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Empires & Puzzles racks up 34 million downloads

New update led by 20-year old Sofia Vanhanen adds base updates and Hunter's Lodge

Empires & Puzzles racks up 34 million downloads

Zynga and Small Giant Games’ hit mobile title Empires & Puzzles has been downloaded more than 34 million times to date.

The publisher said it had reached the number one grossing position in 57 countries on the App Store and 24 on Google Play. It’s broken into the top 10 grossing games charts in 124 countries around the world across both stores.

Hunter's Lodge

As Small Giant looks to expand on the game’s success, it has just announced a big new expansion that brings a host of new features.

The update includes base updates such as more advanced versions of mines, farms, storage units and houses, as well as increasing the stronghold’s max level from 20 to 21.

A new building called the Hunter’s Lodge has also been introduced, enabling players to craft new battle items.

One of the world’s top performing games right now, this latest update was “primarily driven” by 20-year old Sofia Vanhanen.

“It’s a dream come true to work on a game that you’re already so passionate about,” said Vanhanen.

“I’m able to bring my perspective as a dedicated fan to implement new ideas that our players will love. I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of the new base updates.”

Top performer

Zynga purchased Small Giant late last year in a deal worth over $700 million.

The title has been a lucrative addition to Zynga’s portfolio of ‘forever franchises’. Zynga reported higher than expected losses in Q1 2019 of just under $129 million, but this was due to the outperformance of Empires & Puzzles and Gram Games’ Merge Dragons.

The success of both titles means Zynga’s has had to pay more for those acquisitions based on performance.

Small Giant Games' Timo Soininen will be a speaker at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki on October 1st and 2nd.


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.