How This Horse-Based Gaming Startup Hit 10 Million Users In Six Years

You'd be forgiven if the island of Jorvik has remained a mystery to you until now. Just celebrating its 10-millionth registered user, Star Stable Entertainment is the over-50% female-run gaming startup you've never heard of but need to take note of. Why? They're doing it right. Based in Stockholm -- a huge area for gaming with the likes of developers Supercell and King, amongst others -- Star Stable is situated on the tenth floor of the "Epicentre" mega-hub, which houses innovation arms of Spotify and other large Nordic startups. Money-wise, Star Stable is not messing around; the game costs either $8.49 per month or approximately  $74.99 for a lifetime membership and features in-app purchases. Last year, the company saw $15 million revenue and has seen double yearly growth since its start phase. This is important on two fronts: future investment and public scrutiny (more on this later).

With more than 500,000 MAUs on an average month, Star Stable is a subscription-based MMORPG (think: World of Warcraft meets The Sims) where you complete challenges, hang out and generally do all things horse-based according to Fredric Gunnarson, CEO of Star Stable; "There's a lot of 'Lovebombing' us back. [The community] send us cupcakes to the office. The whole thing is just unique. I have been in startups and worked in VC but it is often adrenaline-driven and a super tight agenda...someone wants to get rich...someone wants to get rich but this just naturally gravitates together and works. There's a lot of joy around [the game]."

Joy is right. There is no killing in the game, the premise focusing on an island that was created when a meteor hit and radiated extra powers to nature and the surroundings. This is important when you have a "mostly 13-year-old" crowd (although the game also has grandmothers enjoying it, per Gunnarson). The 10 million tween audience is predominantly in the northern hemisphere product with the top market being the U.S. followed by Germany, UK, France and then Scandinavia (although there is a large user base in Australia, too). Strong horse cultures, but not necessarily a pre-requisite.


Growth has been steady, which is impressive and important when you have a lot of text in the game; Gunnarson explained there is the same amount of text in-game as in the Lord of the Ring trilogy. The game is incredibly WOM friendly, but has also used TV ads and interestingly a YouTube show that contained game news, a tactic few games companies employ at the business-level preferring to instead leave this to die-hard fans. "Facilitating the community creation was the most important part for us...some players become authorities...but it has all been fed through social media and about continuing a real dialogue in that space," according to Gunnarson.

Taking the plunge was a leap of faith, though, according to Gunnarson, because people were not supportive of this then seemingly radical idea: "Five or six years ago people were saying PC games are dead, don't do it, everything is mobile. Games for girls? Silly idea, do something else. Subscription models? Everyone is talking free-to-play...We figured three, four no's make a yes."

With much more planned, including updated graphics, expanding worlds and merchandise to expand the ecosystem, Star Stable's future looks bright. With new games already in the pipeline, the 12-or-so-strong team that works in that department are busy working on related games, but Gunnarson cautiously hinting that "a lot of other things can happen in that world."

The milestone comes at a time when people are acutely focused marketing to and stealing the attention of teens for mobile apps and games like Star Stable. Gunnarson and the team are acutely aware of the responsibility they have in this area. I asked Gunnarson how the company can be a successful business and be respectful of not making kids addictive. "We want to be able to look parents in the eye...I meet them when I go to the bank and all over. I want them to say; 'You know what? We love your game. We're happy our kids are there. That wouldn't be the case if we tread over that line and became predatory. In the game we put in things like getting to a point where there are no more quests for the day [roughly 1-3 hours of play] and velocity rules where you can't spend more than a certain amount on a daily basis...we also don't use the words 'Buy' or 'Upgrade' or countdowns...it's a delicate line and we don't want to ruin the symbiotic relationship we have."

Gunnarson describes Star Stable as a company with a "big heart" that wants to empower girls, and I saw that walking through the office. Pictures from meetups, boards pinned with user pictures and letters sent in along with the motivated, diverse and fun staff. Interestingly, what makes StarStable so compelling hasn't happened yet. Gunnarson showed me what, in effect, is the Star Stables brand bible. Taking care not to flick too many pages ahead, Gunnarson showed how the backstory of the game has gone way beyond what I have seen at other, much larger games companies. The team at Star Stable clearly care about getting this right and have a lot of respect for their growing audience.

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