Voodoo (company)

French video game company

For the luxury personal computer brand, see VoodooPC.

Voodoo SAS

Company type| Private
Industry| Video games, mobile apps
Founded| 2013; 12 years ago (2013)
Founders|

* Alexandre Yazdi
* Laurent Ritter

Headquarters|

Paris

France

Area served

| Worldwide

Key people

* Alexandre Yazdi (CEO)
* Gabriel Rivaud (VP, games)

Products| Hole.io, BeReal, Block Jam 3D, Mob Control
Revenue|  $570 million (2023)[1]
Owner|

* Goldman Sachs (minority stake)
* Tencent (minority stake)
* Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (16%)

Number of employees

| 750[2] (2023)
Website| voodoo.io

Voodoo SAS (also referred to as Voodoo.io) is a French developer and publisher of mobile apps and games based in Paris. The company was founded in 2013 by Alexandre Yazdi and Laurent Ritter. Voodoo's games began predominantly as free-to-play "hyper-casual games", which they helped popularize. Since then, the company has shifted to developing and publishing casual games and apps. Voodoo’s games and apps have surpassed 7 billion downloads as of 2024.[3] The company has been criticised for cloning other games.

## History

[edit]

### Background and early years (2013–2017)

[edit]

Voodoo was founded in 2013 by Alexandre Yazdi and Laurent Ritter.[4] They had been friends since high school and had previously founded Studio Cadet in 2012, a services company for websites and mobile applications.[5] Yazdi became the chief executive officer of Voodoo, while Gabriel Rivaud acted as the vice-president of games.[6] According to Rivaud, the company was in turmoil for its first four years in operation and opted to change its business strategy thereafter.[6] This change led to the development of “hyper-casual games” by Voodoo. Games were developed focusing on key metrics such as retention and playtime. With this data, the company designed its newer games to attract more players.[6] Using the Unity game engine, Voodoo tested one new game roughly every week. This method resulted in the successful release of Paper.io in 2016.[7]

Through 2017, Voodoo quadrupled its staff count to 80.[4] In May 2018, the American banking company Goldman Sachs, through its West Street Capital Partners VII fund, invested US$200 million in Voodoo.[4] It was the largest fundraising in the French technology sector since 2015.[4] Yazdi and Ritter retained control of the company.[4] At the time, Voodoo had, aside from its Paris headquarters, offices in Montpellier and Strasbourg.[4] A development studio in Berlin, Germany, was established in December 2018, headed by general manager Alexander Willink.[8] The studio started out with roughly ten people, looking to eventually expand to 40 employees.[8] Voodoo later hired key employees from developers Blizzard Entertainment, King, and Mamau.[9]

### 2019–present

[edit]

By September 2019, Voodoo employed 220 people, including 150 at its Paris headquarters.[7] A publishing office in Istanbul, Turkey, was announced in August 2019 and is headed by publishing director Corentin Selz.[10] This continued with the opening of a Montreal development studio in November 2019, led by Mehdi El Moussali, a former producer for Gameloft.[11] During this time, Voodoo intended to expand and transition beyond hyper-casual games.[11] The company acquired Shoreditch-based developer Gumbug in December that year.[12]

By July 2020, Tencent was looking to acquire a minority stake in Voodoo, which was still majority-owned by Yazdi and Ritter.[13] Tencent acquired a minority stake to undisclosed terms in August that year. At this time, Voodoo was valued at $1.4 billion.[14] According to Yazdi, this deal would help Voodoo to extend their games into the Asia-Pacific market.[15] Voodoo subsequently opened offices in Singapore and Japan later that month, headed by Julian Corbett and Ben Fox, respectively.[16] In total in 2020, Voodoo saw revenues of €380 million, up from €1 million in 2016.[7] The company announced an investment in Istanbul-based developer Fabrika Games in September 2020,[17] and acquired Parisian developer OHM Games in December. OHM Games had developed four games for Voodoo in 2020, which together generated 260 million downloads.[18] Voodoo further bought BidShake, a Tel Aviv company developing a marketing automation platform, in June 2021.[19] Groupe Bruxelles Lambert acquired a 16% stake in Voodoo for €266 million in August 2021, valuing Voodoo at €1.7 billion.[20] The company transitioned from hyper-casual games to what it calls "hybrid casual" games during that year.[21]

