Pocket Gems
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2009
- Employees
- 51-200
- Offices
- 1
About Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems is a San Francisco mobile game developer and publisher creating interactive entertainment for iOS and Android. Founded in 2009 by Daniel Terry and Harlan Crystal, the company develops games spanning casual simulation, interactive fiction and real-time strategy. Its work combines game design, engineering, narrative development and ongoing content operations.
The studio first established itself through its Tap franchise, including Tap Zoo, Tap Pet Hotel and Tap Campus Life. These early simulation games formed the foundation for a portfolio that later expanded into more technically demanding multiplayer games and mobile storytelling platforms.
Games and interactive storytelling
Released in 2015, War Dragons is a 3D real-time strategy mobile game built on the company's proprietary Mantis Engine. It represents the studio's investment in mobile graphics, simulation and synchronous multiplayer experiences. Other games in its portfolio include Adventure Chef: Merge Explorer, a casual merge and resource-management title, and Wild Beyond, a competitive strategy game.
Pocket Gems also publishes the Episode storytelling franchise, whose development and distribution involve its operating subsidiary, Episode Interactive. Launched in 2014, Episode - Choose Your Story combines animated interactive fiction with a platform for community-created narratives. The ecosystem includes story creation tools and a writer portal, supporting more than 150,000 community-written stories and billions of reads, according to the supplied research.
The storytelling portfolio also includes Episode XOXO, a curated narrative title on Apple Arcade, and Episode: Reality Stars, which combines branching narrative fiction with social gameplay. Across its games and platforms, Pocket Gems supports episodic publication, live events, community engagement and ongoing game operations.
The company remains an independently operated private business backed by Sequoia Capital and minority investor Tencent. Its portfolio has accumulated more than 500 million downloads worldwide and generated over $1 billion in lifetime revenue.
More about Pocket Gems
Leadership
The research identifies Ben Liu as Chief Executive Officer; co-founder Harlan Crystal as Chief Technology Officer; co-founder Daniel Terry as Executive Chairman / Chief Creative Officer; Helen Hsu as Chief Financial Officer; and Michael Dawson as Chief Business Officer.
Technology and operating model
The Mantis Engine was developed specifically for mobile graphics and simulation. The studio's technical capabilities also include real-time backend multiplayer synchronization. The report describes an on-site and hybrid team in San Francisco.
Origins and investment milestones
The founders were Cornell University classmates, and the business began in an apartment above a San Francisco pizza shop. Tencent invested $60 million for an initial 20% stake in 2015, then invested a further $90 million in 2017, increasing its minority holding to approximately 38%.
Notable credits
9 creditsOffices
Where Pocket Gems is based
- 220 Montgomery St., Suite 750 (7th Floor), San Francisco, CA 94104, United StatesSan Francisco, California, United States
San Francisco Headquarters
HeadquartersGlobal headquarters housing executive management, core game engineering, narrative development, product management and corporate operations.
Open roles
Find your next role at Pocket Gems