Supercell is a popular mobile game development company that brought us Hay Day, Boom Beach, Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, and Brawl Stars. Supercell’s primary mission is to create excellent games that people can play and remember for years.
The Supercell Company was born out of the idea of empowering game developers and teams to be independent in making games that bring people closer to each other worldwide.
For this reason, Supercell is constantly working to expand its audience with other smaller niche game concepts.
Supercell was launched in June 2010 in Helsinki, Finland. The company later spread its wings to San Francisco, Shanghai, and Seoul. A decade later, Supercell introduced five games to the global market.
Also Read: Toon Blast Revenue & User Statistics
Supercell Background
The journey of Supercell started in May 2010, when the original product vision was to create cross-platform gaming services. However, the narrative changed after its founders realized that to offer the best quality, they needed to focus on one platform at a time.
Supercell’s initial funding came from its founders, including Ilkka Paananen, The CEO, who injected his savings into the company. Additionally, the founders borrowed as much as they could from Tekes, a government technology funding firm in Finland.
Supercell’s first office was located in Niittykumpu, Espoo, Finland. The office was merely a 30-square-meter room with a coffee maker and six desks that the founders acquired from a recycling center.
As the business grew, Ilkka managed to fit 15 employees into the tiny office. The room was squeezed up to the point it could no longer accommodate the CEO, so he moved out.
In 2011, Supercell made its first game, gunshine.net, a real-time multiplayer and role-playing online game. The game was developed using Flash technology for the most popular platforms, Desktop Web and Facebook.
Supercell launched the private beta version of the Gunshine game in February 2011. The open beta version followed a few months later. By the summer of 2011, Gunshine had already garnered over a million monthly players.
While a million users could pass as a huge success for the company, its founders realized that the game was not delivering the original vision.
Despite the excitement, reportedly, gamers could get bored with the game after a month or two. The game was later discontinued.
By 2012, Supercell had created a small team of five to work on new games for tablets and mobile phones. Supercell believed the new games would at least moderate success for the company since they learned a lot from their first project, Gunshine.
Gunshine was not the only game that was discontinued. Since the company believed it was safer to kill a game in its early stages the minute they felt like it wasn’t going to work, they killed Pets vs. Orcs in February 2012 and Tower by the spring of that year.
The next game created was Hay Day, codenamed Soil, a next-generation farming game for touch and mobile. Hay Day went live in Canada in 2012 and proved different from all other games. Its engagement was excellent from the word go and kept growing.
Hay Day was launched globally on June 21, 2012, on iOS, and its Android version came in 2013.
In July, Supercell released another game with the codename Magic, which later transitioned into the famous Clash of Clans. It only took Clash of Clans three months to become the number-one-grossing game in the US.
The fifth game by Supercell was Battle Buddies. The player-versus-player tactical game was inspired by games like UFO: Unknown, but it needed more interest to transition from its beta stage.
On March 26, 2014, Supercell released Boom Bleach on iOS and Android. Later that year, Spooky Pop was released but was discontinued. In January 2016, the company soft-launched Clash Royale.
While the company experienced a series of failures through countless killings of games and various stages of development, there were immeasurable lessons learned that kept it going.
Supercell is concerned about creating games and how to market these games to reach billions of gamers on mobile today.
Supercell has grown into a global company that makes hit games for the Western and Eastern markets, including Korea, Japan, and China.
Also Read: Epic Games Net Worth & User Statistics
Supercell Net Worth
According to Supercell, the company was not created to make money. But the founders are glad that financial success found them along the way, enabling them to take more risks and access unique opportunities to do things other gaming companies could not do.
According to Business Insider, Supercell’s net worth grew exponentially to $600 million, even before it became a household name in 2012. In separate findings, The New York Times reported that Supercell was putting up about $500,000 daily.
ZGR reports that, by January 2021, Supercell’s net worth was more than $16 billion. This wealth was accumulated from the various games, including Hay Days, Boom Beach, Clash of Clans, and Clash Royale.
As mentioned earlier, Supercell engages in rigorous marketing. In 2009 alone, the company spent $9 million on a sixty-second advert placed before 118.5 million people.
The Clash of Clans is one of the most marketed games, with its advert on YouTube attracting hundreds of millions of views.
