Wooga turns Ten — reflections by Jens Begemann, CEO and Founder
Wow — time runs. This month ten years ago my co-founders and I set up Wooga in the heart of Berlin with the vision of making games a widely used and accepted form of entertainment, comparable to music or television. Looking back at those ten years they really just flew by — from initiating the company to our partnership with Playtika which we only announced a few weeks ago.
Back then, in early 2009, we quickly celebrated our first successes — and were amazed how fast Wooga grew. In only four months, Brain Buddies, Wooga’s first game ever, was able to attract six million active users on Facebook. A couple of years later we moved to mobile, and launched our first game on the new platform, Diamond Dash, in late 2011.
So we grew from social to mobile. We grew from a few games to many games. And then, after a period of experimentation, we implemented a new paradigm in early 2018 — our strong focus on story driven casual games. We set out our vision to become the player’s choice for story-driven casual games. Wooga obviously keeps developing and adapting to market needs.
The journey has not always been easy. I went through some of the greatest moments of my life, and through some of the toughest. But I never doubted that Wooga was in it for the long game.
Of course, there were many internal highlights that I remember very well (and with some pride) — games launches, hiring employee #100, being profitable for the first time — to name just a few. Amongst some of the developments that received the most external attention were:
- When we knew we had become a serious player in the German startup scene: “The German chancellor Merkel visits the Wooga offices” (https://blog.wooga.com/angela-merkel-on-tour-high-profile-visit-for-berlins-startup-scene-cf753d6fa53e)
- When we were proven to be a company that takes the needs of its employees serious: “Wooga is being voted Berlin’s most family-friendly company” (https://blog.wooga.com/wooga-is-berlins-most-family-friendly-company-f5f9d2404afd)
- When we had come of age and were becoming part of a larger ecosystem: “Wooga is being acquired by Playtika” (https://blog.wooga.com/playtika-acquires-casual-games-studio-wooga-ddc4b6771bb)
Obviously, without the people at Wooga none of this would have been possible. Being close to employees and the community was always important for Wooga. I strongly believe that only a company that cares about its employees and the environment it does business in can succeed in the long run. And that is why we support organizations like War Child, Girls Make Games, and why we drive diversity inside Wooga and within the industry, for example by hosting the first ever Gaymers’ Night in Germany in our office in 2018.
To celebrate our tenth anniversary internally, earlier this month we all left our desks for a day and started to refurbish the Wooga offices. This exercise showed the true spirit of this company — building great things together.
The journey of Wooga would have not been possible without the people who work here, and the people who have worked here. So a big “Thank You” goes to everybody in the Wooga family.
I love working at Wooga. I know that I spent the last ten years in the best company I can think of. And I am looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead of us.
Jens Begemann, CEO & Founder
