Candy Crush Challenge
Crafting Candy Crush’s difficulty: Blockers, level design, AI and the "complexity staircase"
Candy Crush’s senior product manager John Davies shares level design insights and tips on making a challenging puzzle fun
Company Profile
King
Website
www.king.com
About
King is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world, with people all around the world playing one or more of our games. We have developed more than 200 fun titles, offering games that are enjoyed all around the world.
Related People
Ben Hollis
Lead Game Designer
Riccardo Zacconi
CEO
Aïda Figuerola
Senior Engagement Manager, New Games
Alena Rybik
Senior Product Director
Frances Light
Global Director, Diversity and Inclusion
Tjodolf Sommestad
President
Abigail Rindo
VP of creative
Kiki Olofsson
Senior Studio Art Director
Paula Ingvar
GM, Candy Crush Saga
Luke Jackson
Product Manager, Candy Crush
Andrea Serfaty
Principal UX Designer
Dominique Devoucoux
Head of Audio
Mark Taylor
Chief People Office
Tobi Ibikunle
Software Engineer
Vanesa Tate
Head of Eternal Games and Audio
Oleg Pridiuk
Evangelist, Defold
Marta Cortinas
Executive producer
Luken Aragon
VP of Marketing
Brian Burford
GM, Candy Crush Soda Saga
Sebastian Knutsson
Chief Creative Officer
Jay Foreman
Level Design Craft Lead
Anna Busquet
Business Director of New Games
Mick Heijkens
Senior Game Designer
Catt Mott
Senior Narrative Lead
Therese Sander
lead level designer on Candy Crush Saga
Todd Green
Candy Crush franchise general manager
+23 more
Accolades
Articles featuring King
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Creative Candy
Competitive or casual? Designing Candy Crush with "a spectrum of flavours"
King’s senior game designer Mick Heijkens shares insights into game system overhauls, experimental design, and pleasing "a wide mix of playstyles"
Enhanced Experience
UX in Candy Crush and the "deceptively complex" world of boosters
King’s principal UX designer Andrea Serfaty talks player experience, the Super Colour Bomb, and more
Best Of 2025
Aaron Astle’s top stories of 2025: Solitaire’s surge, Nintendo Switch 2, and Pokémon TCG Pocket dethrones Pokémon Go
PocketGamer.biz news editor Aaron Astle revisits his top stories from 2025
For The Fish
How player feedback, memes, and rebuilt architecture led to Candy Crush’s "Fish 3.0"
As Candy Crush’s Swedish Fish fell behind, the team set out to revolutionise their mechanics to meet modern gameplay standards
Candy Crush Collectibles
Why collectibles matter and how pins "explore details of the Candy Crush world"
Artists and narrative designers spent hundreds of hours coming up with pins, introduced into Candy Crush in 2023. We ask senior narrative designer Catt Mott if they’ve paid off
Sustaining A Saga
Candy Crush Soda Saga: 11 years, 18,000 levels, and a "turning point for the Candy Crush franchise"
Soda Saga general manager Brian Burford reflects on the history, highlights, and evolution of the match-3 game
Week In Views
Krafton's AI shake-up, NCsoft's Horizon MMO reveal, and Candy Crush Saga Adventures | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Play Store Parley
Top 50 mobile games could all face higher 20% fee under Epic and Google's Play Store plans
Games selling cosmetics will only be charged a 9% fee under Google’s new policy, but gameplay advantages will come with a 20% cut
Mobile Minecraft
Mojang and King launch Minecraft Blast playtest in Malaysia
The mobile Minecraft game is a puzzle title with familiar creatures and items
Design Details
How Saga Adventures make Candy Crush a "living, breathing universe"
Software engineer Tobi Ibikunle shares insights into Candy Crush’s approach to gameplay-narrative integration
Crush & Tell
Crush & Tell: Candy Crush’s behind-the-scenes series will explore game design and development
Candy Crush VP of marketing Luken Aragon gives the scoop on King’s series premiering today
Candy Cookbook
Candy Crush dessert cookbook Tasty releases with 50+ recipes
Instructions detail how to make chocolate squares, cakes, wrapped sweets, the Colour Bomb and more
New Offerings
Candy Crush to launch official dessert cookbook this October
The candy-themed cookbook is now available for pre-order
Data Dive
H1 2025 genre analysis: Mobile strategy games surge to $10.6bn as RPG revenue tumbles
We analyse AppMagic data to determine the top genres globally and in the US, comparing rising stars with stumbling giants
Hot Five
Hot Five: Zenless Zone Zero's $442m year one, King reportedly loses 10% of staff, and Toca Boca hit by layoffs
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Failure To Launch
What happens now for Xbox's mobile ambitions?
Microsoft's mobile strategy is cooked
Podcast | Episode 59
A dark day for Xbox | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 59...
Job Losses
Report: King loses 10% of staff as Microsoft makes games division cuts
Candy Crush maker hit hard by redundancies across games group
Candy Crown
King crowns 2025 Candy Crush Saga All Stars champion and dishes out $1m prize pool
Tiago P from Portugal won this year’s tournament, claiming $500,000 in prize money
Uk Best Of 2025
The Top 50 UK Game Makers of 2025
The UK movers and shakers of the last 12 months revealed!