Supercell’s zeal for marketing has cemented its presence on YouTube. According to YouTubers.me, the company has a YouTube net worth of between $14.9K and $89.4K. The company has been on YouTube since 2011.
While the company had yet to disclose its worth as of the first quarter of 2023, a source estimated that its value would exceed $8.6 billion by February 2023. The company publishes its financial results annually as per Finnish law.
But we cannot talk about Supercell’s net worth without acknowledging the accomplishment of the company’s CEO, Ilkka Paananen. In 2015, Forbes published a list of the wealthiest game moguls, and by then, Mr. Paananen was worth $400 million.
Paananen played a crucial role in the growth of Supercell. By 2022, his net worth was estimated at around $1.5 billion.
Check Out: Best PC Games With Steering Wheel Support
Supercell Financing
Supercell is one of the world’s high-profile game developers and publishers, earning Finland the title “Home of Mobile Gaming.” Founded in 2010, the company has accumulated a total funding of $143 million, with the latest funding round of $130 million, dated April 17, 2013.
Eighteen institutional investors, including Index Ventures, IVP, and Accel, funded Supercell. Index Ventures stated that it was attracted to Supercell due to the phenomenal popularity of its games, Hay Day and Clash of Clans.
When Index Ventures and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) raised a super-charged round of funding amounting to $130 million, they were also joined by Atomic Ventures.
But before then, Supercell CEO and co-founder Ilkka Paananen had previously raised $12 million from Accel Partners and London Venture Capital, among others.
Also Read: Steam Revenue & User Statistics
Supercell Business Model and Revenue
Supercell has created multiple games, generating billions in revenue, with about 300 employees. The company focuses on making successful games that will stay popular for a long time to come. It develops free-to-play games but gets its profits from in-game purchases.
They make marginal improvements to their games, and through this strategy, the company can be credited for creating outstanding genre-defining hit games, including Hay Day, Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars, and Clash Royale.
Also Read: Stardew Valley Revenue & User Statistics
Hay Day Statistics and Revenue
Hay Day was launched in 2012 with the primary objective of redefining the farming genre on touchscreen devices. Despite the mobile evolution, the game is still going strong, with a lifetime revenue of over $2 billion after eight years of operation.
2014 was Hay Day’s best year. A source revealed that in 2014 the game brought in $268.55 million, compared to 2020, where it only generated $94.77 million. However, its moment of fame was short-lived as other games like Clash of Clans took over.
Nevertheless, Hay Day has maintained a steady revenue. So far, it has accumulated over 327.26 million downloads and $1.15 billion in revenue for its first eight years in business.
The US players make up 37.1% of the game’s revenue since they are more interested in farming.
Explore: Candy Crush Revenue & User Statistics
Clash of Clans Statistics and Revenue
Clash of Clans was launched in 2012. The game constantly evolves to offer more user-friendly, fun, and consistent gaming experiences. It is one of the most popular games on Android and iOS, which uses a multiplayer strategy and city-building genres.
After developing the original concept, it took Supercell six months to release Clash of Clans on iOS. Three months after its launch, the game became one of the highest-grossing games in the US. In 2013, Clash of Clans became the most profitable game worldwide.
According to statistics, Clash of Clans is one of Finland’s highest-grossing game titles. The game has generated $5.13 billion in lifetime in-app income as of February 2023. In 2022 alone, the game generated $496.39 million.
Clash of Clans was the second most popular game among Android users in the US by June 2022. By then, the game had received about 1.87 billion users, placing it second, just after Subway Surfers.
Sensor Tower further adds that in February 2022, Clash of Clans was one of the most downloaded and one of the few games that surpassed the 500 million download mark on the AppStore.
February 2022 was one of Clash of Clan’s best months since June 2019, as it registered about six million downloads, up by 48% year-over-year.
In 2021, Clash of Clans generated $489 million in revenue. The amount accounted for 21% of Supercell’s total revenue and estimates that the game has about 76 million active players.
Clash of Clans is popular in the United States at 18.92%, followed by Turkey at 6.17%, China at 4.09%, Germany at 3.65%, and Russia at 3.57%.
Also Read: League of Legends Revenue & User Statistics
Brawl Stars Statistics and Revenue
Brawl Stars is a fast-paced 3v3 multiplayer game that was launched in 2017. Its global presence was felt between 2018 and 2019, making it a worthy competitor of Supercell’s popular game, Clash Royale.
