Plarium
{{Short description|Video game software company}}
{{Promotional|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Plarium
| logo = Plarium logo 2015.svg
| logo_size = 150px
| type = Subsidiary
| hq_location = Herzliya, Israel
| founders =
| industry = mobile, desktop and browser games
| products = Full list
| parent = Modern Times Group (MTG)
| num_employees = 1,300 (2022)
| foundation = {{start date and age|2009}}
| homepage = [https://www.plarium.com/ www.plarium.com]
}}
Plarium Global Ltd. (Hebrew: פלאריום) is a video game developer, publisher and subsidiary of the Sweden-based digital entertainment company Modern Times Group. It is known for creating mobile, desktop and browser games in various genres including MMO, RPG, action, strategy, and casual.
According to the company, Plarium has more than 500 million players worldwide.{{Cite web |title=About Plarium |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/about/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Its games are available on iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows through the Microsoft Store,{{Cite web |title=Raid: Shadow Legends |url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/raid-shadow-legends/9p1vwdpc7fnq?activetab=pivot:overviewtab |website=Microsoft.com}} Steam,{{Cite web |title=Raid: Shadow Legends |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2333480/RAID_Shadow_Legends/ |website=store.steampowered.com/}} Aptoide,{{Cite web |title=Raid: Shadow Legends |url=https://raid-plarium-global-ltd.en.aptoide.com/app |website=en.aptoide.com/}} and on PC/Mac via the game launcher Plarium Play.{{Cite web |title=Plarium Play Launcher - A Smoother PC Gaming experience for FREE |url=https://plarium.com/en/plarium-play/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=plarium.com}}
The company had more than 1300 employees in August 2025{{Cite web |title=About Plarium |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/about/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} and established studios in Herzliya (Israel) in 2009, where the current headquarters are situated,{{Cite web |title=About Plarium's Herzliya studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/israel-herzliya/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Warsaw (Poland),{{Cite web |title=About Plarium's Warsaw studio {{!}} company.plarium.com |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/poland-warsaw/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Barcelona (Spain),{{Cite web |title=Plarium's Barcelona studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/spain-barcelona/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Helsinki (Finland),{{Cite web |title=Plarium's Helsinki studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/finland-helsinki/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} and in the Ukrainian cities Kharkiv,{{Cite web |title=About Plarium's Kharkiv studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/ukraine-kharkiv/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Lviv,{{Cite web |title=About Plarium's Lviv studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/ukraine-lviv/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Kyiv{{Cite web |title=About Plarium's Kyiv studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/ukraine-kyiv/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} and Odesa.{{Cite web |title=About Plarium's Odesa studio |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/studio/ukraine-odesa/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}}
In addition, Plarium acquired San Francisco-based Rumble Games{{Cite web |title=Plarium Global acquires Rumble Games|url=https://company.plarium.com/en/articles/plarium-global-acquires-rumble-games/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} in 2017, which was closed in July 2022{{Cite web |author=Evgeny Obedkov |url=https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/07/22/rumble-entertainment-closed-after-13-years |title=KingsRoad developer Rumble Entertainment closes its doors after 13 years |website=gameworldobserver.com |date=2024-07-22 |language=en |access-date=2024-09-08}} and Helsinki-based studio Futureplay in 2021.{{Cite web |title=Plarium entered an agreement to acquire Finnish mobile game studio Futureplay to expand leadership in the casual games market |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/articles/plarium-acquire-futureplay/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |author=Evgeny Obedkov |url=https://gameworldobserver.com/2021/08/02/plarium-buys-finnish-studio-futureplay-to-expand-and-diversify-its-games-portfolio |title=Plarium buys Finnish studio Futureplay to expand and diversify its games portfolio|website=gameworldobserver.com |date=2024-08-02 |language=en |access-date=2024-09-08}}
There are more than 20 games in the Plarium portfolio.{{Cite web |title=About Plarium |url=https://company.plarium.com/en/about/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=company.plarium.com |language=en}} Plarium's most popular game is the dark fantasy gacha RPG Raid: Shadow Legends, which has more than 100 million downloads.{{Cite web|title=RAID: Shadow Legends celebrates 5th anniversary with "Festival of Creation" in-game event|url= https://company.plarium.com/en/articles/raid-shadow-legends-celebrates-5th-anniversary/|access-date=2025-05-09 |website=company.plarium.com |date=March 7, 2024 |language=en}} Other Plarium titles include Mech Arena, Merge Gardens (via Futureplay acquisition), Vikings: War of Clans, the Stormfall franchise (Stormfall: Age of War, Stormfall: Rise of Balur, Stormfall: Saga of Survival) and Lost Island: Blast Adventure.
