Wildlife Studios
Brazilian mobile game publisher behind Sniper 3D, Tennis Clash and Zooba.
On the record
Checkpoint: Window closes for a new funding round or acquisition at or near the $3B mark
The call
A once-hot Brazilian mobile publisher now runs leaner and older, betting new titles like Paradise Paws can offset three straight years of contraction.
Wildlife Studios makes popular mobile games like Sniper 3D and Tennis Clash that millions download, but now faces two big problems: much larger companies like Scopely and Playtika can spend more money to attract and keep players, and artificial intelligence tools now let even small teams make game art and levels cheaply, removing the advantage Wildlife once had from being a skilled mid-sized studio. The company has been cutting staff for three years and has not raised new investment since 2020, suggesting investors are not confident. A big shift would be getting bought by one of the gaming giants, though that could happen at a price far lower than Wildlife's value five years ago.
Why
01
AI pressure: Generative AI content tools (Scenario, Meshy, Unity Muse, Ludo.ai). AI art and level tools let tiny studios match Wildlife's old production speed, erasing its scale edge in content output. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: Scopely (Savvy Games Group), Playtika, Supercell. Wildlife fell out of mobile gaming's top 15 publishers by late 2025 while Scopely, Playtika and Supercell kept scaling hits. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Sniper 3D, Tennis Clash and Zooba still pull in real revenue and over 4 billion lifetime downloads, buying time for a new hit.
What would change this call
Wildlife announces a new priced funding round within 12 months. Would show investors still value the company near or above the 2020 $3B mark.
Paradise Paws or Bobbie Goods game reaches mobile top-grossing charts in 2026. Would show a breakout hit reversing the three-year revenue and headcount contraction.
Wildlife is acquired or merges with a larger publisher like Scopely or Savvy Games Group. Would confirm distress and inability to compete independently against better-funded rivals.
Paradise Paws or Bobbie Goods game reaches mobile top-grossing charts in 2026. Would show a breakout hit reversing the three-year revenue and headcount contraction.
Wildlife is acquired or merges with a larger publisher like Scopely or Savvy Games Group. Would confirm distress and inability to compete independently against better-funded rivals.
Key numbers
- $3B valuation unchanged since Aug 2020 raise
- Headcount cut from ~1,100 to ~400-500, 2022-2024
- 4.5B+ lifetime downloads claimed by company
Named risks
- No new priced funding round since August 2020, over five years without a valuation update.
- Three consecutive years of layoffs (2022, 2023, 2024) with headcount roughly halved from peak.
- Absent from top-15 global mobile publisher charts as of December 2025.
- Leadership instability with CEO changes in 2023 and again in 2024.
- Generative AI tools lower barriers for smaller rival studios, eroding Wildlife's execution-scale edge.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Scopely | gaining on | Owned by Savvy Games Group after $4.9B 2023 acquisition, acquired Niantic's Pokemon GO business in 2025 |
| Supercell, King, Playrix | gaining on | Regularly outrank Wildlife on monthly top-15 publisher charts as of Nov-Dec 2025 |
| Playtika | contesting | Larger social-casino publisher competing on same live-ops/UA axes as Wildlife |
| Tencent, NetEase | gaining on | Largest global mobile publishers by revenue, outscale Wildlife's capital and reach |
Questions people ask
- Is Wildlife Studios profitable?
- Wildlife Studios is private and discloses no audited revenue or profit figures. It has cut staff in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and has raised no new funding since its $120M Series B in August 2020, patterns more consistent with cost-cutting than confirmed profitability as of early 2026.
- Who owns Wildlife Studios?
- Wildlife Studios is privately held, founded in 2011 by brothers Victor and Arthur Lazarte. Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Benchmark Capital (2019 Series A), and Vulcan Capital plus Human Capital (2020 Series B). Arthur Lazarte returned as CEO in 2024 after Victor stepped down in June 2023.
- Could AI replace Wildlife Studios' developers?
- Generative AI tools for art, level design, and QA are widely adopted industry-wide, with about 90% of game developers already using some AI in workflows per a 2025 Google Cloud/Harris Poll survey cited June 2026. This trend lowers barriers for smaller rivals rather than protecting mid-tier studios like Wildlife.
- Who is Wildlife Studios' biggest competitor?
- Scopely is the most direct threat: owned by Savvy Games Group after a $4.9B acquisition in 2023, driven by MONOPOLY GO!, and it acquired Niantic's Pokemon GO business in 2025. Supercell, King, Playrix, Tencent and NetEase also regularly outrank Wildlife on mobile publisher charts.
- Has Wildlife Studios raised new funding recently?
- No. Wildlife Studios' last confirmed funding round was a $120M Series B led by Vulcan Capital in August 2020, valuing the company near $3B. As of 2026, more than five years have passed with no reported follow-on round or new valuation benchmark.
- What games does Wildlife Studios make?
- Wildlife Studios' portfolio includes Sniper 3D, Tennis Clash, Zooba, War Machines, Castle Crush, and Block Craft, plus newer titles like Paradise Paws (launched August 2025) and Bobbie Goods coloring games, which reached 1 million monthly users by August 2025 per company reporting.
Timeline
- 2025-08Launched Paradise Paws game and Iron Maiden x War Machines partnership; Bobbie Goods hits 1M monthly users
- 2024-02Cut 21% of staff (133 people), third consecutive year of layoffs
- 2024-01Co-founder Arthur Lazarte returns as CEO per company materials
- 2023-06CEO Victor Lazarte steps down, replaced by ex-Amazon exec Peter Hill; 13% staff cut
- 2023-01Announced Web3 version of Castle Crush on Avalanche blockchain
- 2022-11Laid off roughly 300 staff, cancelled all non-mobile projects
- 2020-08$120M Series B led by Vulcan Capital values company near $3B
- 2019-12$60M Series A led by Benchmark Capital values company at $1.3B
- 2011Company founded in Sao Paulo by Victor and Arthur Lazarte as TFG/Top Free Games
Revision history
29 July 2026
First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Taking Games Seriously: An Interview with Wildlife Studios Co-Founders (2020-05-12)
- Wildlife Studios Secures $60 million Investment (2019-12-06)
- Brazilian gaming company reaches $3 billion valuation with new investment (2020-08-14)
- Game Over For Wildlife's CEO as Brazilian Unicorn Restructures, Cuts 13% of Staff (2023-06-15)
- Newsroom Wildlife (2024-01-01)
- Revenue, Competitors, Alternatives (2022-04-16)
- Zooba maker Wildlife Studios raises $60 million (2019-12-05)
- Newsroom Wildlife (2025-08-12)
- Wildlife Studios Employee Directory (2026-05-31)
- Newsroom Wildlife (2025-08-12)
- Massive layoffs at Wildlife (2022-12-10)
- Wildlife Studios cuts 21% of its staff (2024-02-29)