Shipyard Games

Shipyard Games was an independent Finnish mobile game developer founded in Helsinki in 2017. It focused on location-based games, using real-world geography as the foundation for city building, exploration and multiplayer competition. The studio developed its own intellectual property and handled game design, engineering and live operations internally.

Several founding members had previously worked together at Grey Area, the developer behind Shadow Cities, an early location-based mobile MMO released in 2011. The success of Pokémon GO in 2016 helped inspire the creation of Shipyard Games by demonstrating the commercial potential of games built around players’ physical surroundings.

Games built around real places

The studio’s first project, Go City, soft-launched on iOS in 2019. It let players purchase real-world road segments, visit nearby points of interest and develop urban districts. Its maps translated geographic information into playable environments, connecting familiar neighborhoods with mobile city-building mechanics.

Skyship Heroes, developed in 2021 as a prototype or soft-launch project, explored real-time multiplayer combat using hexagonal divisions of the real-world map. The studio also experimented with City Gardens in 2023, combining mobile gardening with neighborhood-based culinary simulation.

Its final major project, Wizards & Kingdoms GO, launched worldwide on iOS and Android in May 2024. The fantasy conquest game divided players into three rival factions competing over real geographical territory. Players could construct castles, gather local resources, raid world bosses and participate in territory-control tournaments.

Investment and closure

Supercell invested $2.9 million in April 2017 in exchange for a minority stake. Shipyard Games continued as an independent operating studio rather than a Supercell subsidiary.

In May 2024, the company told players that it had exhausted its operating funds and could not secure further backing. Operations ended during 2024, with closure reported by industry publications that August. The Finnish Trade Register subsequently recorded the legal entity as ceased on July 11, 2025.