Voodoo acquired Beach Bum in September for a reported price of $250–300 million.[22][23] The Israeli company, the developer of video game adaptations of board and card games, had an annual revenue of $70 million at the time of acquisition.[24] In 2023, Voodoo reported $570 million in revenue, mostly from in-app purchases. Hypercasual games accounted for only 25% of this revenue. Hybrid casual games, Mob Control and Block Jam grossed nearly $100 million each.[25]

## Games

[edit]

The majority of Voodoo's games were free-to-play "hyper-casual games" developed for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems.[26] Games released by the company in this genre include Helix Jump, Baseball Boy, Snake vs Block, Hole.io, Aquapark.io, Purple Diver, Crowd City, and Paper.io.[12][27] Voodoo games were downloaded 2 billion times by April 2019,[28] 3.7 billion downloads by May 2020,[29] and 5 billion by May 2021.[30] In December 2019, Voodoo games had 2.6 billion downloads, 300 million monthly active users (MAUs), and 1 billion individual players, making Voodoo the leading mobile games publisher.[12] Helix Jump, developed by H8games, became Voodoo's most successful game by number of downloads.[27][31] It was the most-downloaded game of 2018 with 334 million installs, amassing more than 500 million by August 2020.[27][32] Voodoo also operates the Blitz app, a gaming platform allowing players to compete in various mobile games and participate in tournaments with cash prizes.[33] Paper.io 2, released in 2018, has been downloaded 266 million times.[34]

Voodoo launched Mob Control in 2021. The project was released as a hyper-casual game but development shifted post-release to hybrid-casual. Also in 2021, Voodoo published Collect Em All developed by Tarboosh Games.[35][36] Voodoo published Block Jam 3D, a block-matching puzzle game, in 2022.[37]

## Publishing

[edit]

Expanding on the prototyping model of its internal developers, Voodoo began publishing games by external studios. External developers can submit games through an online platform for Voodoo to evaluate. The publisher has worked with over 2,000 such studios, which account for 75% of Voodoo's releases. If a game meets the criteria, it is published by Voodoo which supports product improvements, user acquisition, and monetization.[7]

Voodoo bought BidShake in June 2021, a Tel Aviv company developing a marketing automation platform offering cross-channel advertising solutions for mobile games and apps.[38]

## Apps

[edit]

Outside of games, Voodoo developed the social media platform Wizz in 2020. As of August 2021, the platform has 1 million MAUs in the United States.[7] The company also acquired WeMoms in 2021. WeMoms is a social media platform for women and mothers.[39]

In June 2024, Voodoo acquired the photo-sharing app BeReal for €500 million. BeReal’s main user base is in the US, France, and Japan. The app has had 50 million users since 2022.[40]

## Reception

[edit]

Voodoo has been criticised for releasing apparent clones of indie games. These include Infinite Golf (similar to Desert Golfing), Twisty Road (Impossible Road), The Fish Master (Ridiculous Fishing), Flappy Dunk! (Flappy Bird), Rolly Vortex (Rolling Sky), The Cube (Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube?), and Hole.io (Donut County).[41][42][43] In the case of Hole.io, the game used the core gameplay mechanic of Donut County that has the player controls a hole in the ground to consume objects within the environment, progressively growing wider to be able to consume larger objects.[41][44] Ben Esposito had been working on Donut County for more than five years when Hole.io released in mid-2018, before Donut County's publication.[43][45] In response to an inquiry from Variety, Voodoo stated that Hole.io was not a copy of Donut County, although both were in the same sub-genre of games. Variety's Michael Futter noted that these games were the only two in this genre. Voodoo further stated “There exists a limited amount of preeminent gameplays. However, there can be an infinite amount of interpretations and execution... In this spirit, other examples of popular gameplays that have been interpreted by many developers are hidden object, casino, bubble shooter, and first-person shooter games.‎” [43]

