Clash of Clans and Brawl Stars developer Supercell will slow down its employee growth significantly in a bid to preserve its company culture as it enters its second decade of existence.
Outlining the decision in a letter published today, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen said that some members of staff had raised concerns that the company was growing too rapidly after it expanded to over 300 employees last year.
He suggested that limiting growth would allow the Finnish studio to minimize “the amount of bureaucracy and processes while maximizing room for innovation.”
“We had a big discussion about [our growth] and, as a result, decided to slow down significantly until we feel confident that we can keep our culture intact despite the growth,” wrote Paananen in the annual letter.
“For someone outside Supercell, the above might sound really odd, even very inward focused. But, we believe that without our unique culture, and the small-company feel that goes with it, we could not develop the best games for you. Balancing things is not always easy and, as you may guess, we have our internal struggles, too.”
You can hear more from the chief exec by checking out the full blog post, which covers the company’s successes and failures during 2019 — including its decision to scrap build-and-battle game Rush Wars.