Supercell bets on creation over acquisition as record revenue masks new game pressures
Summary
Supercell posted record non-GAAP revenue of €2.78bn in 2024, up from €1.57bn in 2023, driven largely by Brawl Stars
Behind the headline numbers, CEO Ilkka Paananen and the team revealed tensions between protecting live game success and building new ones
The Squad Busters launch underperformed, while Brawl Stars thrived - and both outcomes trace back to the same variable: team pressure
"Creating new games is an essential part of a games company"
01
Record revenue driven by Brawl Stars resurgence
Non-GAAP revenue hit €2.78bn in 2024, up ↑77% from €1.57bn in 2023
Growth is largely attributed to a major surge in Brawl Stars performance
The result marks Supercell's strongest financial year on record
02
Supercell pushes back against industry shift away from new game creation
Paananen acknowledged new game creation is "harder than ever"
He called out competitors that have "essentially given up on creating new games" and instead buy them at scale
Supercell positions itself as a company that believes original creation is a core identity, not optional
"This is not us, we believe that creating new games is an essential part of a games company"
03
Legacy titles evolving - Clash Mini folded into Clash Royale
Rather than killing Clash Mini outright after it failed to reach global launch bar, Supercell is integrating it into Clash Royale
This signals a strategic pivot: leveraging existing audiences rather than building new ones from scratch
The approach raises a broader industry question about the underutilization of existing player bases
04
Squad Busters underperformed - pressure and urgency identified as factors
Game lead Eino Joas acknowledged the title had strong early signals: 120,000+ players in closed beta and creator community support
However, internal urgency played a role - it had been over five years since Supercell's last global launch
"Finally, it had been five-plus years since launching Brawl, and as a company we really wanted to ship a great new game"
Paananen admitted the result was "nowhere near their ambition level"
Joas still called it the "right call" to ship, framing it as a necessary risk aligned with company culture
05
Brawl Stars success linked to reduced pressure and team scale
Brawl Stars GM Frank Keienburg credited the game's turnaround to team growth, creative freedom, and absence of internal pressure
During Supercell's restructure, company focus was directed toward Clash of Clans, inadvertently relieving pressure on Brawl Stars
"Involved team + less pressure = higher levels of creativity, high appetite for risk-taking, better decisions - better updates = win players' trust and their time"
The contrast between Brawl Stars and Squad Busters suggests internal expectation management is a critical launch variable
06
Mo.co soft launch next - lessons from two very different launches in hand
Supercell has teased a soft launch for Mo.co as its next major title
The team now has two contrasting case studies to draw from: Brawl Stars (extended soft launch, organic rise) vs. Squad Busters (compressed timeline, underdelivered)
Whether Supercell applies more patience to Mo.co's path to global release will be a key signal of how deeply the Squad Busters lessons have landed
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