Supercell: The old versus the new

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This week Supercell published its financials alongside the obligatory annual blog post from CEO Ilkka Paananen on the state of play at the company. PocketGamer.biz also had the chance to ask questions to Paananen and chief live games officer Sarah Bach in a group Q&A.

You can check out our coverage on the key figures here – Supercell’s non-GAAP revenue rose from €1.57 billion in 2023 to a record €2.78bn ($3bn in 2024)

This year’s blog post felt less revolutionary and dramatic than those in previous years. That perhaps is owed to significant changes the company has made and is still going through – discussed at length already – and its record revenue, largely thanks to the surge in revenue of Brawl Stars.

There were still some interesting takeaways from Paananen and the team, however. Two things jumped out to me: Supercell’s views on old games versus new games, and the impact of pressure on teams.

Paananen said launching new games was “harder than ever”, and called out other companies he claimed had “essentially given up on creating new games, and will just try to seek to buy them when they get to scale”.

“This is not us, we believe that creating new games is an essential part of a games company,” he added.

It’s an interesting viewpoint in an industry where live games rule, and from a company that has an extremely successful portfolio of billion-dollar games. Supercell clearly has a determination to create new blockbusters, but has grown a willingness to build out its existing titles.

For example, Clash Mini didn’t hit the bar for a global launch, but it’s being integrated into Clash Royale, which already has a large existing audience.

It’s always struck me that companies have often been willing to build new games, and thus audiences, completely from scratch, rather than harnessing the millions of users they already have. I’m curious how this experiment from Supercell will go and how it influences its future.

Under pressure

The impact of growing its teams, as well as pressure and expectations, is also fascinating to see, particularly at a company like Supercell.

Brawl Stars GM Frank Keienburg put some of the game’s renewed success down to scaling the team, enabling it to take more risks, and the lack of pressure it felt within the company. During Supercell’s big restructure, a lot of focus was put on Clash of Clans – its still very lucrative and former flagship game.

“Involved team + less pressure = higher levels of creativity, high appetite for risk-taking, better decisions → better updates = win players’ trust and their time,” said Keienburg.

Meanwhile, a factor in Squad Busters’ failed launch (from a Supercell-level game), appears to be pressure and perhaps impatience. Game lead Eino Joas said the title had “good early metrics” from 120,000+ players in its most recent closed beta, and was a favourite among its creator community. But he also identified Supercell’s determination to ship its first game in five and a half years.

“Finally, it had been five-plus years since launching Brawl, and as a company we really wanted to ship a great new game,” said Joas.

“We wanted to make sure we do not fall into the trap of ‘analysis paralysis’ and wanted to be bold, and take risks. We believe that taking risks is a critical part of Supercell culture. We do not want to become a company that is so tied up with success that we don’t dare risk failure.”

“Right call”

It’s interesting that Paananen compared the release to Brawl Stars, which was also nearly killed off during soft launch. But as I recall, the decision ultimately came to launch following various changes during an extensive soft launch, and a release on Android that led to a rise in popularity. A stark difference from Squad Busters’ comparatively rushed release.

Joas said while there are “many aspects of the launch we might have done differently”, it was ultimately the “right call” to ship it.

“Soft launching the game globally and taking more time with it perhaps would have given us indication of the true audience and what they want — or perhaps not. We will never know,” he said.

I asked Paananen whether there were any regrets over the launch and if it would impact future release decisions.

“Everything that they’ve learned from the Squad Busters launch we can now apply to any future game launches,” he said, admitting the title was “nowhere near their ambition level”.

It’s a fascinating glimpse into how Supercell’s changes have made an impact already, how it approaches new and live game development, and the apparent role of pressure on its teams.

Up next for the developer is a teased soft launch (surely not global!) for Mo.co. I’m curious what lessons from Brawl Stars and Squad Busters the team will take as it works its way toward being Supercell’s potential seventh worldwide release.