## Accolades

[edit]

* #20 on Pocket Gamer.biz's "Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2018"[46]
* #5 on Pocket Gamer.biz's "Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2019"[47]
* #16 on Pocket Gamer.biz's "Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2020"[48]
* #10 on Pocket Gamer.biz's "Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2024"[49]
* Best Publisher – Mobile Games Awards 2019[50]
* Revelation of the Year – BFM Awards 2019[51]
* Part of Next40 [fr] 2021[52]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Mobile video game: French unicorn Voodoo has drawn a line under hypercasual". Les Echos. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
2. ^ "Mobile video game: French unicorn Voodoo has drawn a line under hypercasual". Les Echos. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
3. ^ Chapple, Craig (11 June 2024). "Voodoo snaps up photo-sharing app BeReal in €500m deal". Pocket Gamer.biz. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
4. ^ a b c d e f Dèbes, Florian (28 May 2018). "Levée de fonds record pour la PME française du jeu vidéo Voodoo" [Record raising of funds for the French video game SME Voodoo]. Les Echos Start (in French). Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
5. ^ Colas des Francs, Ophélie (3 September 2014). "Quiz Run lève 280.000€ en crowdequity" [Quiz Run raises 280,000 € in crowdequity]. Les Echos Entrepreneurs (in French). Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
6. ^ a b c Takahashi, Dean (29 May 2018). "Voodoo raises estimated $200 million from Goldman Sachs for mobile games". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
7. ^ a b c d e Bregeras, Guillaume (1 September 2019). "Exclusif: Voodoo, la pépite française du gaming, enflamme son chiffre d'affaires" [Exclusive: Voodoo, the French gold nugget of gaming, ignites its turnover]. Les Echos Entrepreneurs (in French). Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
8. ^ a b Valentine, Rebekah (12 December 2018). "The search for creativity at Voodoo's new Berlin studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
9. ^ Forde, Matthew (2 July 2019). "Voodoo brings on Blizzard, King and Mamau hires for Berlin studio". Pocket Gamer.biz. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
10. ^ Forde, Matthew (1 August 2019). "Interview: Hyper-casual specialist Voodoo opens new Istanbul studio". Pocket Gamer.biz. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
11. ^ a b Batchelor, James (13 November 2019). "Voodoo opens Montreal studio as it expands beyond hypercasual games". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
12. ^ a b c Takahashi, Dean (11 December 2019). "Voodoo acquires mobile game studio Gumbug in London as it exploits hypercasual growth". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
13. ^ Betz, Brandy (14 July 2020). "Tencent eyes stake in game developer Voodoo – Bloomberg". Seeking Alpha. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
14. ^ Liao, Rita (17 August 2020). "Tencent takes minority stake in French casual games maker Voodoo". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
15. ^ McAloon, Alissa (18 August 2020). "Tencent picks up minority stake in hyper casual game publisher Voodoo". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
16. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (26 August 2020). "Voodoo opens Singapore, Japan offices". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
17. ^ Partleton, Kayleigh (4 September 2020). "Voodoo invests in Istanbul-based developer studio Fabrika Games". Pocket Gamer.biz. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
18. ^ Partleton, Kayleigh (21 December 2020). "Voodoo acquires Paris-based studio OHM Games". Pocket Gamer.biz. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
19. ^ Partis, Danielle (11 June 2021). "Voodoo acquires marketing automation platform Bidshake". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
20. ^ Taylor, Dan (2 August 2021). "GBL acquires minority stake in mobile games unicorn Voodoo at €266 million". Tech.eu. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
21. ^ "How Voodoo identifies hundreds of hit titles with GameAnalytics". Game Analytics. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
22. ^ Partis, Danielle (1 October 2021). "Voodoo acquires mobile studio Beach Bum". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
23. ^ Morland, Sarah (30 September 2021). "French mobile gaming unicorn Voodoo buys Israeli studio Beach Bum". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
