Small Giant Games

Small Giant GamesType| Subsidiary

|

Industry| Mobile game development
Fate| Acquired by Zynga in 2018
Founded| 2013 in Helsinki, Finland
Headquarters|

Helsinki

Finland

Key people

| Timo Soininen (CEO)
Products|

* Oddwings Escape
* Empires and Puzzles
* Puzzle Combat

Number of employees

| 47 (2018)
Parent| Zynga
Website| www.smallgiantgames.com

Small Giant Games is a mobile game development company based in Helsinki, Finland . It was founded in 2013 by former employees of mobile game maker Sulake. After producing two casual games, Small Giant found success with a match-three role-playing game entitled Empires and Puzzles. After the success of Empires and Puzzles, Small Giant was acquired by Zynga in December 2018.

## Contents

* 1 Early ventures
* 2 Empires and Puzzles
* 3 Acquisition by Zynga
* 4 References

## Early ventures

Small Giant Games was founded in 2013 in Helsinki, Finland by a group of individuals laid off by mobile game developer Sulake.[1] Otto Nieminen, formerly Sulake's product development officer, was the company's founding chief executive officer, with Timo Soininen, former CEO of Sulake, assuming the CEO role at Small Giant in 2014.[1][2] Ex-Sulake chief technology officer Markus Halttunen joined Small Giant in the same position. Developers Ilkka Juopperi and Tommi Vallisto rounded out the Small Giant staff.[1]

By October 2013, Small Giant had raised $750,000 in seed money.[3] Later that year, the company completed a fundraising campaign that generated USD 3.1 million to allow them to launch their first mobile game, OddWings Escape.[4] The game launched on May 14, 2015.[5] In his review for Pocket Gamer, Harry Slater described the game: "Oddwings Escape is a game about genetically modified mutant ducks flying through lovely looking backdrops. You have to collect hearts and coins, avoid bombs, and get as far as you can."[6] OddWings Escape was downloaded over 1 million times in the week following its launch.[5] The game's early success was credited, in part, to its having been translated into 15 different languages at launch, giving it broader international appeal.[5]

Small Giant's second game, Rope Racers, involved racing through levels against ghost characters by swinging from a rope that could be projected from the player's character.[7]

## Empires and Puzzles

Following OddWings Escape and Rope Racers, Soininen described a change in Small Giant's focus away from casual games: "we decided to kill those products pretty quickly and start looking for the big one. How could we really get that top-50 grossing game? What does it take?"[8] EQT Ventures provided Small Giant with EUR 5.4 million in venture capital in 2017 for marketing and game development.[9] In March 2017, Small Giant launched, Empires and Puzzles, a match-three puzzle game that also incorporates elements of role-playing games.[10] By the end of the year, Small Giant reported that Empires and Puzzles had generated USD 33 million in revenue.[10] The game won the Game of the Year award at the 2017 Finnish Game Awards in 2017.[11]

EQT Ventures invested an additional USD 41 million in Small Giant Games in January 2018 to assist with scaling the game to a larger audience.[10] Only four months into the year, Empires and Puzzles exceeded its revenue generation for 2017.[10] By the end of 2018, it had been downloaded 26 million times from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.[10] Empires and Puzzles won the award for "Best Breakthrough Hit" in the 2018 Google Play Awards; Small Giant was a nominee for Best Live Ops and Best Developer at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards in 2019.[12]

## Acquisition by Zynga

In December 2018, Zynga announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase Small Giant Games.[13] Zynga purchased 80% of the company initially for USD 330 million in cash and USD 230 million in Zynga unregistered common stock.[13] The terms for purchasing the remaining portion of the company will be set based on its performance over the three years following the initial acquisition.[13]

Empires and Puzzles continued to perform well for Small Giant and Zynga. In October 2019, the game reached USD 500 million in lifetime revenue and reached 41 million downloads.[14] In May 2020, Zynga paid the first of three installments for the remaining 20 percent of the company, transferring $122 million to Small Giant after Zynga posted $404 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2020, a 52% increase.[15]

