SYBO Games is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

company located in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark founded by Sylvester Rishøj Jensen and Bodie Jahn-Mulliner. SYBO is mainly known for being the creators and intellectual property owners of the second most downloaded mobile runner game called ''

Subway Surfers ''Subway Surfers'' is an endless runner mobile game co-developed by Kiloo and SYBO Games, private companies based in Denmark. It is available on Android (operating system), Android, iOS, HarmonyOS, Amazon Kindle, Kindle, and Windows Phone plat ...

'', co-developed with Kiloo. SYBO has also released a second mobile runner game called ''Blades of Brim''. Like ''Subway Surfers'', Blades of Brim is also an endless runner

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (o ...

title with in-app purchases. SYBO was among the first seven

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games with ''Subway Surfers Airtime'', released late 2019. In June 2022,

Miniclip Miniclip SA is a mobile game publisher and former browser game website that launched in 2001. It was started by Robert Small and Tihan Presbie with a budget of £40,000. In 2008, the company was valued at over £275 million. In 2009, Miniclip ...

agreed to buy SYBO in undisclosed deal.

Games popularity and TV production

One week after the release of ''Subway Surfers'', the

running

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

had three million downloads and was the most downloaded game in 20 countries. Consequently, AppAdvice named it the Game of the Week for May 31, 2012. Four months later, Subway Surfers was available to Android users and quickly spread. The following month saw Subway Surfers rise into the top 20 growing

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apps by

monthly active users Active users is a measurement metric that is commonly used to measure the level of engagement for a particular product or object, by quantifying the number of active interactions from visitors within a relevant range of time (daily, weekly and m ...

. Eight months after the initial release, ''Subway Surfers'' landed 100 million downloads. By 2017, ''Subway Surfers'' was the most downloaded game across the globe. Furthermore, ''Subway Surfers'' is the first Android mobile game to cross one billion downloads in Google Play, a milestone reached in March 2018. Today, the Subway Surfers runner game has been downloaded over 2.7 billion times averaging over 100 million active users per month. The success of ''Subway Surfers'' has also resulted in the creation of ''Subway Surfers The Animated Series'' - an 11-episode, short-form cartoon series that follows the adventures of the game’s four main protagonists; Jake, Tricky, Fresh and Yutani. The show also includes some antagonistic characters such as Guard, Dog, and Frank - the mysterious figure who wears a bunny mask. The series premiered on June 1, 2018 and was well-received. The episodes have accumulated over 100 million views and are currently published on SYBO TV (SYBO’s YouTube channel with over 3.3 million subscribers) along with supporting content such as behind-the-scenes and character feature videos. The short-form episodes premiered June 1, 2018, with 11 episodes where you get to know the main characters of the Subway Surfers game. The short-form animated series shows the lives of the main characters Jake, Tricky, Fresh and Yutani and introduces the mysterious Frank, a guy with a bunny mask, among other characters including the Guard and the Dog. The animated series has over 120 million views on their SYBO TV channel. SYBO further extended its universe by launching the

game Subway Surfers Airtime as of late 2019. The multiplayer mobile game allows you to challenge your friends and race with your favorite characters. Skate the tracks and collect coins to unlock new characters. Hold and release to jump and get ahead of your friends to reach the finish line first. SYBO's second endless runner game was Blades of Brim (BoB) released in 2015. Blades of Brim became the editor's choice in the Apple app store as of 2016. The player runs through levels to save the world of Brim by fighting the Goon Lord’s minion army. The BoB endless runner is free-to-play, includes magic creatures and inspiring surroundings.

History

Knowing each other from the leading animation institution in Denmark, the Animation Workshop, Creative Director Sylvester Rishøj Jensen and CEO Bodie Jahn-Mulliner founded SYBO Games in 2010 as a consequence of winning 1st prize for best animation movie at Hamburg Animation Award 2009. Their short film featured a graffiti troublemaker who had to run away from the dog and the guard as they chased him around in the subway. Pitching the game idea for

Danish Film Institute The Danish Film Institute ( da, Det Danske Filminstitut) is the national Danish agency responsible for supporting and encouraging film and cinema culture, and for conserving these in the national interest. Also known as ''Filmhuset'' ("the film h ...

, New Danish Screen sponsored SYBO Games initiative for the game resulting in a release three years later. Before they launched Subway Surfers, they also created the game apps Powerflow and Cosmic Cab. Today, the game studio is completely self-owned and continues to develop regular updates for ''Subway Surfers'', while also creating other games for

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

Subway Surfers Animated Series

On June 1, 2018, the first of a series of animated shorts debuted on SYBO Games

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channel. At the beginning of 2020, the series hit 170 million views. The 10 x 4-minute episodic series is scripted by Brent Friedman and Francesca Marie Smith and produced by Daytime Emmy award-winning producer

Sander Schwartz Sander Schwartz (born January 7, 1954, Cleveland, Ohio, United States) is an American Daytime Emmy award-winning producer of television animation. He was President of Warner Bros. Animation between 2001 and 2007, followed by President, International ...

. Chris Bartleman is supervising director and Michael Hegner is the director.

Playing for the Planet

SYBO, together with 20 other gaming studios around the world, joined the Playing for the planet initiative together with UN Environment. It is an alliance between the biggest gaming companies to deliver video games for a more sustainable future through several commitments. The gaming studios reach more than 970 million video game players, why their big reach also makes a big impact when they aim to reduce emissions by 30 million tonnes CO2 by 2030, plant millions of trees, advance

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

, increase

consumer awareness Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and pr ...

via in-game menus and game design, reduce plastics and toxics in packaging, steer towards a

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...

in plastic and electronic device ( e-waste) management, and catalyze a global scale ally in planetary problem-solving. But SYBO itself has already committed to the environment for many years by trying to reduce their impact through an organic and mostly vegetarian canteen, by choosing sustainable office materials and installing solar panels on the roof to compensate for the electricity in the office. SYBO has also CO2 compensated by investing in solar projects in India and waste management in Chile, to only mention a few things they have done.play

Awards and honors

SYBO Games winning Best Pitch at Growing Games 2011 Subway Surfers declared AppAdvice's Game of the Week for May 31, 2012 Subway Surfers nominated in the Community Choice-category by Unity Awards 2012 for games that takes the best advantage of the Unity 3D game engine Winner of Best Danish Game at Mobil Awards 2012 by Danish newspaper B.T. and Magasinet Mobil Among top 10 non-stop running game apps for iOS and Android by NDTV Gadgets Winner of Best Bathroom Break Casual Game 2013 by Best Mobile App Awards Subway Surfers nominated for Best Nordic Handheld Game 2013 by Nordic Game Awards Subway Surfers nominated by Producentforeningen for Game Of the Year in Denmark, Spilprisen, 2013 5th Annual Awards Winner for Best Entertainment App by BestAppEver for Android

References

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External links

SYBO Games websiteSYBO TV
Mobile game companies Software companies of Denmark Software companies based in Copenhagen Companies based in Copenhagen Danish companies established in 2010 Video game companies established in 2010 2022 mergers and acquisitions Video game companies based in Copenhagen Video game companies of Denmark Video game development companies Companies based in Copenhagen Municipality