24. ^ Gilead, Assaf (30 September 2021). "Voodoo buys Israeli gaming co Beach Bum for $300m". Globes. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
25. ^ Richaud, Nicolas (10 January 2024). "Mobile video game: the French unicorn Voodoo has drawn a line under hypercasual" [Mobile video game: the French unicorn Voodoo has drawn a line under hypercasual]. Les Echos (in French). Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
26. ^ McAloon, Alissa (29 May 2018). "Mobile dev Voodoo secures an estimated $200M investment from Goldman Sachs". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
27. ^ a b c Bradshaw, Tim (7 August 2020). "How 'hyper-casual' games are winning the mobile market". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
28. ^ Chapple, Craig (9 April 2019). "Voodoo racks up two billion mobile game downloads". Pocket Gamer.biz. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
29. ^ "The Voodoo Approach: How the world's biggest hyper-casual publisher makes its hit games". Pocket Gamer.biz. 20 May 2020. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
30. ^ Biswas, Tousif (7 May 2021). "Voodoo crossed five billion downloads". Pocket Gamer.biz. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
31. ^ "Voodoo Development Magic: How H8 Games launched Helix Jump, one of the hottest games of 2018". Pocket Gamer.biz. 22 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
32. ^ Blacker, Adam (17 January 2019). "Apptopia: Helix Jump led all mobile games in Q4 2018 with 25.6 million daily players". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
33. ^ "Skillz files suit against Voodoo as part of its ongoing bot battle". Venture Beat. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
34. ^ "Voodoo, spécialiste du jeu mobile, nouvelle licorne française grâce au géant Tencent". Clubic. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
35. ^ "Mob Control: hybridising a hypercasual hit". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
36. ^ "Voodoo acquires Tarboosh Games after partnering on past projects". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
37. ^ "Tech company known for repetitive ads on YouTube purchases BeReal for $500M". Cyber News. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
38. ^ "Voodoo acquires marketing automation platform Bidshake". Games Industry. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
39. ^ "These social networks for women are the opposite of Instagram". Les Echos. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
40. ^ "Photo-sharing app BeReal acquired by Voodoo for €500mn". FT. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
41. ^ a b D'Anastasio, Cecilia (25 June 2018). "Indie Games Are Getting Cloned Before They're Even Out". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
42. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (26 June 2018). "Donut County developer speaks out on frustration of app store clones". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
43. ^ a b c Futter, Michael (6 July 2018). "Goldman Sachs-Backed Cloner Uses War Chest, Ad Buys to Overshadow Original Games". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
44. ^ Radulovic, Petrana (6 July 2018). "Donut County lookalike is number one on the App Store". Polygon. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
45. ^ Conditt, Jessica (11 July 2018). "Mobile-gaming titans keep ripping off indies". Engadget. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
46. ^ "Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2018 – #20: Voodoo". Pocket Gamer.biz. 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
47. ^ "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2019 – #5: Voodoo". Pocket Gamer.biz. 1 October 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
48. ^ "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2020 – #16: Voodoo". Pocket Gamer.biz. 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
49. ^ "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2024". PocketGamer. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
50. ^ "The winners of 2019". Mobile Games Awards. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
51. ^ BFM Awards 2019 : la pépite du jeu vidéo Voodoo reçoit le prix de la révélation de l'année [BFM Awards 2019: video game nugget Voodoo receives revelation of the year award] (in French). BFM TV. 7 November 2019. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
52. ^ Bembaron, Elsa (9 February 2021). "Next 40 et French Tech 120 : la liste complète des entreprises" [Next 40 and French Tech 120: the complete list of companies]. Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website