Finland's Supercell: Mobile Games With Megaprofits

As the gaming masses shift from consoles and big screens to smartphones and tablets, game design studios such as Electronic Arts and Zynga are having a tough time pivoting resources and talent to mobile platforms, where the profit margin can border on obscene. That’s why it’s very good to be Finnish mobile games developer Supercell, a two-year-old startup familiar to few outside Helsinki. With only 95 employees, Supercell is taking in $2.5 million a day from virtual goods sold in its top-grossing games, the medieval tower-defense game Clash of Clans and crop-tending simulator Hay Day.

Launched last summer, both free apps feature vivid graphics and addictive gameplay. With a combined 8.5 million registered users, the apps have stayed at the top of Apple’s iOS game charts since December, a rare feat for typically flash-in-the-pan mobile games. Supercell needs plenty more hits to survive over the long haul, but it’s flourishing now by charging real money for resources to buy the virtual suits of armor or sacks of seed needed to advance to higher levels within its games. The privately held company turned an operating profit of $104 million on revenue of $179 million in the quarter ended March 31, says Ilkka Paananen, its 34-year-old chief executive officer and founder.