Supercell has confirmed to us that Squad Busters has already hit 30m lifetime downloads.
That figure suggests the game has been downloaded around 25m times since it launched globally on May 29; as we reported last week, Appmagic estimates suggest Squad Busters racked up 5.3m downloads in soft launch, which started on April 23 in Canada, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Mexico and Singapore.
Supercell said on X that the game had hit 40m pre-registrations on launch day. It also premiered a launch ad starring famous faces like Chris Hemsworth and Christina Ricci on May 29, which has already has over 22.7m views on YouTube.
Squad Busters was first revealed in January 2023, when Supercell announced a closed, Android-only beta test will take place in Canada between February 6-16. As we reported at the time, industry watchers were cautiously optimistic on the title’s prospects, stating that it was “Supercell’s attempt to casualise the Brawl Stars experience”.
“Squad Busters is positioning itself as a game that can appeal to [the Clash Royale and Brawl Stars] audience but with lower skill requirements to get good at it,” said Tripledot product director Nikita Tolokonnikov at the time. “However, this also means that the skill ceiling is lower, and after playing for a week, I don’t see how you can progress significantly after months or years of playing.”
As the game entered soft launch, we asked more industry experts for their thoughts on Squad Busters. Game Economist Consulting’s Phillip Black described it as “Supercell’s Super Smash Bros” and said it has “immense promise”, though game designer Jakub Remiar voiced some concerns over the game’s mechanics and progression systems.
We’ve also reported previously that Squad Busters might not be Supercell’s only global launch this year. Supercell appears to be teasing its Diablo-style monster hunting game Mo.co already, a game that was first revealed in October 2023, and was in beta for selected US-based Android players from October 25 to November 6 2023.
Early feedback on the game was positive. Naavik consulting partner Jordan Phang said that “the Supercell magic is back”, describing Mo.co as “A Supercell-ized mix of Diablo Immortal, Monster Hunter, and Warcraft” that “strips out the convoluted mechanics.”
“Mo.co feels like a reimagining of the MMORPG for a mobile audience that is fun, engaging and opens up the funnel to a hardcore genre,” he added. “While we’ll need an extended look at the game for its long-term potential, the first signs are looking very positive indeed.”
Squad Busters is Supercell’s first new global launch since Brawl Stars over five-and-a-half years ago. Supercell recently rebooted Brawl Stars to great success, seeing revenue rocket 8.8 times from its lowest point.
