Supercell backs Redly Games, partners with SpongeBob, Transformers

Founded in 2024 by Thea Chow, a former game lead at Supercell, the Helsinki-based studio is developing a cross-platform 3D adventure game. It will use the pre-seed funding from Supercell to expand its team and advance the game’s development, with an initial launch planned for mobile devices.

In a LinkedIn post, Chow highlighted her belief in the potential of well-crafted games that inspire curiosity and provide engaging experiences.

“Redly Games was born from a belief in games as a force for good and a desire to build an innovative studio capable of tackling evolving industry challenges head-on. Our mission is to create deeply immersive adventures that inspire optimism and delight for millions of players,” Chow explained. “We want our games to encourage co-operation, problem solving, and serve as a platform for positive change in our world.”

The funding news follows a series of moves by Supercell founders to support Finland’s gaming industry. In 2023, Ilkka Paananen and Mikko Kodisoja participated in a 25-million-euro funding round for Noice, a Finnish company developing a multiplayer platform that combines live streaming with multiplayer gaming. Later in the year, Kodisoja joined a separate funding round with fellow Finnish game industry powerhouses, which brought in 1.5 million euros for a Finnish-Chinese game publisher, MyGamez.

SpongeBob reimagined

Supercell has also unveiled new partnerships with major entertainment franchises. The company is celebrating the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants by introducing the world of Bikini Bottom from the beloved Nickelodeon series into its game Brawl Stars. As part of the partnership, characters such as SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr. Krabs are reimagined as popular Brawlers. The collaboration also features launch content starring actor and WWE icon John Cena. 

“As a long time fan of Supercell games and having watched SpongeBob for years, there was definitely a nostalgic component that drew me to the partnership,” Cena said. “SpongeBob inside Brawl Stars is absolutely wild and I’m all for it – it’s the epic entertainment tag team fans have been waiting for.”

Additionally, Supercell has partnered with Hasbro to bring Transformers characters Optimus Prime and Elita-1 as playable characters into its Squad Busters game.

Squad Busters, which launched in May 2024, has become a global hit for Supercell, following the success of earlier titles such as Hay Day and Clash of Clans. In 2023, Supercell ranked fourth in PocketGamer’s ranking of top 50 mobile game makers and was highlighted as the only company to have created five separate billion-dollar mobile games.