We like to invest in teams who want to do more than just make a great game – teams who are committed to building a game studio and understand the various aspects that you need to master to operate a successful game studio. So far we’ve invested in 20+ teams of different backgrounds, sizes and locations; teams who have worked on a huge variety of games and platforms.
Why does Supercell make investments?
Since Supercell was first founded back in 2010 our vision has been to build the very best teams in the world at making games, give them the resources and support they need, and then get out of their way. For a long time the only way we kept doing this was by hiring people to come and work with us here in Helsinki. At one point, however, we started to think how we could expand this concept.
That led us to a search for outstanding and ambitious dev teams – fully formed or nearly so – outside of Supercell, in any geographical location, that we trusted in. For many of these top teams, relocating isn’t feasible, and they may already have their own, strong company identity that they hold dear. We realised that, through investments we could give these teams the support and resources that they need, and we could do so without sacrificing their independence to choose what kind of games to make and how to make them.
We’ve been very lucky throughout our own history to have had investors who did a similar thing for us – from a range of VC’s and individuals in the early days to Softbank and more recently Tencent. Our success would not have been possible if our investors hadn’t believed in what we were trying to do and trusted us to deliver it independently, as one further step on our mission to make games for everyone, that are played for years and remembered forever.
What kind of studios do we invest in?
What we’re looking for are ambitious teams who share our passion and commitment for games – people who want to make truly great games that are played by millions of people for years to come, not just turn a quick profit. Moreover, we like to invest in teams who want to do more than just make a great game – teams who are committed to building a game studio and understand the various aspects that you need to master to operate a successful game studio.
Great games can come from anywhere and anyone, so we’re not looking for teams that look and sound exactly like us. So far we’ve invested in teams of many different backgrounds, sizes and locations; teams who have worked on a huge variety of games and platforms.
How does the relationship work?
We want to have long-term relationships with all of the teams we invest in. We’re not looking to ‘cash out’ as soon as possible, but rather to develop partnerships that will last for years and years.
Each relationship between Supercell and our investees is unique. The exact shape and scope of the relationship is down to the investees themselves. We invest in teams because we believe in them and in what they want to do. If their plans require tapping into Supercell’s strengths and areas of expertise then we’re happy to help, but the extent of our involvement is up to them. At the same time, our investees often have experience and skills that teams at Supercell don’t, so oftentimes the learning flows in both directions.