End of an Era: Supercell Kills Squad Busters
Supercell has announced it will shut down Squad Busters in 2026, marking the first time the Finnish giant has ever closed a globally launched live game. The final update drops in December 2025, with the servers expected to go offline in the latter half of 2026.
Launched worldwide in May 2024 with a star-studded big ad campaign featuring Chris Hemsworth, Christina Ricci, Auliʻi Cravalho, and Ken Jeong, Squad Busters was Supercell’s first new title since Brawl Stars (2018). Despite an energetic debut, the game’s momentum faded fast, earning $70–100M & 55M downloads before its revenue dipped below Boom Beach and mo.co by mid-2025.
The numbers have already been going down for quite some time.
In a heartfelt statement, Supercell said the decision came after “months of reflection.” The studio admitted that even after major overhauls, including the ambitious Heroes update, the game “did not meet the high expectations that both players and we at Supercell have for our games.”
DAU saw the dip.
The company emphasized that while the outcome was disappointing, the lessons learned were invaluable:
“We wanted to move faster, take bold risks, and learn directly from a global audience instead of waiting years in beta. What we learned was that we had got it wrong.”
Perfect kick-off, then… And now?
In-app purchases have now been disabled. Players who made purchases in 2025 can transfer their balances to other Supercell titles such as Clash Royale, Brawl Stars, Clash of Clans, Hay Day, or Boom Beach. Loyal players can also claim free bundles through the Supercell Store based on total playtime.
While Squad Busters didn’t become the global phenomenon Supercell had envisioned, its legacy will likely be remembered as the studio’s most daring experiment, one that reaffirmed its core principle: only games that millions can love for years will survive.
How’s their newest shot, Mo.co?
Interestingly, while Squad Busters saw its decline through mid-2025, mo.co, Supercell’s other experimental IP, followed a similar trajectory.
According to AppMagic, mo.co launched in March 2025 and peaked around 2M MAU & 188K DAU by July 2025. However, engagement steadily dropped afterward, averaging 1.5M MAU and 250K DAU overall with modest monetization at roughly $5M total revenue and $0.60 RpD.
