Supercell has acquired 62% of Space Ape

London based developer Space Ape Games is now part of the Supercell family.

The Clash of Clans maker has acquired a 62 per cent share of the UK outfit for $56m, although Space Ape says it retains complete operational independence” but with the added benefit of tapping into Supercell’s development and distribution skills.

Space Ape CEP John Earner has admitted that the pair first discussed a possible union last year, but the pieces did not fall into place until more recently. Space Ape Games founders Earner, Toby Moore, and Simon Hade will remain at the studio.

We started Space Ape nearly five years ago with the goal to make the best mobile games in the world,” Earner said. The five years that followed has been a whirlwind of ups, downs, fun, frustration, and everything in between.

There was that youthful unlimited-possibility phase where it was fifteen of us, a dream, an office above a vintage card shop in Soho, and a faucet that never-stopped-leaking. There was that insecure phase after our first failure when we almost ran out of money. There was the doldrums phase where things didn’t ever seem to work as well as we hoped they would. We were pedalling furiously just to stay in place.

Then it started to click. We became profitable. But we knew there was something greater to reach for and that we’d need to make bigger bets, and be more innovative, to find it. Which brings us to today: The roaring-bonfire-of-awesome phase. We started taking big risks (because we can afford to!). We’ve gotten innovative. Really good games have started to emerge.

Why Supercell? Supercell is a kindred company. They love games as much as we do, in a mobile games industry I often feel is just not passionate enough about playing games themselves. Supercell works like we work: in small, collaborative teams. Supercell is patient, innovative, ambitious, and enormously successful. They are prepared for the ups and downs our journey will continue to bring because they’ve been there. They believe in us. They’ll let us dream bigger and think longer term.”