Game Closure
Space Ape-developed Beatstar and Country Star go offline
The shutdown follows an August announcement that development on the two titles would end
Company Profile
Space Ape Games
Website
www.spaceapegames.com
About
Space Ape Games is a Mobile / Social Gaming startup founded in 2012.
Related People
Deborah Mensah-Bonsu
Community Manager
Tony Yang
Product Owner
Toby Moore
CTO
Simon Hade
Co-founder
Andrew Munden
Live Operations Manager
John Earner
CEO
Nick Mansdorf
Product Owner
Sutton Trout
GM
George Yao
Product Owner
Chris White
Product Owner, Transformers: Earth Wars
Johnathan Rowlands
Product Owner
Charmie Kim
Game lead - Beatstar
Ioannis Lefkatditis
Product Lead
+10 more
Accolades
Articles featuring Space Ape Games
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Uk Best Of 2025
The Top 50 UK Game Makers of 2025
The UK movers and shakers of the last 12 months revealed!
New Studio
Space Ape vets launch Offroad Games
New studio takes Space Ape-developed titles Chrome Valley Customs and Fastlane: Road to Revenge with it
Games For Sale
Supercell in discussions to transfer Space Ape games to other studios
News follows 100% acquisition of London developer last year
New Studio
NextBeat CEO Simon Hade on spinning out from Space Ape Games and a “music-first” future
The team intends to launch a rock and mental focused rhythm game as well as creating new music games and having a focus on wellness and education
Pgc London
PGC London 2025 approaches as UK player spending hits record $1bn in single year on mobile
AppMagic data suggests that 2024 was the most lucrative year on record for mobile games in the UK
New Studio
Space Ape exec Simon Hade heads up new spinoff studio NextBeat
New developer takes on Beatstar and Country Star from Space Ape portfolio
Super Space Ape
Supercell establishes London studio with 100% acquisition of Space Ape
Clash of Clans developer aims to tap UK talent with full purchase Beatstar maker
Best Of 2024
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2024
The mobile movers and shakers of the last 12 months revealed!
Green Gaming
PUBG Mobile, Beatstar, Hay Day, Merge Mansion and more take part in Green Game Jam
The fifth Green Game Jam looks to tackle pollution and climate change
End Of The Line
Space Ape closes Rival Kingdoms and gives the game a "final farewell"
“All games have a life cycle, and Rival Kingdoms is no exception. The time has come to lay down our swords and staves and allow our kingdoms to rest."
Hot Topics
Mobile Mavens: Are today's everlasting, live ops games holding back new innovation?
Our industry experts weigh in on the power of long, and enduring games. Do endless liveops keep the market ticking? Or stop new devs from breaking through?
Pgc Fireside Chats
Hear from the experts - eight fabulous fireside chats from PGC London 2024
At PGC London 2024 HyprMX sat down with the thought leaders, pioneers, creators and execs who are shaping mobile games. Here are eight of our favourites
Interview
“We went from feeling like we were finished to making nearly $100m last year!”
Space Ape Games co-founder Simon Hade reflects on the studio's eleven year journey and what the team are working on next
Mobile Mavens
Mobile Mavens: Jobs 2024: How to find the best talent and land your dream role
Our Mobile Mavens share their thoughts on the current hiring and careers landscape
A Flying Start
Space Ape’s Chrome Valley Customs on track to beat Beatstar with $40m earned
Following Space Ape's most successful ever launch, the casual puzzler now has their other smash hit Beatstar in its sights
Speeding To Success
Chrome Valley Customs is Space Ape’s biggest launch in 11 years
The vintage car game makes history for the London-based mobile developer
Best Of 2023
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2023
The movers and the shakers of the last 12 months
Interview
Space Ape's Simon Hade: “Country Star benefits from several years of live ops R&D right out of the gate”
Space Ape Games co-founder discusses the tactics and tech behind BeatStar's new spin-off game Country Star
Game Design
Charmie Kim: "Inventing the wheel with BeatStar"
Space Ape's Charmie Kim spoke at Develop Brighton on the development process behind BeatStar
New Titles
Space Ape Games announces Chrome Valley Customs in cross-promotion with Beatstar
A song inspired by the game features in Space Ape’s hit rhythm game
Q&a
Space Ape Games Charmie Kim and Simon Hade on the successes of Beatstar
Charmie Kim will be giving a ‘Beatstar’s Lessons in Hybrid-Casual’ talk at Develop Brighton this year
Q&a
Charmie Kim talks on joining the game industry and the creation of Beatstar
Rhythm game Beatstar has gone on to be Space Ape’s biggest hit so far being played by over 50 million people
Interview
"Not measuring up in long term engagement": Space Ape's Simon Hade on Boom Beach: Frontlines shutdown
We spoke to Space Ape's co-founder on the decision to shutter the game, the company's plans for the future and what lessons the team have learned
Life’s A Beach
Boom Beach: Frontlines to shut down its servers in January, just six months after soft launch
The game has failed to meet Space Ape Games’ standards
Job News
Space Ape appoints Derek De Filippo as marketing lead
De Filippo previously served as business manager of games for the App Store
Game News
IWM partners with Historical Games Network for ‘War Game’ exhibit
The Imperial War Museum’s latest exhibition doesn’t concentrate on objects from a real-world conflict, but instead on video games that recreate war and its effects.