On its launch day, the game received five million pre-registers with a revenue of $6 million before its global launch.
Brawl Stars made around $17.6 million in in-app revenue, down from $25.17 million generated in 2021. As of the last quarter of 2021, the game had generated $1.4 billion in global lifetime player spending.
At the beginning of 2021, Brawl Stars surpassed the $1 billion lifetime revenue mark, generating about $526 million in 2020 user spending, with a 27.5% year-over-year growth.
In 2022, Brawl Stars became the third most-downloaded game, with an estimated 45.3 million cumulative downloads on AppStore and Google PlayStore.
The United States still ranks as the top revenue generator for the game, accounting for about $209.7 million in player spending, which amounts to about 15% of the total. South Korea and Germany follow the US.
Check Out: GTA 5 Revenue & User Statistics
Clash Royale Statistics and Revenue
As the name suggests, Clash Royale is a real-time multiplayer game starring the Royals. The free-to-play game has enjoyable and engaging activities, including collecting cash, winning battles, customizing decks based on your needs, and winning trophies.
Around 69 million people downloaded Clash Royale in 2021. The game became the second-leading strategy mobile game in the United States in the same year. Clash Royale beat all other games to attain a revenue of $100 million in a record 51 days on iOS.
Clash Royale is the second most lucrative game after its flagship, Clash of Clans. In July 2020, Sensor Tower reported that Clash Royale had surpassed over $3 billion in lifetime revenue within four years after its global release in March 2016.
To date, the United States has the most players who spend on Clash Royale. The US generates $925.4 million, up to 30.8% of the game’s total revenue. Germany follows the US with $266.7 million (9%) of total revenue and China with $204 million (6.8%).
AppStore has the largest revenue share at 52.4%, amounting to $1.6 billion, while Google PlayStore generates $1.4 billion, equivalent to 47.6% of total revenue.
Also Read: Best Games Like Astroneer
Tencent Acquisition
Supercell’s rapid growth led to the opening of additional offices in Shanghai, China, San Francisco, and Seoul. This exponential growth attracted the Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings, which acquired an 81.4% stake in Tencent, valued at $10.2 billion.
According to the Supercell CEO, the acquisition deal had four main aspects. First, Tencent would allow the Supercell studio to continue operating independently. Secondly, the CEO believed that the company culture and passion for games fit the deal well.
Thirdly, Supercell would remain privately held and not accountable to financial market pressures or shareholders. And lastly, the deal was an avenue to opening Supercell’s efforts to Tencent’s home market in China.
Supercell is also keen on investing in other companies to help build long-term relationships and partnerships that will last years.
Some of Supercell’s investees include the US-based Bunch, which brings people together through the games they love, Clockwork Labs, End Game Interactive, and Ritz Deli Games.
What’s More for Supercell?
As mentioned, Supercell is developing free-to-play mobile games that generate revenue through in-app purchases. Supercell excels at innovation, giving a first-mover advantage to genre-defining games.
Supercell is also intentional in improving and expanding its internal engine. From the onset, the company’s proprietary engine has evolved from a 2D engine to a full-fledged 3D engine featuring strong multiplayer capabilities, as seen with Brawl Stars.
So far, Supercell has one game in Shanghai, developed in the Unreal engine, called Clash Heroes. Supercell focuses on working with compact teams, especially for new games, as its primary goal is to give small teams the tools to deliver high-quality games.
Also Read: Free Educational Games
Is Supercell Worth it?
Absolutely!
Supercell offers free-to-play games, meaning you can get a complete gaming experience without paying any money. Additionally, Supercell is constantly improving its games to ensure you have your favorite game for the long term and have a better experience.
Supercell’s Hay Day allows you to immerse yourself in a farmer’s life by managing, growing, and producing crops and raising animals for sale. Its graphics, easy gameplay, and social features make it a popular mobile game and ensure a smooth gaming experience.
Clash of Clans dominates the world of freemium games. The game is good at strengthening and developing mental tasks and processes that are beneficial in life. Clash Royale is still prevalent in 2023, and it’s fun, easy to play, and addictive.
Clash Royale’s competitive tasks require a lot of time, energy, and concentration, which is an excellent challenge for your brain.
Lastly, Supercell’s Brawl Stars is worth every minute. The game features different models to ensure you don’t get bored, as each model has a specific objective.
