Hot Five: Former Unity CEO David Helgason resigns from board, Supercell’s content creator furore, and Mattel acquires full ownership of Mattel163

To help get you primed and ready for another week in mobile gaming, we’ve curated the biggest stories you need to know from the last seven days.

1) Former Unity CEO David Helgason exits company as Bernard Kim joins board

Unity’s founder David Helgason has resigned from its board of directors after more than 20 years with the company. He previously stepped down from CEO duties in 2014 but had remained on the board for over a decade since.

Other board member departures - now and upcoming - include Mary Schmidt Campbell and IronSource co-founder Tomer Bar-Zee, with the full board reduced to nine members.

2) Supercell CEO sorry for failure to acknowledge role of content creators in Clash Royale's success

Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen apologised after failing to acknowledge the role content creators played in Clash Royale’s 2025 resurgence within his annual blog post.

The original post credited the team’s work on campaigns and new features during Clash Royale’s strong return. After visceral reactions from overlooked content creators, Paananen added: "Throughout 2025, we saw creators self-organising tournaments, celebrating Royale through art and memes, and reminding millions of people around the world why Clash Royale is special."

3) Private equity firm Haveli to acquire Budge Studios

Haveli Investments is set to acquire children’s games developer Budge Studios from investor General Atlantic.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is known that The Raine Group served as the exclusive financial advisor for Budge Studios and General Atlantic.

4) Supercell is willing to die on the hill of innovation

Supercell celebrated another near-record year in 2025 with successes like Brawl Stars and Clash Royale, but launching new games has been more of a struggle - as seen in Squad Busters’ cancellation and Mo.co’s need for a revamp.

"The work of improving live games is not the problem," said Paananen. "But here's the reality: live game excellence alone doesn't grow an industry. It maintains one."

5) Mattel acquires full ownership of Mattel163 from NetEase for $159m

Mattel has acquired full ownership of Mattel163 from Chinese publisher NetEase in a $159 million deal.

The mobile games studio was set up as a joint venture between Mattel and NetEase in 2018, with Mattel now set to purchase NetEase’s 50% share.