve immediate scale, though the move highlights the operational difficulty of managing diverse, geographically dispersed game assets.
Week in Mobile Games E50 - AppLovin layoffs, celebrity marketing & Supercell's soft launch aversion
The mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of significant structural adjustment, characterized by aggressive cost-cutting and a reevaluation of traditional growth strategies.
- AppLovin has conducted at least six rounds of layoffs since August 2023, with the latest impacting 97 staff members as the company shifts focus away from its Machine Zone midcore games business.
- Minecraft mobile player spending increased by 32% on April 4, 2025, the same day the Minecraft movie was released, contributing to a strong Q1 2025 where revenue grew 19% quarter-over-quarter to $42.3 million.
- Supercell is facing challenges with its latest titles, including Squad Busters, leading to internal discussions about whether the studio's growing aversion to long-term soft launches is hindering the success of new releases.
Whiteout Survival - How to Fake It to Make It
The mobile gaming industry is currently defined by a strategy of pairing casual, hyper-casual, or misleading gameplay advertisements with deep, complex 4X strategy monetization.
- Mobile strategy games like Whiteout Survival and Last War: Survival are achieving commercial success by using hyper-casual mini-game advertisements to funnel broad audiences into complex 4X monetization loops.
- Developers are mitigating the discrepancy between misleading ads and actual gameplay by integrating these casual mini-games directly into the core product as side activities or recurring events.
- While this 'fake' advertising strategy often results in lower user retention rates compared to traditional targeting, it remains a dominant and sustainable model for growth in the post-IDFA mobile landscape.
Week in Mobile Games E42: Brawl Stars' highs, Squad Busters' struggle, & AppLovin's $900m games sale
Supercell has achieved a significant financial turnaround in 2024, reporting €2.78 billion in non-GAAP revenue as every title in its portfolio experienced year-over-year growth for the first time in a decade.
- Supercell reported €2.78 billion in 2024 non-GAAP revenue, marking the first time in a decade that every title in its portfolio achieved year-over-year growth.
- AppLovin is divesting its apps business for $900 million to focus exclusively on its high-growth advertising division, signaling a strategic retreat from direct game development.
- DeNA experienced an 8,000% quarterly profit surge driven by the strong market reception and high player retention of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.
Supercell's Record Year: Crushing It, But At What Cost?
Supercell experienced a record-breaking fiscal year in 2024, reporting €2.8 billion in revenue, a 77% year-over-year increase. EBITDA also saw significant growth, rising 78% to €876 million.
- Supercell achieved a record-breaking 2024 fiscal year with €2.8 billion in revenue and €876 million in EBITDA, representing year-over-year growth of 77% and 78% respectively.
- The company’s financial resurgence was driven by a strategic pivot from organic user acquisition toward increased marketing expenditures and expanded live operations.
- Brawl Stars served as a primary revenue engine through aggressive updates, though the title is now showing signs of revenue deceleration that may create difficult year-over-year comparisons.
🏆 The 2024 Golden TWIG Awards: an Unfiltered Gaming Industry Award Show
The 2024 gaming landscape is defined by a stark dichotomy between the resilience of agile, creative titles and the systemic failures of high-capital, venture-backed enterprises.
- The gaming industry experienced a significant contraction in 2024, resulting in approximately 14,600 layoffs as companies corrected for post-lockdown operational bloat and inflated valuations.
- Despite broader industry struggles, Steam reached a record-breaking 39.3 million peak concurrent users, demonstrating that consumer engagement remains high for platforms that successfully capture market demand.
- High-capital, venture-backed AAA projects are increasingly viewed as unsustainable, evidenced by the failure of titles like Concord and Squad Busters to achieve market fit despite massive development budgets.
TWIG #305 Music Stops at Netflix Games as Hell's Bells Ring for AA Games
The global gaming industry, currently valued at $184 billion, is navigating a period of structural transition characterized by slowing growth and a shift in investment priorities.
- The global gaming industry is experiencing a structural transition with projected year-over-year growth of only 3% through 2029, a significant slowdown from pre-2022 expansion levels.
- Netflix has shuttered its internal AAA studio, signaling a strategic shift away from high-cost development toward more cost-effective, IP-driven interactive content.
- The 'AA' or middle-market tier faces an existential crisis as rising production costs and the consolidation of consumer attention around massive franchises make mid-budget titles increasingly unsustainable.