Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen on Gaming, AI & Europe’s Edge
🚀 Record Growth in 2024 – and What’s Next?
“Last year was a record year for us… we saw almost 80% annual growth.”
Supercell experienced explosive growth in 2024 across revenue and player base. While Ilkka notes this level won’t be the annual norm, he confirms strong momentum across live titles and excitement for new games in development.
$13.5 billion in revenue across 2.5 billion downloads. Crazy?
🧠 Creating Hits in a Noisy World
“It absolutely is harder… the level of competition for people’s free time is just so much tougher.”
Paananen explains that today’s gaming environment isn’t just crowded with games, but also social media, video, and other distractions. Standing out requires better creative tools and smarter teams.
🤖 AI as a Creative Co-Pilot
“We believe AI gives our creative people superpowers.”
Ilkka sees AI not as a replacement but as an enabler. It helps small teams at Supercell deliver more, faster, without reducing headcount. In fact, Supercell is growing faster than ever.
🌍 Europe’s Role in Global Gaming
“Europe is a space within tech where we genuinely lead.”
From Minecraft to Dream Games, Ilkka names Europe’s game dev leadership proudly. He urges European founders to stop comparing themselves to Silicon Valley and instead build their own future:
“Let’s make our own version of Europe.”
He believes the European founder network is stronger than ever and will only accelerate in the next decade.
💪 The Supercell Playbook: Teams, Risk, and Culture
“Each game is run by a small team with autonomy… execs exist to serve them.”
He reiterates Supercell’s flat structure, which empowers small teams to make product decisions independently. Canceled games? They’re celebrated with champagne. Because innovation comes with risk.
🧬 Building for the Long Term
“I’m very, very bullish on what we will see coming out of Europe.”
From strong talent to community-led investing, he sees long-term signals across the ecosystem. Recent deals, like CVC’s investment in Dream Games, reinforce the health of mobile gaming.
🌐 Tencent Ownership – Still Independent
“Tencent is a very patient partner. We’re operationally independent.”
Ilkka confirms that Tencent’s involvement hasn’t changed Supercell’s DNA. They remain fully in control of creative and operational decisions, with Tencent acting as a strategic supporter.
Final Takeaway
Europe isn’t behind. Supercell is proof. Ilkka Paananen challenges the narrative and offers a real-time masterclass in building creative culture, scaling with AI, and betting big on mobile gaming’s global future.
Source: Bloomberg