Plarium has worked with celebrities, content creators, and notable Esports professionals in a promotional capacity, including Megan Fox, {{Cite web |title=Megan Fox Is The New Kate Upton As She Joins 'Stormfall: Rise of Balur' |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/05/04/megan-fox-is-the-new-kate-upton-as-she-joins-stormfall-rise-of-balur/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Forbes |language=en-US}} Ronda Rousey,{{Cite web |title=Ronda Rousey Joins A Video Game In Plarium's Raid: Shadow Legends
|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ronda-rousey-joins-a-video-game-in-plariums-raid-shadow-legends/1100-6509560/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}} Neymar,{{Cite web |title=Neymar JR ready to strike in mobile game Mech Arena|url=https://www.pockettactics.com/mech-arena/neymar-jr |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=PocketTactics |language=en-US}} Richard Tyler "Ninja" Blevins,{{Cite web |title=Ninja Is A Playable Character In Raid: Shadow Legends |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ninja-is-a-playable-character-in-raid-shadow-legends/1100-6493804/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}} Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev of the Esports team NAVI,{{Cite web |last=Astle |first=Aaron |title=Plarium partners with Navi to bring S1mple to Raid: Shadow Legends |url=https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77657/plarium-crossover-with-navi-adds-esports-star-s1mple-to-raid-shadow-legends/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=pocketgamer.biz|date=December 2021 }} and actor Jeff Goldblum.{{Cite press release |title=Plarium Partners with Jeff Goldblum for "RAID: Shadow Legends" in their next Global Advertising Campaign |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/plarium-partners-with-jeff-goldblum-for-raid-shadow-legends-in-their-next-global-advertising-campaign-879085871.html |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}
Plarium has previously employed BAFTA award winner Jesper Kyd, known for his work on video games such as Assassin's Creed and Borderlands, to compose the music for its games.{{Cite web |title=Jesper Kyd's Five Worlds of Plarium Soundtrack Dropping Soon |url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/jesper-kyds-five-worlds-of-plarium-soundtrack-dropping-soon/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Original Sound Version |language=en-US}}
History
Plarium was founded in 2009 in Herzliya, Israel, where it is headquartered, and started out by developing games for the Eastern European casual gaming market, such as Farmandia.
