Exir Games abandons hypercasual mobile model for Meta Quest development
Summary
Exir Games CEO Sahand Malaei spent seven years building hypercasual studio Dropout Games.
Dropout Games shipped more than 60 titles to over 70 million players worldwide.
Malaei abandoned that mobile model to build Exir Games around mixed reality for Meta Quest.
Sanctions, two wars and internet blackouts coincided with a 2026 move from Iran to Finland.
01
Hypercasual scale no longer guarantees survival
Malaei produced more than 60 hypercasual titles reaching over 70 million players at Dropout Games.
He calls market saturation the biggest challenge facing small mobile studios today.
Malaei says studios without substantial financial backing rarely survive long enough to succeed.
That catalog scale still did not stop Exir Games from abandoning hypercasual entirely.
02
Geopolitical disruption forced relocation to Finland
Exir Games built its first Meta Quest title, Banners & Bastions, while based in Iran.
International sanctions restricted the studio's access to payment infrastructure and other services.
Two wars and resulting internet blackouts hit operations as bombings shook nearby neighborhoods.
"In 2026, my team and I relocated to Finland and continued building Exir Games from there."
03
Mixed reality bet rests on falling hardware barriers
Malaei argues distribution, geography, platform choice and capital access now rival game quality.
He cites headsets nearing the size of regular sunglasses as reducing past friction.
He adds hand tracking is becoming capable enough to ease headset interaction.
"We still see the potential for a bright future for XR and the metaverse, because many of the barriers that once made that vision feel unrealistic are disappearing."
04
The bet lacks the adoption numbers that justified leaving mobile
Malaei acknowledges that Meta's broader metaverse push has largely failed to date.
He still bets Exir Games' entire future on that same Meta Quest ecosystem.
No player, revenue or download figures for Banners & Bastions appear in his account.
The 70 million player figure belongs only to the hypercasual catalog he abandoned.
What this means
For Investors & VC: Require shipped headset title retention and revenue data before valuing mobile-to-XR pivot teams.
For Publishers & Developers: Add payment-rail and connectivity continuity checks before signing co-dev partners in sanctioned regions.
For Service Vendors: Pitch EU entity setup, payments and relocation support to studios leaving sanctioned markets.
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COMPILED BY GAMES ATLAS EDITORIAL
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