Supercell has confirmed that Squad Busters has already reached an impressive milestone of 30 million lifetime downloads. This figure suggests the game has been downloaded around 25 million times since its global launch on May 29. As previously reported, Appmagic estimates indicate that Squad Busters accumulated 5.3 million downloads during its soft launch, which began on April 23 in Canada, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Mexico, and Singapore.

On launch day, Supercell announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the game had achieved 40 million pre-registrations. The company also premiered a launch advertisement on May 29 featuring celebrities like Chris Hemsworth and Christina Ricci, which has already garnered over 22.7 million views on YouTube.

Squad Busters was first introduced in January 2023 when Supercell announced a closed, Android-only beta test in Canada from February 6 to 16. At that time, industry experts were cautiously optimistic about the game's potential, describing it as "Supercell’s attempt to casualize 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. “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 its soft launch phase, more industry experts weighed in. Phillip Black from Game Economist Consulting likened it to “Supercell’s Super Smash Bros” and remarked on its "immense promise." At the same time, game designer Jakub Remiar expressed concerns about the game’s mechanics and progression systems.

In related news, it appears that Squad Busters might not be Supercell’s only global launch this year. The company is already teasing Mo.co, a Diablo-style monster hunting game that was first revealed in October 2023 and underwent beta testing for selected US-based Android players from October 25 to November 6, 2023.

Early feedback on Mo.co has been positive. Jordan Phang, a consulting partner at Naavik, noted, “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.” Phang added, “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. While we’ll need an extended look at the game for its long-term potential, the first signs look very positive.”

Squad Busters marks Supercell’s first global launch since Brawl Stars over five-and-a-half years ago. Supercell recently revitalized Brawl Stars to great success, with revenue surging 8.8 times from its lowest point.

Source: adapted from an article by Neil Long, Founder and Editor of mobilegamer.biz.