Abstract:

Codigames is a young Spanish smartphone game company with an unusual ability to create successful and scalable free-to-play videogames. The firm is already considered as one of Europe’s up-and-coming start-ups within the mobile gaming industry with potential to achieve unicorn status over the next few years. Despite being only nine years old and employing less than 60 workers, Codigames boasts multi-million euro quarterly revenues and has reached the number one spot in the US videogames market.

The apparent secret of this accomplishment can be attributed to three core factors. Firstly, a radical strategic shift from the classical vision of ‘author games’ (hardcore style), where the company began its life in the videogames industry, towards a more general and democratized vision of gaming (casual style). This shift meant that they had access to a greater mass of players who are attracted by more collaborative and social games. Normally, these types of games have user friendly interfaces and are intuitively understood. Additionally, most games in this category present a similar gameplay style which, not only extends the life cycle of the games, but also improves the connection with the user and thus provides more opportunity to gain increased revenues.

Secondly, Codigames implements a specific methodology for game development whereby several games (that although are distinct share basic foundational similarities) are developed at the same time. This allows for a recycling of prior technological developments combined with players’ know-how gained from previous projects to generate quick and quality game-to-market launches.

And thirdly, Codigames has developed a strong ability to leverage insights generated from statistics and data analytics in order to carefully monitor the success or failure of different games. From this they can then select and replicate projects accordingly and improve the areas that do not achieve the desired performance levels.

To the present day, Codigames represents the most successful company of ‘Marina de Empresas’, a unique consolidated business ecosystem located in Valencia (Spain). It is formed by a business school, a start-up accelerator, and an investment vehicle all gathered in what has become as one of the most important and vibrant entrepreneurial hubs of the Mediterranean area.

The case allows the discussion of important concepts such as how an entrepreneurial company can scale in size while retaining the ‘power of being small’; how the environment (understood as the entrepreneurial ecosystem and financial circumstances) can support and act as a lever for change; the importance and types of strategic change within an entrepreneurial firm; the relevance of implementing ambidextrous management styles and ways to apply them; and the understanding of how the current videogame market is becoming increasingly affected by a new paradigm driven by the increase of data-user privacy protection.

Keywords:

Ambidexterity, leadership, mobile gaming industry, videogames.