Shipyard Games Closes: A Pioneering Geolocation Game Developer Bids Farewell

Shipyard Games, once a promising pioneer in geolocation gaming, has unfortunately reached the end of its journey.

In a recent Discord post (via PocketGamer.biz), Helsinki-based mobile games developer, announced their departure as they were “running out of money.”

Set up in February 2017 to take on Pokémon GO, a massive location-based hit, the company attracted a $3 million investment from Supercell, the developer of Clash of Clans.

The team included three of its five founding members who had previously worked together on the early location-based title Shadow Cities, which first launched in 2011.

Despite the promising team and significant investment, Shipyard Games struggled to produce successful geolocation games, leading to their investors backing out.

In a message dated May 13, 2024, Andreas Wedenberg, co-founder and CEO of Shipyard Games, announced the closure and explained the situation,

“Our financial situation became critical. We ran out of money, and our previous investor chose not to continue supporting us, despite the game’s potential.“

What Projects Did Shipyard Games Work On?

Throughout its existence, Shipyard Games worked on several projects aimed at pushing the boundaries of geolocation gaming:

Go City

Go City was an unreleased location-based title discussed in 2019 that unfortunately never materialized. The game was expected to follow in the footsteps of Pokémon GO but failed to reach fruition.

Wizards & Kingdoms GO

Wizards & Kingdoms GO was the company’s last attempt at creating a successful geolocation game. According to Wedenberg, the game showed rapid growth and attracted a dedicated player base even in its early stages.

Despite the “positive” responses, Wizards & Kingdoms GO will not receive more updates, and the game will eventually be taken offline. Wedenberg apologized to its fans stating,

“We sincerely appreciate so much all of your help, amazing feedback, bug reports, memes, tutorials, kind words for the team… and we are very sorry we could not finish the game you all deserve, but unfortunately often dreams need money to become true, and we ran out of it.”

While Shipyard Games’ closure is a setback for the geolocation gaming niche, it doesn’t necessarily spell doom for the concept. Their journey provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities within this space. Other companies may learn from their experience and find ways to make location-based games commercially viable.

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