Sandsoft's CEO on the publisher's hybridcasual evolution and global expansion

The Dubai Game Expo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects returns on May 7th to 8th 2025, offering a chance to gain insights into the world’s fastest-growing games market, MENA.

Saudi Arabia-headquartered publisher Sandsoft has had a busy couple of years. 

At the end of 2023, it opened a new Barcelona studio, with the company also housing offices in Helsinki and Shanghai.

Meanwhile, it signed a partnership with Chinese developer NetEase to establish publishing business Stellar Gate Games, and more recently it's made publishing deals to expand into the hybridcasual arena.

To find out more about the company's growth, we sat down with Sandsoft CEO David Fernandez Remesal to reflect on the publisher's journey throughout 2024 and discuss its plans for 2025.

PocketGamer.biz: How do you reflect on Sandsoft's growth and performance in the last year? Do you have any figures you can share?

David Fernandez: 2024 has been a truly transformative year for Sandsoft, and I couldn’t be prouder of the progress we’ve made. Despite the challenging landscape of the games industry, marked by significant shifts, consolidations, and workforce changes, we have remained on a steady path of growth. 

One of the most exciting milestones was the launch of our Barcelona studio, to reinforce our presence with our headquarters in Riyadh and offices in Helsinki and Shanghai. We also forged a strategic alliance with NetEase, a collaboration aimed at further empowering the games ecosystem in the MENA region. This partnership represents a key step in our mission to drive the industry forward. 

On the publishing front, we were thrilled to bring Pocket Necromancer, an RPG designed for a broad player audience, in cooperation with Charged Monkey, a talented studio based in the Czech Republic. 

Beyond projects and partnerships, we’ve been building the publishing infrastructure and growing our team to support the scaling up of third-party games. This means we’re expanding our capabilities to help developers bring their games to a wider audience with the right funding, marketing, and operational support. 

Sandsoft has experienced remarkable internal growth. Our team expanded by 34% in 2024, and we take great pride in fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Today, our workforce represents nearly 30 nationalities. 

Perhaps the most exciting outcome of our hard work in 2024 is what’s happening right now. In March 2025, we are publishing three brand-new games, developed by incredible studios: Kolka Games from Latvia, Rogue Harbour Game Studio from Canada, and IzyPlay from Brazil. These partnerships highlight our commitment to working with top talent worldwide and delivering exceptional gaming experiences to players. 

We have several more games in the pipeline, and we’re gearing up to launch even more exciting mobile titles in the next few months. 

How is your joint venture with NetEase, Stellar Gate Games, going? How does that fit in with your other development and publishing operations? 

Stellar Gate Games has been an incredible journey so far. Partnering with NetEase to create this joint venture was a major milestone for Sandsoft, and we’re already seeing exciting momentum. Our mission with Stellar Gate Games is simple: to bring world-class gaming experiences to players in the MENA region, and we’re making great strides in doing just that. 

This partnership fits perfectly into Sandsoft’s broader vision of expanding both game development and publishing in the region. While we continue to work on our own exciting new titles, we’re also focused on bringing top-tier global games to MENA, ensuring they’re localised and optimised for our players. 

The gaming scene in MENA is growing at an incredible pace, with over 380 million players, and we’re thrilled to be at the forefront of this expansion. Seeing Blood Strike surpass 50 million downloads worldwide last year was a huge moment, and we’re committed to making its MENA version an even bigger success. 

And this is just the beginning: there’s so much more to come from Stellar Gate Games, Sandsoft, and our amazing partners. We’re building something special, and we can’t wait to share more soon. 

You’re actively seeking more third-party games to publish. What do you look for when considering new titles? And how does your publishing model work? 

Right now, we’ve got a few titles in the works that are being carefully tested—checking their market appeal, collecting player feedback, and refining the gameplay to ensure they’re ready for the next step. We’re eager to announce some of these games soon, potentially as early as Q2 2025. 

When it comes to partnering with developers, we are prioritising hybridcasual games that have shown some solid promise. We’re particularly interested in titles that have passed early tests in the market, with metrics that demonstrate high player engagement and a clear path for future growth. This kind of proven potential is what excites us and makes us want to bring those games to players around the world. 

Our publishing model takes a boutique approach, tailoring our support to each developer’s specific needs. We work closely with teams to bring their vision to life, providing funding, product management, data insights, and marketing expertise.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, we allocate our best people to assist where it matters most: whether that’s optimising ad monetisation, improving retention, or refining engagement strategies. While we’re selective with funding, once key performance indicators are met, we unlock additional resources to drive growth and help the game reach its full potential. 

What do you believe makes hybridcasual titles promising, and what makes a game in the genre successful in today’s mobile market? 

Hybridcasual games have emerged as a dynamic force in the mobile games industry, blending the simplicity of hyper-casual titles with the depth of more traditional genres. This fusion has led to experiences that are both easily accessible and deeply engaging, capturing the attention of a broad audience. 

The growth of hybridcasual games is particularly noteworthy. In 2023, the market saw a remarkable expansion, with over 130 new games released: a nearly 40% year-over-year increase. Downloads for these games surpassed five billion, and global revenues steadily climbed, exceeding $1.4 billion. This upward trajectory continued into 2024, with revenues from hybrid casual mobile games surging by 30%, surpassing $2.1 billion. 

