Clash of Clans producer Supercell is opening the first North American game studio led by Ryan Wener, a veteran who has given the industry years.
In a blog post, Wener said the idea was to make games that you wouldn’t expect from Supercell, including games that run on any platform, not just mobile devices. Helsinki-based Supercell has become one of the rare studios in the mobile game industry with its popular games such as Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Hay Day, Boom Beach, and Brawl Stars. In 2020, its revenues exceeded $1.48 billion.
“If you’re an ambitious founder-type game developer who wants to try to answer that question together with us and to make amazing games played around the world, then we should talk. I’ll try to explain what we think we can make, why you should do this here, and who we’re looking for to join us.”
Wener spent almost nine years at Supercell and eight years in product management at Activision. He was a product manager at Destiny and director of global brand management for Guitar Hero and DJ Hero.
Over the past 11 years, Supercell’s games have been downloaded more than five billion times. Wener said that 250 million players play the company’s games every month. Each of its five games has generated over $1 billion in revenue, and both Clash of Clans and Hay Day will celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2022.
To date, Clash of Clans and Clash Royale have combined to generate over $10 billion in revenue. Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell, commented:
“More than 11 years ago, we founded Supercell on the belief that the best people and teams make the best games. Our goal quite simply was to be the best place for these teams, a place where the world’s most talented game developers could do the best work of their careers. Expanding our games development teams with a new North American studio is a hugely exciting moment in Supercell’s history. Supercell has always been a Finnish company with a strong global outlook, and that’s why we know that great game-making is not limited to one city or country – it can come from anywhere in the world, and by having game teams in Europe, Asia, and North America, we can enable more teams than ever before to build the best games possible. I can’t wait to see how the innovation and talent of the Americas melds with the independent culture of Supercell to create new types of games that nobody has seen before.”
Wener said the company is looking for the best talent in North America to create what’s coming on any platform, not just mobile.
“We want to build ambitious games players may not expect from Supercell. If you dream of reimagining a deep game experience for the widest possible audience around the globe, then this could be the right opportunity. If you have a game idea in the back of your mind, reinventing your favorite gameplay to make something entirely new, then we should talk.”
Wener said that at Supercell, indie game teams have full ownership of what they build and how they make it. Each team works as a small group, and the company currently has more than 360 employees. This may sound big, but it’s still small for a company with a lot of revenue and profits. That’s why the company has so many opportunities to grow further or invest in other game studios.
If a team has an idea for a unique game or progression system, they can try, Wener said, adding that they can create a new intellectual property or use an existing Supercell brand.