Week In Views
Kickstarter's curious campaigns, Finland's new immigration rules, and why publishers love solitaire | Week in Views
The Pocketgamer.biz team pick their highlights from the headlines this week and deliver the stories behind the stories
Solitaire's Secret Sauce
Why are the world's top games publishers making solitaire games and has Playtika already won?
As solitaire installs rise for seven consecutive years to a record-breaking 347m, we ask game design consultant Jakub Remiar for further insight
Sweet Solitaire
Candy Crush Solitaire has "surpassed internal business expectations"
King business director of new games Anna Busquet talks development, design philosophy and "rigorous testing" behind the company’s first global launch in five years
Podcast | Episode 54
Fortnite’s Epic return and the challenges of launching a game in 2025 | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 54...
Jobs Roundup
May 2025’s Movers and Shakers: New King president, Scopely appoints CBO, Roblox exec exits, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
King's Crown
King president Tjodolf Sommestad to step down as Todd Green takes the reins
Sommestad has spent three years as president and almost 14 at King overall
Rich List 2025
Playrix, Tripledot and King founders make The Sunday Times Rich List 2025
Playrix's Igor and Dmitry Bukhman were the only mobile game makers in the top 100, ranking 10th overall ahead of King Charles III and former UK prime minster Rishi Sunak
Level Design
How King builds tournament levels for Candy Crush All Stars
Lead level designer Therese Sander gives us a behind the scenes look at how Candy Crush All Stars levels are designed for the high-stakes competition
Why Barcelona
Seven reasons why Barcelona is a rising star in the games industry
Barcelona has become a key hub for global leaders and indie studios in the games industry. With Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona 2025 on the horizon, we’ve highlighted seven reasons why the city is a rising star.
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell’s mo.co gets invite-only launch, Blood Strike celebrates first anniversary, and Pokémon Sleep’s Legendary comeback
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
All Stars
Candy Crush All Stars returns with $1m prize pool
Qualifiers began on March 20th, with first knockout phase set to kick off next week
International Women's Day
"Inclusion isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a core part of how we create better games"
As part of International Women's Day 2025, we speak to King's Marta Cortiñas about her career and work on Candy Crush Solitaire
Sweet Solitaire
Candy Crush Solitaire snaps up $379,000 in first two weeks
Lifetime revenue including soft launch reaches $692k
Hot Five
Hot Five: Fire Emblem Heroes’ voting power, Candy Crush Solitaire broadens the brand, and Pokémon TCG Pocket hits half a billion dollars
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Five New Games
New release roundup: Candy Crush Solitaire, Doodle Jump 2+, The Art of Fauna and more
We highlight the latest new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Sweet Treats
King's new release puts a Candy Crush twist on a classic card game
Executive producer Marta Cortinas shares on the development journey of Candy Crush Solitaire
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
Partnership
Flexion partners with King to market Candy Crush Solitaire on alternative app stores
The game is set to launch globally on Thursday, February 6th 2025 across multiple mobile platforms
Sweet Solitaire
Candy Crush Solitaire to launch worldwide on February 6th
Release marks developer's first global release since Crash Bandicoot: On the Run
Best Of 2024
Aaron Astle’s top stories of 2024: 7 years of Fire Emblem Heroes, the art of Farm Heroes Saga, and Pokémania's return
From ongoing legacies to smash-hit new games, PocketGamer.biz news editor Aaron Astle revisits his top stories from 2024
10 Year Anniversary
10 years of sweet success: The evolution of Candy Crush Soda Saga
King VP, head of creative Abigail Rindo shares on Candy Crush Soda Saga’s journey to a decade
Candy Crushed
King stops supporting Candy Crush Blast and Candy Crush 3D
The titles appear to have been used more broadly as gameplay tests
Audio Accessibility
Inside audio design at Candy Crush maker King
Head of audio Dominique Devoucoux on bringing accessibility features to Candy Crush Soda Saga
Career Tips
Five top tips for building a career in the Nordics
The Nordics are a highly sought-after destination for aspiring game developers here are five essential tips to help build a successful career.
Crushing It
King’s Todd Green on how the Candy Crush Saga has remained on top for 12 years
From the evolution to Candy Crush to the potential of IPs and tournaments we get the latest on one of mobile’s biggest franchises
Best For The Brand
Game of Thrones: Legends is a "modest" success while Marvel Snap is IP adaptation done right
GameRefinery’s July review highlights a busy month for mobile games with winners and some surprise losers…
Hot Five
Hot Five: AFK Journey hits China, The Sunday Times Gaming Rich List and the Gamescom Party Guide
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Pocket Money
Playrix founders put mobile on top of The Sunday Times' first ever Gaming Rich List
The makers of Homescapes and Gardenscapes top the inaugural round up of the 30 richest developers and players in the UK
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from pixel RPGs to… Candy Crush?!
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business