Music Games Go Ape
Space Ape Celebrate One Year of Beatstar
The game hits 38m installs in its first year.
Turning Imperfections Into Strengths
Space Ape Games Co-Founder Simon Hade on using your game’s imperfections as strengths
“Too often as game makers what we feel is lacking in a game is just not that important to regular people”
Best Of 2022
The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2022
The movers and the shakers of the last 12 months
Soft Launch
Space Ape Games' Boom Beach: Frontline soft launch surpasses 1.3 million downloads after 10 days
The London-based mobile games developer aimes to capture the imagination of the Supercell player community with Boom Beach: Frontlines
Clash Quest Closure
Supercell to shelve Clash Quest in September
The game fell below the company’s expectations
Their Most Successful Event To Date
Space Ape Games discuss the success of their Eminem crossover event
The event achieved 3.7 million plays and 1.3 million players added Eminem songs to their playlists
Ten Years Of Clash Of Clans
Ilkka Paananen: We haven’t seen an opportunity for NFTs to truly, truly make the experience better
The Supercell CEO spoke to Fast Company about development, longevity, and NFT’s
Lose Yourself In Beatstar
Eminem takes over Beatstar in it’s biggest event yet - and Fortnite could follow
The event coincides with the release of the rapper’s new greatest hits album
Successful Soft Launch
Boom Beach: Frontlines hits number one on Google Play's Top-Free Games chart
The game's soft launch in Italy is an "instant hit" says Space Ape Games co-founder
Booming
Supercell's Boom Beach: Frontlines pre-registration reaches one million players in 48 hours
Second wave of soft launch expanded to 19 more countries including Singapore, Turkey and the UAE
Space Ape X Supercell
What is Space Ape doing with all that Supercell money?
Following Supercell’s $37 million investment, Space Ape Games founder Simon Hade outlines the developer’s scaling plans, including expanding its publishing division with three Beatstar-equivalent titles
Boom Beach
Space Ape’s treatment of Supercell’s Boom Beach “built on the learnings of several failed multiplayer games”
Simon Hade speaks candidly on the journey towards Boom Beach: Frontlines in this teaser of our upcoming interview looking at the firm’s plans, post-Supercell funding
A Big Investment For Space Ape Games
Supercell makes a further $37 million investment in Space Ape Games
Supercell increases its stake to 75%
Bringing The Beats
A mobile games and music industries first: Beatstar releases early exclusive of Black Eyed Peas, Shakira new single
Space Ape's Simon Hade speaks with PocketGamer.biz on how the new single became available to play through Beatstar two days ahead of global release
Dolla Dolla Bills
Monetising music games is an uphill battle. Here are Beatstar's strategies
Space Ape Games' Simon Hade and Charmie Kim discuss the importance of ad monetisation and Beatstar's take on the battle pass
Slave To The Rhythm
How Beatstar survived 24 killed prototypes in five years
Space Ape Games' Charmie Kim and Simon Hade detail the journey from strategy specialists to music genre success via Ed Sheeran and Stan Bush
Mobile Games Awards 2022
Updated: the winners of the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2022
Championing the mobile games industry at the prestigious MGA 2022
Mobile Games Awards 2022
Space Ape Games, inkle, Genshin Impact, Kwalee, and more celebrated at the Mobile Games Awards 2022
Space Ape’s Beatstar – Touch Your Music wins coveted Game of the Year, as we celebrate the mobile games industry with 23 categories
Heading To The Frontlines
Space Ape Games launches Boom Beach: Frontlines in Canada
Will launch gradually worldwide on iOS and Android
Here Comes The Boom
Update: Space Ape Games and Supercell collaborate for Boom Beach: Frontlines
Open to 15,000 players in North America and Europe
Poc In Mobile
Games for Good founder Deborah Mensah-Bonsu: "I think studios need to be brave in telling different kinds of stories"
"I think it takes everyone looking around their colleagues to see who's missing or not represented and challenging that"
Pgc Digital
PGC Digital: How the industry can become greener
"The global spread of gaming makes it not just a North American opportunity but a global one"
Further Cancellations
Games First London 2020 and Google I/O cancelled due to coronavirus concerns
Refunds will be issued