Small Giant soft launched its next game, Puzzle Combat, on March 8, 2019. The game shares many gameplay elements with Empires and Puzzles, but it features a modern warfare setting.[12]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "THE EX-SULAKE NAMES BEHIND SMALL GIANT GAMES PICKS UP €547,000 INVESTMENT". Arctic Startup. October 17, 2013. https://arcticstartup.com/the-ex-sulake-names-behind-small-giant-games-picks-up-e547000-investment/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
2. ↑ "Finland : FINNISH Game Studio Small Giant hires new CEO". Mena Report. April 1, 2014.
3. ↑ Jordan, Jon (October 18, 2013). "Small Giant raises $750,000, also looking for more smart small giants". Pocket Gamer. https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/54602/small-giant-raises-750000-also-looking-for-more-smart-small-giants/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
4. ↑ "Spintop invests in Finnish game studia Small Giant Games". Spintop Ventures. October 22, 2014. https://spintopventures.com/spintop-invest-in-finish-game-studia-small-giant-games/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hansegard, Jens (May 21, 2015). "Translating Videogame 'OddWings Escape' Helps It Soar; Releasing puzzle game 'Oddwings Escape' in 15 languages simultaneously boosts sales". The Wall Street Journal.
6. ↑ Slater, Harry (May 15, 2015). "Oddwings Escape". Pocket Gamer. https://www.pocketgamer.com/articles/065398/oddwings-escape/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
7. ↑ Reinauer, Nathan (March 21, 2016). "‘Rope Racers’ Review – Swing Low, Sweet Undead Zombie". https://toucharcade.com/2016/03/21/rope-racers-review/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
8. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (June 2, 2018). "How Small Giant Games scored big with a single mobile game". Venture Beat. https://venturebeat.com/2018/06/02/how-small-giant-games-scored-big-with-a-single-mobile-game/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
9. ↑ "Small Giant Games Secures USD5.7 Million in Funding - Deal In Brief". Datamonitor Financial Deals Tracker. March 15, 2017.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "First Exit by EQT Ventures - Sells Stake in Small Giant Games at USD 700 Million Valuation: EQT Ventures sells its stake in mobile games company Small Giant Games to Zynga, a leading social games developer". PR Newswire Europe. December 21, 2018.
11. ↑ "The best Finnish games were awarded at The Finnish Game Awards". ENP Newswire. April 25, 2018.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Forde, Matthew (March 11, 2019). "Small Giant Games soft-launches Empires & Puzzles follow-up Puzzle Combat". Pocket Gamer. https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/70207/small-giant-games-soft-launches-empires-and-puzzles-follow-up-puzzle-combat/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Zynga to Acquire Small Giant Games, Creator of Hit Mobile Game Franchise Empires and Puzzles". M & A Navigator. December 21, 2018.
14. ↑ Partleton, Kayleigh (October 23, 2019). "Empires & Puzzles storms past $500 million in lifetime revenue". Pocket Gamer. https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/71830/empires-and-puzzles-500-million-lifetime-revenue/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
15. ↑ Jordan, Jon (May 7, 2020). "Posting record sales thanks to Empires & Puzzles, Zynga pays $122 million earnout to Small Giants". Pocket Gamer. https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/73320/zynga-pays-122-million-earnout-small-giants/. Retrieved July 28, 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Zynga

Studios|

* Zynga Boston (closed)
* Zynga Eugene
* NaturalMotion
* Zynga Dallas (closed)
* Zynga with Friends

Games|

* Clay Jam
* Drop7
* Empires & Allies
* FarmVille
* Friends for Sale
* Hit It Rich!
* Mafia Wars
* Party Place
* Zynga Poker

Zynga with Friends|

* Chess with Friends
* Gems with Friends
* Hanging with Friends
* Word Streak with Friends
* Words with Friends

Closed|

* Bubble Safari
* Café World
* CastleVille
* ChefVille
* CityVille
* CityVille 2
* CityVille Hometown
* Dream PetHouse
* Empires & Allies
* FishVille
* Hidden Chronicles
* Indiana Jones Adventure World
* Montopia
* The Pioneer Trail
* Ruby Blast
* The Ville
* Treasure Isle
* Zynga Bingo
* Zynga Slingo

Sold|

* YoWorld

Others|

* RewardVille
* Swift v. Zynga
* Zynga.org

Key people|

* Mark Pincus (founder)
* Frank Gibeau (CEO)

* v
* t
* e

Take-Two Interactive

2K|

| Current studios|

* 31st Union
* Cat Daddy Games
* Cloud Chamber
* Firaxis Games
* games
* Hangar 13
* Visual Concepts

|

Former studios|

* 2K Australia
* 2K China
* 2K Czech
* 2K Los Angeles
* 2K Marin
* Frog City Software
* Indie Built
* Irrational Games
* PopTop Software
* Venom Games

Notable games|

* Battleborn
* BioShock series
* Borderlands series
* Civilization series
* Duke Nukem series
* Evolve
* Mafia series
* MLB 2K series
* NBA 2K series
* NBA 2K League
* NHL 2K series
* Prey
* Spec Ops
* The Darkness series
* WWE 2K series
* XCOM series

Rockstar Games|

| Current studios|

* Rockstar India
* Rockstar Leeds
* Rockstar Lincoln
* Rockstar London
* Rockstar New England
* Rockstar North
* Rockstar San Diego
* Rockstar Toronto

|

Former studios|

* Dhruva Interactive
* Rockstar Vancouver
* Rockstar Vienna

Notable games|

* Agent
* Bully
* Grand Theft Auto series
* L.A. Noire
* Manhunt series
* Max Payne series
* Midnight Club series
* Red Dead series
* The Warriors

Technology|

* Rockstar Advanced Game Engine
* Rockstar Games Social Club

Other|

* Ghost Story Games
* Private Division
* Socialpoint
* List of games

Former labels|

* Double Take Comics
* Gathering of Developers
* Global Star Software
* Gotham Games
* Take-Two Licensing
* TalonSoft

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