SayGames announces 2 billion downloads and $10 million hyper-casual dev program

SayGames, which ranked among the top 5 companies by mobile downloads for the second year in a row, announced that it had generated 2 billion downloads. The publisher is also launching SayHero, a $10 million developer growth program aimed at helping independent game development studios showcase their hit games to market with SayGames’ publishing expertise. 

SayGames launches SayHero to help hypercasual game developers deliver their games to top charts

The 2 billion downloads milestone has been achieved by the end of 2020, driven by a number of smash hits such as Johnny Trigger, Sand Balls, and others. SayGames launched 15 titles that rank in the top lists on Google Play and App Store in the US, with 1 billion downloads generated last year alone. 

SayGames
Johnny Trigger by SayGames

To continue its steady growth, SayGames is expanding its publishing activities by launching SayHero, a new program created to help up-and-coming hypercasual game developers deliver their games to top charts. The program includes various initiatives such as SayHero Portal, a new self-service dashboard designed to streamline the go-to-market process, as well as to provide developers with in-depth product knowledge and data. 

The first batch of developers, which will be submitting their applications before March 31, 2021, will get access to the SayHero Portal for their games’ initial market tests. SayGames will then choose up to 10 developers to receive a “Hero” status and get awarded with a budget of up to $200,000 towards the release of their first game, totaling $2 million in funds for the initial launch of the SayHero program.

According to Anton Volnykh, the Head of Developer Relations at SayGames, the initial launch of the SayHero program is the first stage of what’s to come in 2021 for the publisher and its developer partners. “Every 6th game we test with our teams gets launched globally. With this hit rate, we are committed to expanding our set of tools and initiatives to help more developers around the world unlock their true potential.”

SayGames CEO, Yegor Vaikhanski, praised the type of partnerships SayGames builds with its developer partners. “We get involved very early in the process with all the games we launch and developers we work with, mainly from a product’s perspective leading to a very efficient marketing. We build long term relationships with all developers and avoid one-hit wonders. SayHero is created for more developers to thrive with us.”

Participants should fill out the form before March 31 to be eligible for entry. 

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