Draft:Wildlife Studios

Wildlife Studios is a Brazilian video game developer and publisher focused on mobile games. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2011 and was originally known as Top Free Games, or TFG.^[1] Its games include Sniper 3D, Tennis Clash, Zooba, War Machines, Colorfy, Bike Race and Sky Warriors.^[2] In 2019, Wildlife raised a US$60 million Series A round led by Benchmark, valuing the company at US$1.3 billion.^[3][4] In 2020, it raised a US$120 million Series B round led by Vulcan Capital at a valuation of about US$3 billion.^[5]

History

Wildlife was founded in 2011 in São Paulo by brothers Victor and Arthur Lazarte, with their friend Michael Mac-Vicar joining soon after as a co-founder and chief technology officer.^[4][6] Brazil Journal reported in 2019 that Wildlife had been born as TFG and later renamed.^[3] By 2019, Wildlife had released more than 60 mobile games. GamesBeat reported that its titles had reached or were expected to reach about two billion downloads, and that the company had more than 500 employees across offices in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Dublin, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Orange County, California.^[4] Brazil Journal described the company as both developer and publisher of its games and said it used a freemium model, with players able to download games without charge and pay for in-game progress or items.^[3]

Funding and valuation

In December 2019, Wildlife raised US$60 million in a Series A round led by Benchmark. Brazil Journal and GamesBeat reported that the round valued the company at US$1.3 billion.^[3][4] Both sources reported that Benchmark general partner Peter Fenton would join Wildlife's board.^[3][4] In August 2020, Wildlife raised US$120 million in a Series B round led by Vulcan Capital. GamesBeat reported that the round valued Wildlife at about US$3 billion and brought total funding to US$250 million.^[5]

Notable games and partnerships

Wildlife's mobile-game catalogue includes Sniper 3D, Tennis Clash, Zooba, War Machines, Colorfy, Midas Merge, Suspects, Block Craft, Color by Number and Castle Crush.^[2] In 2020, GamesBeat reported that Zooba had about 8 million monthly active players and Tennis Clash about 9 million monthly active players, with more than 100 million monthly active users across the company's games.^[5] The 2022 Brazil: Game Industry Report described Wildlife as one of Brazil's largest game developers and cited Bike Race as an early hit that reached 100 million players in twelve months. The report listed later portfolio titles including Sniper3D, Color by Number, Colorfy, Castle Crush, War Machines, War Heroes, Zooba, Tennis Clash and Suspects.^[7] Tennis Clash has been used in official tennis-related esports and licensing projects. In January 2023, PocketGamer.biz reported that Wildlife had extended a licensing deal with the Federation Francaise de Tennis through 2025, making Tennis Clash the official mobile game of Roland-Garros.^[8] The International Tennis Federation said in 2023 that Tennis Clash had partnered with it for the World Tennis eChampionship.^[9] In 2021, PocketGamer.biz profiled Sky Warriors in its Making Of series through an interview with Wildlife game director Luiz Piccini.^[10] PocketGamer.biz ranked Wildlife 43rd in its 2023 list of the top 50 mobile game makers, citing the company's portfolio, Tennis Clash partnerships, Zooba, Sky Warriors, and more than three billion downloads.^[11]

Restructuring

In November 2022, Mobilegamer.biz reported that Wildlife had laid off almost 300 employees in Brazil and Argentina after cancelling initiatives outside mobile games.^[12] PocketGamer.biz also reported the layoffs and said the move reflected a tighter focus on mobile gaming.^[13] In June 2023, Bloomberg Linea reported that Wildlife had cut 13% of its staff, about 143 people according to PitchBook data, and that Peter Hill, a former Amazon executive and Wildlife's former chief product officer, would replace Victor Lazarte as chief executive officer. Lazarte moved to the position of chairman of the board.^[14] In February 2024, Game Developer reported that Wildlife had laid off 21% of its workforce, or 133 employees, in what it described as the company's third round of layoffs in three years.^[15] PocketGamer.biz reported the same reduction in March 2024.^[16]

Leadership

Victor Lazarte served as chief executive officer until 2023, when Bloomberg Linea reported that he became chairman and Peter Hill became CEO.^[14] Wildlife's newsroom later listed Arthur Lazarte as co-founder and CEO, a role the company says he assumed in 2024.^[17]

References