SYBO Games

SYBO ApS is a mobile games entertainment studio located in Copenhagen, Denmark founded by Sylvester Rishøj Jensen and Bodie Jahn-Mulliner. SYBO is mainly known for being creators and intellectual property owners of the most downloaded mobile runner game called Subway Surfers,[1] co-developed with Kiloo. SYBO have also released a second mobile runner game called Blades of Brim.[2] Like Subway Surfers, Blades of Brim is also an endless runner freemium title with in-app purchases.[3] SYBO was among the first seven Snapchat games with Subway Surfers Airtime,[4] released late 2019

SYBO ApS
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded2010
Headquarters
Copenhagen
,
Denmark
Key people
Bodie Jahn-Mulliner (President & Co-Founder)
Sylvester Rishøj Jensen (Chief Creative Director
Mathias Gredal Nørvig (CEO)
David Byrne (Chief Operations Officer)
Naz Amarchi-Cuevas (Chief Commercial Officer, Head of Licensing & Brand Marketing)
ProductsSubway Surfers
Blades of Brim
Subway Surfers Airtime
MarkAR
Websitehttp://www.sybogames.com

Games popularity and TV production

One week after the release of Subway Surfers, the freemium running game for iOS had three million downloads and was the most downloaded game in 20 countries.[5] Consequently, AppAdvice named it the Game of the Week for May 31, 2012.[6] Four months later, Subway Surfers was available to Android users and quickly spread.[7] The following month saw Subway Surfers rise into the top 20 growing Facebook apps by monthly active users.[8] Eight months after the initial release, Subway Surfers landed 100 million downloads.[9] By 2017, Subway Surfers was the most downloaded game across the globe.[10] Furthermore, Subway Surfers is the first Android mobile game to cross one billion downloads in Google Play, a milestone reached in March 2018.[11]

Today, the Subway Surfers runner game has been downloaded over 2.7 billion times averaging over 100 million active users per month.[12]

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.[13]

SYBO further extended its universe by launching the Snapchat game Subway Surfers Airtime[14] 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[15] (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.

Game concepts and business model

[16] SYBO running games are free-to-play, and intuitive for new players at almost any age to start and get a sense of achievement and succeed without paying to win. Every third week, Subway Surfers travels to a new destination around the world and have already visited more than 60 different cities - also known as the Subway Surfers World Tour. The Subway Surfers universe gives fans a humorous and relatable environment through cartoony graphics. It is an all inclusive game which features characters from all around the world, with different outfits, boards and styles.[17][18]

SUBSURF®

SUBSURF is the licensing brand under which SYBO sells Subway Surfers inspired merchandise. The brand designs t-shirts, shoes and hoodies as well as toys, wheeled goods, bags and more. SUBSURF extends Subway Surfers into a consumer lifestyle brand. The SUBSURF brand is founded in SYBOs love for street art, skate, hip hop and dance. Some of the designs can be bought in their Amazon store,[19] but limited edition t-shirts can be found at NEXT[20] and TESCO.[21] Hot Topic features almost 200 SUBSURF® t-shirt designs in different sizes and colors. Shoes can be found on Vans off the wall collection, which were shown off at Subway Surfers Venice Beach party.[22]

The SUBSURF® consumer and lifestyle merchandise brand readies for a comprehensive brick and mortar retail program in the U.S., exclusively at Walmart beginning summer 2020. From toys, apparel, accessories, wheeled goods, home tech and more, merchandise will be available in more than a dozen categories as new partners have signed to create, manufacture and market a variety of products based on Subway Surfers. The SUBSURF brand will blend a number of influences including street art, youth fashion, skate culture and dance.[23]

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.[24][25]

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, New Danish Screen sponsored SYBO Games initiative for the game[26] resulting in a release three years later.

Before they launched Subway Surfers, they also created the game apps Powerflow[27] and Cosmic Cab.[28]

Today, the game studio is completely self-owned and continues to develop regular updates for Subway Surfers,[29][30] while also creating other games for mobile devices.

Subway Surfers Animated Series

On June 1, 2018, the first of a series of animated shorts debuted on SYBO Games YouTube channel. In 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. Chris Bartleman is supervising director and Michael Hegner is director. Denmark’s WilFilm provides post-production services.[31]

The series story line is as follows. It introduces four best friends, the main characters of the Subway Surfers game, as they navigate the exuberant joys and ironically-epic dilemmas of teenage life. Together, Jake, Tricky, Fresh and Yutani explore their skatepark and find a mysterious hole in the ground which leads them to a baffling secret in the Subway underground. The series ends with a spooky scene with Frank, the guy with the bunny mask. SYBO TV features character dossiers to learn more about the characters and Adam and Alex made a Frank mask challenge which went viral.

SYBO TV

Hosted by Adam and Alex on Youtube, SYBO TV broadcasts live streams of the game, hosts special guest interviews, attends events and movie premieres and shows delicious Jake’s shakes videos. It is a channel full of entertainment connected to the Subway Surfers game as well as the Animated Series and newer projects such as Mark AR (a collaboration with iDreamSky). The YouTube channel, with over 4 million subscribers, therefore has subscribers from all over the world, who are not only interested in the mobile game but also just love entertaining content. SYBO TV was watched 8+ million hours in 2019 and had over 145+ million views.

MARK AR

SYBO may be mostly known for Subway Surfers, the runner game, but in October 2019 they showcased a new app called MARK AR[32] on a pop-up launch at New York Comic Con. It is an augmented reality graffiti app co-launched with iDreamSky and developed with Google’s latest AR Core technology. The app allows the user to “spray” graffiti around the cities and enjoy graffiti art of others without actually painting anywhere. “It will offer a new way to discover any city” says Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO at SYBO.  “Make your mark” are the sayings of Mark AR, where street artists, companies and people walking the city can all create their own shareable graffiti paintings. It is a revolutionary Mobile AR social app with completely new technology.

Playing for the Planet

SYBO, together with 20 other gaming studios around the world, joined the Playing for the planet[33] 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, increase consumer awareness via in-game menus and game design, reduce plastics and toxics in packaging, steer towards a circular economy 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 [34]

Subway Surfers declared AppAdvice's Game of the Week for May 31, 2012 [35]

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 [36]

Winner of Best Danish Game at Mobil Awards 2012 by Danish newspaper B.T. and Magasinet Mobil [37]

Among top 10 non-stop running game apps for iOS and Android by NDTV Gadgets [38]

Winner of Best Bathroom Break Casual Game 2013 by Best Mobile App Awards [39]

Subway Surfers nominated for Best Nordic Handheld Game 2013 by Nordic Game Awards [40]

Subway Surfers nominated by Producentforeningen for Game Of the Year in Denmark, Spilprisen, 2013 [41]

5th Annual Awards Winner for Best Entertainment App by BestAppEver for Android [42]

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