A decade of Elvenar: €200 million in revenue and still growing

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InnoGames’ Elvenar recently just hit its tenth anniversary. The title was originally released on browsers and has since gone on to become a cross-platform game where players can switch between web and iOS/Android devices. 

Since its launch a decade ago, the city-builder has gained 26.2 million players and surpassed €200m in lifetime revenue. 

To mark the milestone anniversary, we spoke with product manager Anna Sieprawska to discuss the game’s evolution, its community-driven development ideals, and what the future may hold for the title. 

From browser-based to mobile

Elvenar was originally released in 2015, but in 2017 the game transitioned to mobile, which, according to Sieprawska, came with its own set of challenges. 

“By the time we started talking about making a mobile app, the game already had a lot of features and a very rich user interface,” Sieprawska explains.

“Adapting the UI to fit the information our players need and making all the features easily accessible on much smaller screens was one of the biggest challenges.”

The team also had to contend with the large scale of visual assets, something that fans had a high appreciation for.

“Every new event, every new content patch brought new assets for players to download,” Sieprawska explains. “So, we had to find ways to make sure they could enjoy the beauty of the game without making the app unreasonably large.

“The team did a great job, and we are still proud of how Elvenar looks on mobile.”

Standing the test of time

As a long-standing game, Elvenar has had to adapt as the market has changed, and that means ensuring it’s still keeping players satisfied whilst also remaining financially viable for the studio. The game has remained free-to-play, but it has adapted to offer optional ways for players to speed up progress and earn rewards. 

“Elvenar is a free-to-play game, and our main focus has always been to ensure that our players can enjoy it without spending a penny,” Sieprawska says. “That said, we do provide additional content for players who want to invest.”

Some of the monetisation features include season and event passes, a premium currency option and more recently the inclusion of rewarded ads. However, Sieprawska points out that the team wants to ensure the title avoids a pay-to-win ecosystem.

“We believe that our focus on avoiding a pay-to-win environment, combined with a steady flow in in-game events and new chapters, is the recipe for Elvenar’s success,” she states. 

Behind the scenes, making all of this happen is a dedicated team of 23, made up of developers, artists, designers, QA and community managers, some of whom have been working on the game since the very beginning.

“Over the years, our live ops pipeline has become well-oiled,” says Sieprawska. “Most of the work on in-game events can be done by our game designers, using existing tools for balancing quests, rewards and sales, without much effort on the developer side.”

Community and cross-platform 

Over the years, the developers behind Elvenar have ensured they maintain a close relationship between themselves and players. Hosting in-game polls, early access test servers, and taking on player feedback to help shape the development process through Discord, forums, and social media.

“Player feedback is a huge part of our development process, and we are always working on ways to get closer to our community,” says Sieprawska.

Major updates to the game and changes that may be deemed as controversial are handled with transparency, says Sieprawska, such as recent adjustments to the Spire of Eternity rewards. 

“We recently made changes to the rewards system, Spire of Eternity. Initially, our players were not impressed with our proposal. However we were successful by taking the time to listen to their feedback and iterating our plans several times before implementing the actual changes.”

An external group of community managers are also part of the community-building, handling the different language versions of the game. But there is a strong link between them and the internal development team, which has helped to foster relationships over the years.

Over Elvenar’s long life span, its community has naturally aged with the game, which resulted in a portion of its loyal players shifting to having more disposable income. With 40% of players being with the game for over five years, these players are a primary focus for the team.

Sieprawska also credits the game’s uniqueness and vision as a major factor for its sticking power.

“While the city builder market is quite competitive, I believe our focus on a unique and engaging fantasy setting sets Elvenar apart. How many other games allow you to have unicorns, elves, dwarves and dragons in a single city?”

Elvenar has also adapted over time for its players by making the experience cross-platform, something which has also played a vital role in sustained growth.

“Being cross-platform has greatly expanded Elvenar’s reach and accessibility,” says Sieprawska. “It allows players to choose how and where they play.”

“It is much easier to check on your city on your phone during a coffee break or while doing chores.”

Words of advice and the road ahead

As a game that has hit a significant milestone of 10 years, Sieprawska shares one piece of advice for developers who may be looking to replicate such an achievement. 

“Listen to your community and try to really understand their problems and how you can solve them. The coolest and shiniest game features will not help your game if they are cumbersome to use. In short, make it easy for your players to enjoy your game.”

InnoGames is a company known for other titles that have had staying power with the likes of Forge of Empires, which has been going for 13 years, Grepolis, which turned 15 last year and Tribal Wars, which has maintained a community for 21 years. Sieprawska even shares that the latter game had its most financially successful year in 2024. 

As part of this long legacy of games, Elvenar is set to continue to evolve with its players.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into becoming more and more efficient as a team. Making our developers more generalise, simplifying our processes, or finding more ways to use AI,” says Sieprawska. “We always have more good ideas than we can fit on the roadmap.”

Speaking on the future of Elvenar, Sieprawska tells us that the studio’s main focus is finding the balance between delivering new content, existing features, and making the player experience smoother.

“One thing I can say for sure is that Elvenar will continue to evolve and provide our players with magical experiences for many years to come.”