300 million players later, Cookie Run Kingdom’s lead reflects on a “cultural icon beyond gaming itself”
Cookie Run is an absolute juggernaut in mobile gaming. Whether you’re jumping into Cookie Run Kingdom or OvenBreak, or enjoying a KPop Demon Hunters crossover, you’re joining over 300 million players battling for the latest legendary cookies. During the launch of the game’s new update, game director Kyoungoh Kim talks us through Cookie Run’s success.
With over $1 billion in revenue and millions of players exploring the Cookie Run series, I ask Kim about when the team realized the franchise had grown beyond just a successful mobile title. “More than any number, the moment that truly made us realize Cookie Run had become something bigger was seeing it embraced as a cultural icon beyond gaming itself,” Kim expresses. Reflecting on Cookie Run Kingdom and the series’ growth, Kim shares that its success truly sank in when his family got hands-on with it.
“One memory that stands out to me was watching parents and children enjoying Cookie Run together at an offline event. It made us realize the IP was no longer tied to a single generation, but had become something shared and loved across age groups,” Kim adds. From the outside looking in, you might not know it, but this free mobile game’s lore runs deep. It’s big enough to encourage fan discussion that’s as common as unpacking the latest Marvel movie.
Kim expands on this, telling me that the team sees “players around the world deeply connecting with the stories of the Cookies and creating their own fan art, interpretations, and creative works inspired by them. At that point, we felt confident that Cookie Run had grown beyond being simply a mobile game into a global franchise capable of creating positive emotional connections with players worldwide.”
But what is it about Cookie Run that keeps players coming back? “At the heart of it, I believe players continue returning because of the emotional attachment they build with the Cookies themselves. It goes beyond simply collecting characters. Players form genuine bonds with Cookies that have compelling personalities and stories, nurture them over time, and then experience the satisfaction of seeing that growth pay off in battle,” Kim says.
He iterates to me that “as our global player base has expanded, cultural diversity has become one of the most important considerations when planning updates. We aim to create themes that feel universally approachable rather than tied to a single region or culture, while also designing content that can be enjoyed at different levels of engagement.” It’s also about respecting the time you’ve got available, as he notes that these updates suit players that dive in for “short sessions or immerse themselves deeply over time.”
To give us a specific example, Kim explains that “this philosophy is especially reflected in our main story episodes and Cookie designs. The Beast-Yeast continent and Beast Cookies are good examples of this approach. Mystic Flour Cookie’s ‘Realm of Apathy’ update draws heavily from Eastern fantasy aesthetics, while Burning Spice Cookie’s ‘Land of Fire and Ruin’ was inspired by primal, untamed wilderness cultures.”
The biggest chapter is yet to come, though, with the arrival of Cookie Run: New World. Created in Unreal Engine 5 and dubbed as the biggest entry yet, it could be the most ambitious entry yet. What we do know is that Cookie Run Kingdom’s story somewhat ties into it, but we’ll have to see how deep this rabbit hole goes. In the meantime, you can grab some Cookie Run Kingdom codes to get a few freebies.
