Original Games
Tallinn, EE · Founded 2019 · 30 employees on LinkedIn · 5 known investors
Original Games develops casual mobile games designed for relaxation and player engagement with universal appeal. The company is a global team based across Tallinn, Helsinki, San Francisco, and Berlin.
Also known as Original Games OÜ
Investors · 5
Also in the syndicate · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Original Games is a mobile game studio headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, that develops casual games centred on relaxing, quickly accessible gameplay with universal appeal and long-term player engagement. Its lead title is the casual puzzle game Merge Inn, and the studio operates in the merge sub-genre of casual puzzle games. The company states it has been developing and releasing games since 2019 and that its titles have been downloaded by millions of players.
The team is distributed, with contributors in Tallinn, Helsinki, San Francisco and Berlin; a company profile also describes staff located in Estonia, Russia and Finland. Staff include alumni of Rovio, Machine Zone (MZ), Wooga, EA, Easybrain and Crazy Labs. Internal functions span game development (Unity), game design, QA, data analytics, user acquisition, app store optimisation and marketing creative production. The studio describes a flat organisational structure, flexible hours and remote or hybrid work arrangements, with roles offered on a remote basis limited to UTC to UTC+3/+4 time zones.
Original Games is backed by gaming venture fund Play Ventures along with angel investors from the games industry. In February 2023 it acquired the merge title Mergedom from Turkish developer Bigger Games.
Founding story
Original Games was co-founded by former Machine Zone leads Arseny Lebedev and Alexander Krylov together with former Rovio CMO Ville Heijari and former Rovio VP Jarkko Rajamäki, joined by developers with experience at EA and Wooga. Arseny Lebedev serves as CEO. The company says it has been developing and releasing games since 2019, and it emerged publicly in October 2021 alongside a $6 million seed round as it prepared the global release of its first casual puzzle title, Merge Inn.
Business model
Original Games develops and publishes casual mobile games directly to players through the Apple App Store and Google Play, scaling titles through paid user acquisition, advertising creative testing and app store optimisation. Job descriptions reference game economy design, live operations, in-app monetisation and advertising metrics such as ARPU, ARPPU and LTV, indicating a free-to-play mobile model.
Free-to-play mobile games monetised at the player level; roles reference game economy, ARPU/ARPPU and LTV tracking as well as advertising SDKs and playable ad development.
Traction
The company states its games have been downloaded by millions of players since 2019. At the time of its seed round, the CEO said its first merge title was already showing traction ahead of a global launch. Merge Inn is described as the studio's lead title, and the portfolio was expanded with the acquired title Mergedom.
Latest developments
Recent activity includes the February 2023 acquisition of Mergedom from Bigger Games, participation in the September 2023 collective developer action against Unity's Runtime Fee and ironSource/Unity Ads spending, and continued hiring across data analysis, game design, QA, Unity development, playables development, ASO, user acquisition and creative production.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Original Games operates in the casual puzzle segment of mobile gaming, specifically the merge sub-genre, which its CEO characterised as a successor to match-3. Investor Play Ventures described the founding team as combining casual and midcore experience with market intelligence and product vision. The studio consolidated its position in the category through the 2023 acquisition of Mergedom from Bigger Games.
The studio positions its products around a "Quick-to-Fun" philosophy: fast development of games that are instantly accessible, combining frictionless and relaxing gameplay, high audiovisual production values, and social and community features. It pairs an analytical, data-driven approach to game economy and A/B testing with a founding team drawn from Machine Zone, Rovio, EA and Wooga.
Technology
Games are built in Unity. The analytics stack is based on Python with the Google Cloud Platform, BigQuery for data warehousing and Tableau for dashboards and reporting, with machine learning applied to metric forecasting and player segmentation. Attribution and marketing measurement use mobile measurement partners such as AppsFlyer and Adjust, while ASO work uses tools including SensorTower, AppTweak, AppFollow, MobileAction and StoreMaven. A/B testing spans both in-game features and store listing assets.
Go-to-market
Global releases on mobile app stores supported by performance marketing: an in-house creative team produces video, static and playable advertising, a user acquisition function manages paid campaigns, and ASO work covers store metadata, custom product pages, keyword rankings and platform featuring requests with Apple and Google.
A broad global audience of casual mobile game players, addressed through titles designed for universal appeal and short-to-long play sessions.
Geography
Headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, with contributors in Helsinki, San Francisco and Berlin; a company profile also lists team members in Estonia, Russia and Finland. Games are distributed globally, and remote roles are limited to UTC through UTC+3/+4 time zones.
History
The studio states it has been developing and releasing games since 2019. It was publicly launched in October 2021 with a $6 million seed round led by Play Ventures, at which point it was preparing the worldwide release of its first merge puzzle game, Merge Inn, and hiring to expand its development team. In September 2023 it was named among developers that collectively pledged to suspend spending on ironSource and Unity Ads in protest at Unity's Runtime Fee pricing changes. In February 2023 it acquired the game Mergedom from Bigger Games to strengthen its position in the merge category.
Risks & controversies
The company was listed among developers that jointly threatened to halt spending on ironSource and Unity Ads until Unity revised its Runtime Fee terms, indicating exposure to third-party engine and ad-platform pricing changes. Its team includes contributors located in Russia, and remote hiring is restricted by time zone.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 6
by search overlap
Companies competing with Original Games for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsThe Merge Inn developer acquired the merge title Mergedom from Bigger Games.
Estonian studio Original Games announced a $6 million seed round led by Play Ventures, with participation from gaming entrepreneurs Anton Gauffin (Huuuge Games), Riccardo Zacconi (King) and Kristian Segerstråle (Super Evil Megacorp), to support its debut merge puzzle game Merge Inn.
$6M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Original Gamesoriginalgames.io · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Original Games do?
- Estonian studio Original Games develops relaxing casual mobile puzzle titles, led by its merge game Merge Inn.
- Who are Original Games's investors?
- Original Games's investors include Play Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz.
- Where is Original Games headquartered?
- Original Games is headquartered in Tallinn, EE.