Several factors contribute to the success of hybridcasual games in today's market. There's been a noticeable shift from hypercasual to hybridcasual titles, driven by a market saturated with hypercasual games and a maturing player base seeking more robust progression mechanics. This evolution reflects a demand for games that offer both immediate enjoyment and long-term engagement. 

Over the past two years, we’ve been deliberately experimenting with different monetisation models. Tests covered internal projects, co-development efforts, and third-party publishing to build a deep understanding of what works in today’s evolving mobile gaming market.

Through this hands-on approach, we’ve developed internal expertise, while also bringing in top external talent with deep experience in scaling successful mobile titles. This mix of in-house learning and strategic hiring has allowed us to refine our publishing approach and make smarter, data-driven decisions about the games we bring to market. 

One of the key takeaways from these experiments has been early traction in hybridcasual titles. Initially, our focus leaned more toward midcore games, but as we saw strong engagement and scalable potential in select projects, we broadened our scope.

This shift led to an increased focus on third-party publishing, enabling us to work with top developers worldwide to scale their games effectively. 

With offices in Riyadh, Shanghai, Helsinki, and now Barcelona, do you have more expansions planned for 2025? If so, where are you considering? 

We’re very proud of the global footprint we’ve built so far, with offices in Riyadh, Shanghai, Helsinki, and Barcelona, each offering unique insights and contributions to our work. As we continue to grow, expansion is definitely something we’re considering, but it’s important to note that any plans to open new studios or offices aren’t something we’re aiming to rush into this year or in the immediate future. 

While we do have ideas in the pipeline for expanding into regions like Southeast Asia and Latin America, we’re being very strategic about this. These regions have seen significant growth in the mobile games sector, and we’re certainly interested in the opportunities they present. However, we want to make sure that any future expansions align with our long-term vision and are the right fit for our team and culture. 

In the meantime, we’re focused on continuing to strengthen our existing offices and deepening our partnerships with developers and studios. Our main focus is to continue delivering the best possible gaming experiences to players around the world and ensuring that we’re truly ready to take that next step when the time is right. 

In your view, what are the key ingredients for a successful mobile game in today’s market?

In theory, the key ingredients for a successful mobile game are quite clear: great gameplay, user retention, thoughtful monetisation, effective localisation, and strong community engagement.

Having led teams behind games like Candy Crush Friends Saga and Bubble Witch 3 Saga, I’ve seen firsthand how these factors play out in practice. However, while these principles sound straightforward, the reality is that building a hit game is incredibly challenging. 

A successful mobile game today needs to have several key elements that resonate with players and keep them coming back. First and foremost, gameplay is critical. Players need an experience that’s both engaging and easy to pick up. The best games are those that offer fun, instant gratification while also providing depth and complexity for those who want to dive deeper.

With so many games out there, keeping players engaged is a huge challenge. A game needs to offer compelling reasons for players to keep playing, whether that’s regular content updates, challenges, or rewards that incentivise long-term engagement. Balancing accessibility for new players with advanced mechanics for experienced ones is key to ensuring broad appeal. 

Monetisation plays a big role as well. Today’s successful mobile games often thrive through a free-to-play model, but the key is offering players value without making them feel forced to spend. In-game purchases should enhance the experience, not detract from it. Games that provide meaningful choices without relying too heavily on pay-to-win mechanics tend to perform better in the long run.

Of course, localisation and cultural relevance are also increasingly crucial. As the mobile gaming market grows globally, it’s more important than ever to tailor games to different regions and their unique tastes. Localising not just the language but also the content and cultural aspects of the game can have a major impact on its success in diverse markets. 

Community engagement is something that cannot be overlooked. Games that offer players ways to connect with each other, share their experiences, and feel a sense of belonging tend to build a loyal following. Whether it’s through social features, in-game events, or creating a space for feedback, strong community support is key. 

Ultimately, the right blend of fun, accessibility, engaging content, and understanding of the market will determine the success of a mobile game in today’s competitive landscape. 

What’s next for Sandsoft? 

The games industry is undoubtedly facing challenges, but I believe we are well-positioned to continue our upward trajectory. 

What keeps me optimistic about the future is the amazing team we have here at Sandsoft. Our team’s dedication, creativity, and passion are what truly drive us forward. We also have incredible partners and the unwavering support of our parent company, Ajlan & Bros Holding, which gives us the strength and stability to weather the tough times the industry is currently going through.

We’re not just focused on releasing great games, we’re also actively hiring across a wide range of disciplines. As we grow, we’re on the lookout for talented individuals who can contribute to our mission of building the next big mobile hit. It’s a thrilling time at Sandsoft, and we’re always looking for fresh talent to join our journey. 

In addition, we’re continuing to search for promising games to bring into our portfolio. We’re very selective about the titles we choose, but we’re always on the lookout for innovative, high-quality games that show strong potential for growth. 

Through it all, we know that our success is rooted in the incredible people we work with and the partners who share our vision. That combination will keep us strong as we continue to grow and turn the challenges into opportunities.