In 2011, Plarium began developing massively multiplayer online strategy games, and in February of that year the company released Total Domination which reached 20 million users.{{Cite web |date=2013-06-06 |title=Plarium aims to reproduce Facebook success with Total Domination: Reborn on iOS |url=https://venturebeat.com/business/plarium-aims-to-reproduce-facebook-success-with-total-domination-reborn-on-ios/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}
In November 2012, Plarium released Stormfall: Age of War, which was one of the fastest growing social games on Facebook.{{Cite news |author=Maya Epstein |title=Tech Roundup Plarium Gaming Company Scores a Top 20 Facebook Hit |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2013-03-15/ty-article/.premium/tech-roundup-plarium-has-a-top-20-facebook-hit/0000017f-e327-d804-ad7f-f3ff1b380000 |date=2013-03-15 |access-date=2022-08-17}}
On November 10, 2015, Plarium licensed characters of Alien vs. Predator from 20th Century Fox to add them to its Soldiers Inc. game.{{Cite web |last=Spangler|first=Todd |date=2015-09-14 |title='Alien vs. Predator' Coming to Facebook Game |url=https://variety.com/2015/digital/games/alien-vs-predator-avp-coming-to-facebook-game-1201591125/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Variety |language=en-US |quote=20th Century Fox licenses characters for Plarium's 'Soldiers Inc.' social game}}
On August 10, 2017, Aristocrat Leisure Limited announced its acquisition of Plarium for a $500 million upfront payment plus an earn-out arrangement to shareholders.{{Cite web |title=Aristocrat announces strategic acquisition of social gaming company Plarium |url=https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20170810/pdf/43l9cycvlfvpj7.pdf}}
Plarium released RAID: Shadow Legends on mobile in March 2019. The game was released on PC and Mac in 2020.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-21 |title=Plarium Releases Acclaimed Collection RPG 'RAID: Shadow Legends' on PC |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200121005041/en/Plarium-Releases-Acclaimed-Collection-RPG-%E2%80%98RAID-Shadow-Legends%E2%80%99-on-PC |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.businesswire.com |language=en}}
The Plarium Play desktop launcher was released on PC and Mac in April 2019. It is a free launcher that serves as a distribution platform for Plarium games.{{Cite web |title=Plarium Play Launcher - A Smoother PC Gaming experience for FREE |url=https://plarium.com/en/plarium-play/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=plarium.com}}
On 12 August 2021, Plarium released the PvP team shooter Mech Arena on iOS and Android devices.{{Cite press release |title=Plarium Launches 'Mech Arena: Robot Showdown' On iOS And Android Mobile Devices |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plarium-launches-mech-arena-robot-showdown-on-ios-and-android-mobile-devices-301353447.html |date=2021-08-12 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}} Plarium and the players of Mech Arena made a combined donation of US$100,000 to the charitable foundation AbleGamers in February 2022.{{Cite web |last=Orr |first=Aaron |title=Plarium donates $100,000 to games accessibility charity AbleGamers |url=https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/78236/plarium-donates-100000-to-games-accessibility-charity-ablegamers/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=pocketgamer.biz|date=February 24, 2022 }} On August 3, 2022, the game was released on PC and Mac via Plarium Play.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-03 |title=Mech Arena on PC Launches with New Features – Plarium |url=https://plarium.com/en/blog/mech-arena-pc/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=plarium.com |language=en}}
On 10 March 2022, "as a response to the ongoing suffering of its employees and the people of Ukraine",{{cite web|url=https://opendatabot.ua/c/38570230 |title=Power structure Plarium |publisher=international software company that designs both mobile and browser games |date=2023-07-06 |access-date=2023-08-31}} Plarium Global Ltd. made the decision to remove all of its games from the app stores and ceased accepting Plarium Play and Plarium.com payments in Russia and Belarus until further notice.{{Cite web |title=Plarium Games |url=https://twitter.com/plarium/status/1501920080355106824 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Twitter}}
On February 12, 2025, Modern Times Group announced it acquired Plarium from Aristocrat Leisure Limited for USD $620 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.mtg.com/press-releases/mtg-completes-the-acquisition-of-plarium-and-becomes-a-scaled-midcore-gaming-leader/ |title=MTG completes the acquisition of Plarium and becomes a scaled midcore gaming leader |website=mtg.com |date=2025-02-12 |access-date=2025-05-09}}
Reception
