Supercell just had its best year ever. The Finnish game studio pulled in a record-breaking $3 billion in revenue in 2024, growing its monthly active player base to 300 million.
Every single one of its live games saw growth, something that hadn’t happened in a decade.
But here’s the kicker: Supercell’s biggest launch in five years, Squad Busters, didn’t hit the mark. Meanwhile, Brawl Stars exploded like no other game this deep into its lifecycle.
So, what went right? And what went wrong? Let’s break it down.
Brawl Stars: The Game That Just Won’t Slow Down
Brawl Stars wasn’t just successful in 2024 — it was the fastest-growing mobile game of the year. It climbed into the global top 10 for revenue, and its numbers didn’t just increase; they doubled, tripled, even quadrupled in key areas like engagement, players, and revenue.
How? Supercell changed its approach.
- Bigger team = better updates → Supercell scaled the live team for Brawl Stars to 60–80 people, allowing for more frequent and smarter updates.
- Smart risk-taking → Instead of going all-in on massive, high-risk features (where success was 50:50), the team balanced things out. They still took big swings, but they also shipped smaller, safer updates that had a 90:10 chance of success.
- Less pressure = more creativity → While Supercell’s main focus was still on Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars had room to experiment and refine.
The result? Players trusted the game more, engaged more, and spent more.
Read also: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Ubisoft — Can the Gaming Giant Rebound?
Squad Busters: A $100M Game That Fell Short
Now, let’s talk about Squad Busters. It wasn’t a flop by traditional standards — it made $100 million in its first seven months. But when you’re Supercell, and all your past games hit $1 billion+, that’s a problem.
So what happened?
- The market is brutal → CEO Ilkka Paananen straight up admitted that launching new games is harder than ever. Some companies aren’t even trying anymore — they’re just waiting to buy games that succeed.
- Not enough testing → Supercell ran a closed beta with 120,000+ players, and Squad Busters performed well. But that wasn’t enough to predict how a global audience would react.
- Wrong audience fit → The game tried to be for everyone, but that meant it wasn’t perfect for anyone:
- Casual players saw it as too battle-heavy.
- Midcore players found it too simple.
- The real depth only appeared after long-term play, which isn’t how mobile games usually hook players.
- Supercell wanted to launch → After 5.5 years without a new game, they felt they needed to release something. The team feared falling into “analysis paralysis”, so they took the risk.
Would a longer soft launch have helped? Maybe. But Supercell doesn’t dwell on what-ifs. Instead, they’re already working on “fundamental changes” to make Squad Busters work.
Read also: When Gaming Meets Music: How Two Digital Giants Can Learn from Each Other
Supercell’s Big Year & What’s Next
Despite Squad Busters’ struggles, Supercell still crushed 2024:
- Revenue hit $3 billion (up 77% YoY).
- EBITDA reached $902M.
- The company grew to 686 employees (up 31%).
- Brawl Stars became a monster hit.
Now, they’re shifting focus:
- Fixing Squad Busters → The team isn’t happy with where the game is, so expect big changes.
- Future launches → Every lesson from Squad Busters is going into the next Supercell game.
- Expanding in London → Supercell fully acquired Space Ape Games, using it to strengthen their team and focus on live games.
Final Thought
Supercell thrives on risk-taking. This time, they missed the mark with Squad Busters, but they also proved that their approach to live games works better than ever. If there’s one thing to take away from this, it’s that hitting launch doesn’t mean the job is done — live ops are what make or break a game.
Would Squad Busters have done better with more time? Maybe. But in Supercell’s world, you don’t wait for perfection — you launch, learn, and adapt.
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