Scopely snaps up Double Loop staff as studio closes after first soft launch | Pocket Gamer.biz

Recent years in the gaming industry have been awash with upheaval, disruption and tumult, from countless game closures to staff layoffs and even studio shutterings. The latter has struck Double Loop Games this time, four years on from founding and before its first game could even see full release.

The US-based, women-led mobile games studio was formed by Emily Greer and Shelby Moledina, CEO and COO respectively, before the pandemic. The company has “struggled” on since, but with the modern gaming landscape’s “hostile funding and marketing environment”, ultimately Double Loop’s end has come.

Market challenges

As an ex-Kongregate CEO, Greer announced Double Loop’s founding in early 2020 with the goal of making relaxing games for mobile players who don’t consider themselves hardcore gamers. A $2.5 million seed round had already been completed by then, with investments from big names like Supercell and Unity supporting Double Loop’s first game.

This debut title, later confirmed to be a hybrid puzzle and social game, saw further investment from Hiro Capital, Garena and Riot Games in 2021, with a completed Series A round raising another $8 million.

According to Double Loop’s website this game is currently in soft launch, although it goes unnamed. And now with the studio closing, it looks like a soft launch is as far as it will go.

“We’re very sad to announce that Double Loop Games is shutting down after four great years. Shelby Moledina and I are so proud of the team, culture, and games we’ve built in that time. Unfortunately, like many other small studios in 2023, we struggled to break through in a very hostile funding and marketing environment, particularly for mobile games,” Greer posted on LinkedIn.

“We want to thank all the team members, investors, business partners, friends, and family who worked with us, believed in us, and supported us through this journey. It’s been a wonderful experience because of all of you, and we wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Fortunately not all staff will be out of work as a result of the closure, as Double Loop received an invitation from Monopoly Go maker Scopely in November 2023 to onboard most team members to “a new project” within the casual GSN studio.

As for Greer and Moledina, they plan to take “some extended time off” before diving into their next projects.