Phoenix Games
2 known investors
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Phoenix Games builds a games company by partnering with and supporting game studio founders, helping them grow creatively and financially. The company operates studios focused on developing free-to-play (f2p) gaming experiences.
Also known as Phoenix Games Group
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Phoenix Games is a European mobile games conglomerate that acquires small-to-midsize free-to-play (f2p) game development studios and supports them operationally after the transaction. Founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur and investor Klaas Kersting, the company targets studios with live f2p portfolios and evergreen titles whose growth has plateaued or whose operating costs are constraining them. Acquired founders retain studio independence while gaining access to Phoenix Games' resources and central functions such as finance, HR and marketing.
The company's stated core asset is its proprietary Uplift Platform, a technology layer using AI and automation to optimize user acquisition and monetization for f2p games, with real-time adjustments intended to improve game economics and profitability. Phoenix Games describes its group as spanning studios including Garden City Games, Sixteen Tons Entertainment, Upright Games and Wellplayed Games, and it previously acquired Belgian match-3 specialist SmileyGamer.
Leadership consists of CEO Klaas Kersting (previously founder of Gameforge and Flaregames, and a former board member at Supercell and Wooga), COO Todd English (previously Flaregames, Electronic Arts and PopCap), CFO Norman Pretzl (corporate finance and M&A background, co-founder of the Wasabi Sushi Co. restaurant chain) and CMO Justin Stolzenberg (background building free-to-play publishing operations).
Founding story
The company was founded in 2019 by Klaas Kersting, previously founder of Gameforge and Flaregames and a board member at Supercell and Wooga, around the thesis that many capable f2p studios fail to realize their potential because running a studio requires finance, HR and marketing skills beyond game development. The stated purpose is to acquire such studios and unlock their untapped value by changing their economics from day one.
Business model
Phoenix Games buys game development studios outright and then operates them as part of the Phoenix Group, leaving founders in charge of creative direction while centralizing support functions. Value creation is framed around raising the profitability of acquired studios' existing free-to-play titles from day one, principally by applying the in-house Uplift Platform to user acquisition and monetization, and by supplying finance, HR and marketing capabilities the studios lack.
Revenue derives from the free-to-play games operated by the studios it owns, monetized through in-game purchases and optimized user acquisition; the company reported approximately €30 million of revenue in 2020.
Traction
Since its 2019 inception the company had acquired five mobile games studios by March 2021 and reported approximately €30 million in revenue for 2020. Its most recent acquisition at that time was Belgian match-3 developer SmileyGamer. The current studio roster listed by the company comprises Garden City Games, Sixteen Tons Entertainment, Upright Games and Wellplayed Games.
Latest developments
The company continues to solicit acquisitions of small and mid-sized free-to-play studios and lists Garden City Games, Sixteen Tons Entertainment, Upright Games and Wellplayed Games among its group studios.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Phoenix Games positions itself as a consolidator of European free-to-play mobile studios, arguing that a mature and competitive market leaves roughly 95% of games short of their profit potential and that small-to-midsize developers lack the commercial infrastructure to break through. By 2021 it described itself as a European mobile games conglomerate that had acquired five mobile games studios since inception.
The company differentiates on two claims: post-acquisition autonomy for founders and studios, and the proprietary AI/automation-based Uplift Platform that reworks the unit economics of live f2p titles rather than relying on new game development. It also emphasizes "smart and frugal financing tailored to a respective acquisition," with substantial portions of funding contributed directly by its founders and founder-investors.
Technology
The Uplift Platform is an internally developed technology platform based on AI and automation that the company describes as the cornerstone of its operating model. It is applied to acquired studios' live games to optimize user acquisition spend and monetization mechanics, making real-time adjustments to game performance, and the company states that integrating it into first-party studios' games has significantly increased profit.
Go-to-market
The company sources acquisition targets directly, publicly inviting studios with live f2p portfolios to join its group, and positions its founder-friendly terms (retained independence plus access to the Uplift Platform and shared services) as the pitch. It also leans on a shareholder base of well-known European games founders for network, deal flow and advice.
Founders and owners of small-to-midsize game development studios with live free-to-play portfolios — including those whose initial hit has plateaued or that face rising operating costs — who are considering a sale while wanting to retain studio autonomy. End users are global players of the group's free-to-play mobile titles.
Geography
Phoenix Games is described as a European mobile games conglomerate, with acquisitions including the Belgian studio SmileyGamer and a shareholder base drawn from European games founders.
History
Phoenix Games was founded in 2019 by Klaas Kersting with the aim of acquiring and improving free-to-play studios. It completed five mobile studio acquisitions in its first roughly 18 months, including SmileyGamer, and reached approximately €30 million in revenue in 2020. In March 2021 it announced backing from eleven European mobile games founders, expanding its shareholder base and funding further acquisitions targeted through 2021. It subsequently built out the Uplift Platform as the technical core of its operating model.
Risks & controversies
The company's own materials note that in a mature free-to-play market roughly 95% of games fail to fully realize their potential or turn a profit, and that rising operating costs threaten the existence of small-to-midsize developers — the conditions its acquisition model is exposed to.
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.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsPhoenix Games announced it had secured support from 11 mobile games founders from companies including Fingersoft, Wooga, Kolibri Games and Bigpoint, adding them to its existing shareholder base. The company said the additional funding would accelerate growth and fund further game studio acquisitions through 2021. No amount was disclosed. New investors included Toni Fingerroos (Fingersoft), Jens Begemann (Wooga), Daniel Stammler, Janosch Sadowski and Oliver Löffler (Kolibri Games), Heiko Hubertz (WHOW Games and Bigpoint), Philipp Mohr and Pulitha Liyanagama (DataTiger and Comufy), Dirk Schwartz (Chrono24), Manfred Unser (Actief Group GmbH) and Affan Butt (Aream & Co.).
Phoenix Games' most recent acquisition as of March 2021 was Belgian match-3 specialist SmileyGamer.
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
- Phoenix Gamesphoenixgames.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Phoenix Games do?
- European mobile games group that acquires free-to-play studios and improves their economics via an AI-based Uplift Platform.
- Who founded Phoenix Games?
- Phoenix Games was founded by Klaas Kersting.
- Who are Phoenix Games's investors?
- Phoenix Games's investors include BLN Capital, Sisu Game Ventures.