When we last spoke to HypeHype COO Teemu Mäki-Patola, the UGC platform was positioned as ‘TikTok for games‘ – a home for player-made arcade or hypercasual-style creations.
But HypeHype’s creator tools have evolved plenty since then, bringing its capabilities closer to something like a mobile-native Roblox; in a recent letter to players, HypeHype cofounder Johannes Vuorinen claimed that “the top games in HypeHype are on par with standalone app store mobile games made with Unity and other PC tools.”
So has the pitch evolved a little? Mäki-Patola explains. “TikTok is a good comparison in the sense that it is a mobile-first platform also including an epic mobile-first video editor that made everyone into video content creators,” he tells us. “Similarly, we want to make everyone capable of creating games.”
“Roblox is still desktop first with its PC editor, which we feel is a limitation for what we would like to accomplish today. I have read someone describe HypeHype as if Roblox and TikTok had a baby…I guess that works well too as we aim to make things easy and mobile-first.”
‘Roblox meets TikTok’ might sound like something from a pitch deck, but Mäki-Patola says HypeHype is not seeking any additional funding right now. In 2016, when the studio was known as Frogmind, Supercell acquired 51% of the company. The Finnish creator of the Badland games later rebranded to HypeHype, going all-in on its UGC platform for games – and Supercell continues to back HypeHype today.
“Supercell has been an awesome partner,” says Mäki-Patola. “Whenever we need or ask something, they have helped. And when we don’t ask for something, we have had peace to focus on product development. We share a Slack with them and know many people from Supercell. It’s very easy to be in contact and discuss whatever needs to be discussed, not just with Supercell but also with other Supercell-invested companies as well.”
During HypeHype’s years-long soft launch, its development team has added more and more advanced tools for budding game creators, and recently announced a creator challenge to incentivise game-makers with cash payouts. Creators are free to add in-game purchases into their work, and during soft launch, they get 100% of the net revenue generated.
“You can make a great side hustle and even a good living making some of the best games already, especially in countries and areas with lower living costs,” says Mäki-Patola.
HypeHype is also courting game developers, too, and invites any game-maker to play around with its tools and join its Slack dedicated to pro gamedevs.
“Developers are close to our hearts since it is our background as well,” says Mäki-Patola. “We know they are capable of making great things on HypeHype and really want them there. We hopefully know how to help game devs on that journey and welcome them.”
Alongside its game creation tools, Mäki-Patola is keen to talk up HypeHype’s real-time data and player feedback capabilities, too. “You can see the performance of each update you make to your game – or games – in hours of posting them and see what improved and what didn’t,” he tells us.
“You can talk with the players while they are playing your game and ask their opinions. This kind of immediate feedback is awesome, even addictive, and will make iterating games fast and make the best games improve quickly. There is no other platform where you can see the effects of your game building so quickly.”
HypeHype is currently only live in Finland, Philippines and Canada, though creators anywhere can request access through the game’s site. And after over two years in soft launch, HypeHype is “definitely getting closer to going global,” adds Mäki-Patola.
“We just released the platform currency and the first monetisation features,” he says. “It will take some time for creators, and us, to figure out what kind of in-game-items work for that and what other features are needed.”
“Global is unlikely before everything is properly in place, but we are highly likely to expand the soft launch to more countries very soon.”
