SLAY’s CEO on the rise of the social games market

• SLAY recently raised $5m in seed funding led by Supercell backers

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Social games company SLAY aims to create apps and games designed with social interactions at their heart. Founded in 2022, the company has gone on to create various games, one of which is the popular vital pet app Pengu. 

SLAY also recently raised $5 million in seed funding, led by Supercell backers, Accel and angel investors, including King co-founder Riccardo Zacconi and Supercell co-founder IIkka Paananen. 

With a potential rise in popularity for social games on the horizon, we caught up with SLAY’s co-founder and CEO, Fabian Kamberi, to discuss why social games are becoming more popular, how SLAY intends to capture the market and what that $5 million in funding is helping to fuel. 

PocketGamer.biz: First, can you tell us a little about what you have going on at SLAY? How have things been going so far in 2024?

Fabian Kamberi: At SLAY, we want to build a positive social gaming ecosystem where great products bring people joy while also encouraging authentic connections with friends and family.

We’ve released several successful number-one gaming titles and apps with this objective. At the end of last year, we launched our new flagship product, Pengu, a social app where users adopt AI-enabled 3D virtual penguins, or “Pengus,” that grow and develop their own personalities the more they interact with them.

In 2024, our focus has been on scaling and refining Pengu while pushing the boundaries of social gaming and virtual characters. It’s been an incredibly positive year so far.

Six months in, Pengu is scaling profitably, has great retention, and, more importantly, we’ve built one of the coolest virtual character apps and games worldwide.

You mentioned having number one games ranked in the App Store, Pengu being among the most popular. Can you tell us more about how you have grown the title? 

With Pengu, we wanted to go beyond traditional games to create something more social and personal. Pengu evolves with the user, forms its own identity, and lives its own life autonomously. By focusing on making Pengu feel more human, we’ve created a virtual companion that users deeply connect with and has become an essential part of our users’ lives.

Pengu’s shareability has quickly attracted a global user base, with over five million registered users worldwide and close to 100,000 ratings in the App Store since it launched last year.

We’ve continued to grow the title by iterating based on user feedback and adding features like deeper personalisation, social interactions, and AI-driven behaviour, which have expanded Pengu’s appeal.

You recently moved Pengu to the App Store’s social networking category. Can you tell us about the decisions behind this?  

Pengu is more than just an app. It’s a virtual companion that users interact with on a deeper level.

The shift to the social networking category was a natural step because our users see Pengu as a friend they can chat with, raise, and grow with their friends rather than just a solo experience.

The social aspect of raising a Pengu with friends became central to the product. At the same time, we fixed some distribution challenges we faced in the games category, making this move even more beneficial for scaling Pengu’s reach and user base.

Why do you think games with a social aspect such as this are becoming more popular? The social gaming market is expected to see increased growth in the coming years; how do you intend to capture the market? 

One main reason is consumers’ interactions with games have become inherently more social and experiential. In a world where people are increasingly isolated, games that offer social elements give users a way to connect with friends and family in meaningful ways. 

Also, teenagers and younger audiences are already accustomed to interacting with digital identities, chatbots, and avatars. 3D technology, now optimised for mobile, has made it possible to deliver real-time, visually engaging experiences on smartphones. As a result, the demand for immersive, AI-driven virtual characters has risen sharply among this audience in particular.

Pengu has become the biggest AI character app with its own IP in the US. At SLAY, we are creating virtual friends that live and evolve like humans—starting with Pengu.

Like a pet or a child, your character lives on its own in a digital world, meets other users’ Pengus, and… pic.twitter.com/XuNEJxUx8z

— Fabian Kamberi (@fabiankamberi) October 6, 2024

Pengu taps into this demand by blending AI with a social gaming experience, allowing users to raise a virtual friend while sharing their journey with others.

Unlike old-school virtual pets like Tamagotchi, where engagement typically taps out at a certain point, the dynamism and ‘real’ feel of an ever-evolving, AI-enabled companion keeps users returning to spend time with it.

As the social games market grows, our focus on the intersection of AI and social interaction positions us perfectly to capture this growing demand. 

SLAY recently raised $5 million in seed funding – How do you intend to use these funds to grow SLAY further? 

We were delighted to receive funding from such prestigious investors and pioneers in the social and gaming world.

It’s a massive milestone for us, and we plan to use the funding in three key areas: growing and deepening the Pengu ecosystem, investing in our cognitive systems architecture to enhance Pengus’ personalities, and expanding our content and IP strategy.

We’re also considering the potential to fine-tune the model, making Pengu even more responsive and human-like in its interactions, and growing our team to bring in talent that shares our mission to redefine how people interact with virtual characters and games.

And what can you tell us about future plans at SLAY and for yourself? Anything we should be on the lookout for? 

We’re just getting started. In the coming months, we’ll be expanding Pengu’s AI capabilities. We’re also building a content ecosystem around Pengu with Penguclips and our mini-series, which have already reached millions.

Our long-term vision is to create a generational IP that lives across platforms and becomes a cultural touchstone. As for myself, leading SLAY through this next phase is incredibly exciting, and there’s much more to come.