Playnest shuts down after four years of mobile game development

• Playnest published 12 games and created more than 30 prototypes during its operation.
• The company also ran more than 300 user acquisition campaigns.
• Playnest developed an internal platform for testing and releasing games, alongside an SDK for external developers.

Finnish mobile game company Playnest has announced that it is ceasing operations after four years of developing and publishing games.

Founded in late 2022 as Wonder Hive, the Helsinki-based company set out to build a platform for interconnected mobile games. 

Playnest's website lists four team members: Gabriele Aimone (CEO), Petri Räsänen (CCO), Tero Paavolainen (CTO) and Jonas Klar (CPO).

In a farewell statement, Playnest said it had published 12 games, developed several versions of its shared metagame, created more than 30 prototypes and run over 300 user acquisition campaigns during its time in operation.

Platform ambitions

Beyond game development, Playnest built an internal platform to help its team develop, test and release games and prototypes. It also created an SDK for external developers and launched a pilot programme to explore opening the platform to other studios.

“We had many smaller successes along the way and came close to a breakthrough on a couple of occasions," the team wrote in a post. “Unfortunately, a combination of factors, some beyond our control, prevented us from ultimately getting there."

Playnest thanked its employees, partners, investors and the people who played its games for supporting the company throughout its journey.