In a candid interview with The Game Business, Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau strongly defended Star Wars: Hunters, insisting the game wasn’t a failure, despite being shuttered earlier this year. His perspective offers valuable lessons on what success really means in the mobile gaming battlefield. 🎙️ “Star Wars: Hunters Was No Failure” Gibeau acknowledged Hunters didn’t meet commercial expectations, but praised its strengths. He said: “We built a great tech base and a fun game… but it wasn’t a viable business. We weren’t able to generate the organic installs from the license… It didn’t engage over the long term.” He added: “We don’t really consider them failures at the company… For every game that doesn’t reach its full potential, we go back, postmortem it, figure out what went right… and share that learning across the company.” So, Gibeau is clear: failing to go viral doesn’t equal failure—especially if you’ve built something…
Star Wars Hunters
Star Wars: Hunters Turns One – A Galactic Arena’s Rise and Fall
On June 4, 2024, Star Wars: Hunters launched globally on Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android, inviting players into the competitive world of Vespaara’s Grand Arena. Developed by Zynga and Lucasfilm Games, this free-to-play 4v4 arena shooter quickly garnered attention, amassing over one million players within its first 48 hours. 🚀 A Promising Start Set after the fall of the Galactic Empire, Hunters introduced a diverse roster of characters, including a Wookiee warrior, a dark side Force user, and a Mandalorian bounty hunter. Players engaged in team-based battles across iconic Star Wars-inspired arenas, utilizing each character’s unique abilities to dominate the battlefield. The game’s cross-platform availability and engaging gameplay mechanics resonated with both long-time Star Wars enthusiasts and newcomers, leading to a peak player count of approximately 53,000 in June 2024. 📉 Decline and Challenges Despite its strong start, Hunters faced challenges in maintaining its player base. By May 2025, the…