- Ilkka Paananen confirms Supercell’s splitting efforts between developing new games and scaling existing live games.
- Paananen discusses how the company faced stagnation and acknowledged the need for transformation.
- Supercell’s approach to live games now includes more structure, processes, and even middle management.
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen in a recent talk has confirmed the Finnish game studio’s new strategy which has split its focus into two departments. At the same time, one side of the studio creates new games, and the other works on the live games side, or the scaleup side.
Ilkka Paananen discussed the Spark initiative focused on creating new game teams
In the Slush 2024 event that was held in Helsinki, Finland, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen had a fireside chat with Harvard Business School professor Jeffrey Rayport. In this Day 2 Founder Stage conversation, the discussion was titled “Game On: Getting Uncomfortable to Reignite Growth at Supercell.”
Ilkka Paananen discussed the concerns that arose when Supercell failed to maintain its growth trajectory, especially as the broader gaming market was expanding. During a crucial offsite meeting, he describes how the company confronted its stagnation by acknowledging its dropping position in the top 10 and realizing that change was necessary to stay relevant.
Coming to the split strategy, Ilkka elaborates on how Supercell tackled this challenge by dividing its focus into two distinct approaches: one for creating new games and another for scaling existing ones. For new games, Supercell adopted to think of it as a startup, with a systematic approach to forming strong, independent teams (they call the cells).
Ilkka Paananen discussed the Spark initiative focused on creating new game teams
He also shared an example: “We have a new initiative called Spark. What Spark is all about is applying a very systematic approach to creating new game teams. Our mission is to be the world’s best company in creating these new game teams.”
He further added: “As an example, we have a professional psychologist as part of the team who will evaluate with the team. At Supercell, what makes us very different as a games company is that we don’t greenlight or approve game ideas, that’s not what we do. We greenlight and approve teams. Once we say ‘team at Supercell’ or ‘cell,’ we trust them 100%.”
On the other hand, on the live games side, which focuses on games already in the market, Paananen said it needed to evolve with more structure, processes, and even middle management, which he says were “curse words” at Supercell before. This shift required the company to get out of its comfort zone, and Ilkka thought “if that means that we have to go to the uncomfortable zone, then so be it”.
You can watch the full Slush 2024 Game On: Getting Uncomfortable to Reignite Growth at Supercell session in the embedded video, where the discussion begins at 33:20.
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