Plarium's Stormfall: Age of War made "Top 20 Facebook apps" chart during its 2012 launch, and was one of the fastest growing Facebook apps by monthly active users at that time.{{Cite web |last=DarwellNovember 26 |first=Brittany |date=2012 |title=CityVille 2, Subway Surfers, Stormfall, Snapchat, Twitter and more on this week's top 20 Facebook apps growing by MAU |url=https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/cityville-2-subway-surfers-stormfall-snapchat-twitter-and-more-on-this-weeks-top-20-facebook-apps-growing-by-mau/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |language=en-US}}
In 2013, Facebook named Soldiers Inc. as one of the best new social games of the year.{{Cite web |date=2013-12-09 |title=Facebook names its top games of 2013 |url=https://venturebeat.com/games/facebook-names-its-top-games-of-2013/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}
In 2014, Plarium was named one of Europe's most promising startups by Wired UK journalist Madhumita Venkataramanan.{{Cite news |date=2016-05-02 |title=Europe's hottest startups 2014: Tel Aviv (Wired UK) |newspaper=Wired UK |url=http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2014/09/european-startups/tel-aviv/page/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502041855/http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2014/09/european-startups/tel-aviv/page/2 |archive-date=2016-05-02 |access-date=2022-08-17 }}
In 2014, Facebook's Director of Platform Partnerships, Julien Codorniou mentioned Plarium as one of the top global gaming companies on the Facebook platform.{{Cite news |last=Hirschauge |first=Amir Mizroch and Orr |date=2014-09-16 |title=With Hostilities Over, DLD Kicks Off in Tel Aviv |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-DGB-37724 |access-date=2022-08-17 |issn=0099-9660}}
VentureBeat mentioned Plarium in March 2014 as one of the standalone gaming companies prioritizing social games on the Facebook platform.{{Cite web |date=2014-03-13 |title=Why one studio is still plugging away on new Facebook games |url=https://venturebeat.com/games/why-one-studio-is-still-plugging-away-on-new-facebook-games/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}
Plarium's RAID: Shadow Legends was nominated for the 2019 Google Play Users' Choice Awards in the "Games" category.{{Cite web |last=Oh |first=David |date=2019-11-11 |title=Google Play Users' Choice Awards 2019 voting has begun |url=https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/11/11/google-play-users-choice-awards-2019-voting-has-begun/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Android Police |language=en-US}} The game was also nominated for the "Game of the Year" and "Best Audio/Visual Accomplishment" categories at the 2020 Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards.{{Cite web |author=PocketGamer biz Staff|title=Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2020 finalists revealed |url=https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/72095/pg-mobile-games-awards-2020-finalists-revealed/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=pocketgamer.biz|date=December 5, 2019 }} It was featured as "Game of the Day" on the App Store{{Cite web |title=Game of the Day: Raid: Shadow Legends |url=https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1457222884 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=App Store |language=en-US}} and won the best "App Video" award at the 2020 App Growth Awards.{{Cite web |last=Dogtiev |first=Artyom |date=2020-12-07 |title=The 2020 App Growth Awards winners revealed |url=https://www.businessofapps.com/news/the-2020-app-growth-awards-winners-revealed/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Business of Apps |language=en-US}}
Plarium's game Mech Arena was the App Store's "Game of the Day" on October 15, 2021.{{Cite web |title=Game of the Day: Mech Arena |url=https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1569367545 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=App Store |language=en-US}}
In July 2022, RAID: Shadow Legends crossed US$1 billion in lifetime revenue, becoming "one of the world's most lucrative RPGs."{{Cite web |title=RAID: Shadow Legends Crosses $1 Billion in Lifetime Player Spending on Mobile |url=https://sensortower.com/blog/raid-shadow-legends-crosses-one-billion-revenue |date=July 2022 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=sensortower.com}}
In December 2024, it was shared that “Mech Arena” has been downloaded over 80 million times during an interview with the game’s director Vadym Syvolap.{{Cite web |title=Interview: Vadym, Mech Arena's Game Director, reveals the details on upcoming Law and Disorder event|url=https://www.pocketgamer.com/mech-arena/vadym-law-and-disorder-interview/ |date=December 6, 2024 |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=pocketgamer.com}}
Plarium games
Sources
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.plarium.com/}}
{{Plarium}}
Category:Video game companies established in 2009
Category:Israeli companies established in 2009
Category:Video game development companies