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As the gaming industry continues to consolidate, Scopely has bought Kitka Games' Stumble Guys battle royale game.
Based in Culver City, California The battle royale party game with 20 million daily active players is being acquired by Scopely, best known for its Star Trek: Fleet Command smartphone game. It is expanding its collection of enduring, socially conscious game franchises.
With just nine employees, Finland's Kitka Games was able to create a blockbuster game. According to Scopely, Stumble Guys will broaden the company's appeal to new markets, demographics, and genres.
Olli Lahtinen, CEO of Kitka Games, said in a statement: "We are happy that so many players have embraced the enjoyment of 'Stumble Guys,' forming highly involved communities that connect with the game throughout the world. "As a tiny game studio, our passion is the creation process, and we were searching for the ideal partner to further 'Stumble Guys'. Since Scopely we feel will provide the infrastructure and creativity to help achieve the full potential of the game, continuing to deepen and build the community for years to come, quickly stood out as the ideal home for our treasured experience.
Scopely withheld the cost of the acquisition.
With more than 1 billion hours of playtime to date, "Stumble Guys" is one of the most sociable multiplayer and intensely engaging experiences we have seen in a while, according to Tim O'Brien, chief revenue officer of Scopely. "Kitka Games developed a lively, enjoyable game that brings together players of all ages from all over the world, acting as a captivating digital playground that enthralls gamers every day. With community at its center, "Stumble Guys" epitomizes our strategic approach of investing in, developing, and running games that have a lasting impact on players. We look forward to preserving and enhancing the beloved playing experience.
Following years of transformational growth, Scopely, one of the biggest privately held independent game developers with industry-leading expertise across numerous genres, has acquired Stumble Guys.
Scopely is the owner of Marvel Strike Force, Scrabble Go, and WWE Champions in addition to the Star Trek Title. According to Scopely, which is a top 10 mobile publisher according to data.ai's rankings for 2022, its success is fueled by its distinct approach to live-operating gaming experiences, its own proprietary technology platform Playgami, and its shown ability at building active player communities.
An growing genre that appeals to a mobile-first audience is represented by Stumble Guys. A wide variety of difficult levels, social mechanisms that make playing with friends simple, individualized and expressive treasures, skins, emotes, and player avatars, as well as discoverable rewards, are all included in this game.
O'Brien said in an email to GamesBeat that Scopely is still deciding whether to hire Kitka staff. The fact that Scopely delivers a larger staff, publishing infrastructure, technology, and more to further enhance the experience, according to him, is one of the reasons they were so eager to work with them.
O'Brien said when asked why the corporation is purchasing this game. "At Scopely, our goal is to provide gamers with rich social experiences they can utilize every day and for years to come. Stumble Guys wonderfully embodies the goal of our company, which is to invest in, develop, and/or live-operate events and experiences that will have a lasting impact on participants. More than 20 million gamers play the game every day, and there were more than 1 billion hours of playing in 2022 alone, which attracted our interest.