Leading mobile game publisher Kwalee is continuing to expand in 2020, with a new office and team based in China.
The aim of the new Chinese arm of Kwalee is to help grow the brand and its games presence in the region, while also enabling Kwalee to work much closer with key local partners.
Kwalee is looking to hire 5-10 employees within the next year for the China office, and has already begun with the key acquisition of Penny Qian as Head of Business Development. Penny’s appointment highlights Kwalee’s ambitions in the region, with her impressive experience including roles at AppLift, Tencent and Applovin.
Penny and the soon to be formed Beijing office will work alongside the 80+ strong Kwalee HQ in the United Kingdom, and Kwalee Bangalore, the new India studio which was launched earlier this year in May. In particular, the focus of Kwalee China will be on business development, marketing and third party publishing, an area that has become a focus for the growth of the brand.
This growth in 2020 which has included multiple new hires, the aforementioned Bangalore studio and an exclusive publishing partnership with no-code game development platform Buildbox, has come alongside a host of successful game launches. These include chart hits Line Up: Draw the Criminal, Bake it and OverTake, which together have been downloaded more than 40 million times.
Kwalee hopes its presence in China will help build upon the success of its current titles, in addition to extending the reach of its publishing team, who have already worked with third-party developers from the likes of Russia and Brazil.
CEO David Darling CBE commented: “China is the biggest mobile gaming market in the world, and while we have been able to grow at a great rate to this point, the China office presents an opportunity to become even more of an international brand and it was clear it was the next step we needed to make.
Penny Qian, Kwalee’s first addition to the Chinese team also added: “Having worked in the games industry for over three years, primarily within mobile, I’ve long been an admirer of Kwalee and their amazing growth in the hypercasual space. When the opportunity arose to be a part of this success story and to help the business really grow in China, I couldn’t turn it down. I’m looking forward to using what I know and my connections to really help grow Kwalee in China, and can’t wait to see the great games that come out of this as a result!”
For further information on Kwalee and their publishing offering, visit: https://www.kwalee.com/
