Naphora exits studio investing to self-publish six mobile titles by end-2026
Summary
Naphora stopped funding external studios and moved all capital, staff and operations into building and self-publishing its own mobile games.
The team shrank from 50-70 employees in 2024 into smaller data-driven units.
Three mobile titles are in soft launch, with three more due before end-2026.
Managing director Charles Bussy ties the reset to capital efficiency: validate cheaply, kill weak concepts fast, scale only what data proves.
"Mobile gives us access to the world's largest gaming audience, global distribution from day one, much shorter development and validation cycles, and an enormous amount of measurable player and market data"
01
Naphora stopped new studio investments as Saudi gaming matured
Naphora ended new third-party investments once government backing, private capital and local talent deepened the Saudi ecosystem.
Existing partnerships were closed out individually rather than dropped outright.
The original developer academy was folded into live production learning.
"We did not walk away because the investment model was failing. It was a natural evolution of both Naphora and the Saudi gaming ecosystem"
02
Mobile chosen for validation economics
Prior flagship Shotball earned Esports World Cup recognition, yet the company still left PC and console.
Mobile enables rapid prototyping, global soft launch, and measurement of acquisition, retention and monetization before major budget commitment.
Bussy positions the platform choice as reversible if economics shift.
"Platform should follow the opportunity"
03
A portfolio funnel built to kill concepts before global launch
Three titles are in soft launch, three more planned by end-2026.
Each moves through progressive marketability and retention testing before further spend.
Production budget rises only as player evidence rises, so most concepts get cut.
Bussy calls one hit from six soft launches a successful outcome.
"We fully expect to stop games. That is part of the model"
04
Fundraising tied to proven economics
Naphora is privately backed and self-funds its full pipeline without external capital.
It would raise only to accelerate user acquisition behind a game with proven economics.
That posture links any raise to demonstrated player data alone.
05
The operating model is built, the breakout hit is not yet proven
Bussy sets two conditions for leading Saudi mobile: repeatable concept validation and one global hit.
None of the three soft-launched titles is confirmed as that breakout product.
Halfbrick hires Vishal Mahadeo and Jason Maundrell supply the operating experience layer.
"We are not trying to declare victory, we have built the machine. Now we need to prove that it can produce exceptional outcomes repeatedly"
What this means
For Investors & VC: Naphora only raises to scale a proven title, so inbound interest signals a validated hit.
For Service Vendors: UA and creative-scale partners should target the moment a soft-launch title clears retention thresholds.
Events
Companies
Games
Locations
Saudi Arabia
COMPILED BY GAMES ATLAS EDITORIAL
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