Studio Spotlight: Kolibri Games

Just a short walk from some of Berlin’s most famous landmarks and museums is Kolibri Games, a Ubisoft mobile studio specializing in idle games – a type of mobile title that requires simple, periodic interaction from the player, has a high degree of automation. and can only play during the player’s absence. Kolibri Games’ first title, Idle Miner Tycoon, has racked up over 150 million downloads worldwide – more than any other mobile idle title available. Since then, the studio has added eight titles to their catalog, including Idle Restaurant Tycoon, Idle High School, and Idle Taxi Tycoon. The studio now has more than 120 team members from 40 nationalities, comprising 12 teams, including product, marketing, business, data management and technology development.

More than a game: Founded in 2016 and acquired by Ubisoft in 2020, Kolibri Games is actively developing exciting new content. They are currently working on ways to incorporate idle game mechanics into other mobile game genres, hopefully expanding the idle game world in the coming years. According to the studio, idle and tycoon mechanics — in which players manage certain tasks and objectives — are closely related to and easily integrated into RPG systems. Both genres share a core player interaction that revolves around resource management, milestone completion, and optimization. Read more about this initiative here.

Getting involved: Kolibri Games’ teams are deeply involved in the local community and the studio regularly organizes and attends events for the Berlin technology development sphere. Kolibri Games also partners with GirlCode, a network for female tech professionals around the world. This partnership includes hosting after-work events and sharing upcoming job openings for positions at Kolibri Games. Kolibri also hosts quarterly events as part of their partnership with Vostel, a non-profit volunteer organization. As part of this initiative, team members created planters, bee houses and butterfly houses to distribute to local non-profit organizations.

As part of Kolibri Games’ annual Pride Month celebrations, the studio hosted ‘Wisdom & Waffles’, a breakfast panel discussion on ways tech companies can deliver resources, act as safe spaces and create an inclusive environment for team members who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. This year’s event featured three panelists who provided insights into these topics and welcomed questions from all studio team members. In addition, Kolibri Games has a special Idle Miner Tycoon in-game event – a week-long celebration that reflected Berlin’s proud events, including the city’s Christopher Street Day parade. The game implemented pride flags, street floats, special costumes, and limited-edition goodies for players who participated. These and similar events are part of Kolibri Games’ annual Pride celebrations, and the studio tries to expand their involvement each year.

Play green: This year, Kolibri Games participated for the first time in the 2022 Green Game Jam, an annual event hosted by the Playing for the Planet Alliance with the goal of bringing creative video games together to discuss new ways to inspire players into action. Before the event, Kolibri presented green updates in Idle Miner Tycoonincluding environmental-themed in-game Event Mines, a new Green Idler character, partnership with Ecolog to promote reforestation, and the creation of a new super manager to make the idle world more eco-friendly.

Let’s party! Of course, Kolibri Games isn’t all work and not play: the lifted COVID restrictions in Berlin led to 2021 being a party year for the studio. Team members love to gather in the studio for rounds of Giant Jenga, foosball, and even mechanical bull riding! The studio also hosts regular events, including fortnightly pizza parties, seasonal parties and an annual off-site company outing – this year it’s in Austria!

Recently, Kolibri Games also hosted a game jam in the studio, where 17 teams from all departments collaborated, pitched and created new game ideas and prototypes. In the end, team members received awards for best game, best visuals, funniest game, most innovative idea and more.

Meet Lauren Wade, Head of Community Management, Customer Service and Localization at Kolibri Games! Lauren’s team focuses on pretty much everything player-related, including one-on-one emails and customer support reviews, social media posts, online moderation, and text localization. Lauren has been in the games industry for eight years and is currently in her fourth year with Kolibri Games.

Tell us about yourself: I’m a bit of a language geek – I’ve studied eight so far – which helps immensely with the global reach of the work my team does for our live games. Besides languages, I also spend time singing in my local choir and watching a lot of medical dramas. Finally, to answer the ever-burning question, “Cats or dogs?” (where I think the current Kolibri Games average leans toward cats) my answer is, “Dwarf Hamsters!”

What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on recently? I was recently involved in two projects for Idle Miner Tycoon: The Green Game Jam and our Pride Event Mine. It’s always exciting to do something new for a certain title for the first time and to use great new artwork in our social media posts.

What about the Kolibri Games studio space that inspires you creatively? I love the many large windows and the open space! There is so much light and opportunities to get fresh air. In a more abstract sense, I really feed off everyone’s motivation and energy – seeing other teams and individuals with so much passion and drive in their disciplines really helps fuel my creativity.

If you had to show new hires all the cool aspects of the Kolibri Games Studio on their first day, where would you take them and what would you show them? I can give you a top three! Firstly, the large and bright meeting rooms on the other side of the building. They feel very refreshing to the brain and they overlook the Berlin Wall Memorial. Second, the two meeting rooms with the Kolibri storyline – they really help to understand the business. Finally, I would show a new employee how to find the kitchen – it’s important to know where the coffee and snacks are! Plus, we have some great bakers in the studio who always treat us to homemade cakes and desserts.

What’s the best in-house studio event you’ve attended? I really enjoyed our summer boat party this year. It was fantastic to be here in Berlin on the River Spree. We also played a bingo game which fueled my competitive streak! (It paid off, I was the second fastest to complete it!) We did a lot of digital events during the various COVID lockdowns and I loved our murder mystery nights. My group did a Wild West theme and everyone brought their A-game with costumes, making it a really immersive experience.

What is the best place in the Kolibri Games Studio for a cup of coffee or tea? The best place for a social coffee break is hanging out on the couch in the kitchen. If you want to unwind without using a broom closet, Noodle Palace meeting room is a great place. It has a comfortable chair, table, lamp and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking two intersecting corridors. It’s a great place to rest while still waving and smiling at everyone passing by.

Panos Semitekolos, Kolibri Games’ Lead Brand and PR Team Manager, joined Ubisoft in 2019. We asked him some burning questions about everyday life in the Kolibri Games studio.

What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on recently? Some of my favorite recent projects include the launch of the company’s sustainability program as part of our commitment to carbon neutrality. This was a very important project for us because we really want to play an active role in making the game industry more environmentally friendly, and it was a great way to involve people within the company in our initiative. Another cool project was the organization of our Pride 2022 panel, which featured members of Ubisoft’s Global Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility team as panelists. As part of this project, we livestreamed our conversation about ways Kolibri Games team members can help create a more inclusive space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

What about the Kolibri Games studio that inspires you creatively? I see Kolibri Games as a company that really values ​​its people and teams. It is something that comes to the fore in everyday office life: through the events we organize and the extent to which we invest in the personal development of people here.

If you had to show a new hire all the cool aspects of the Kolibri Games Studio on their first day, where would you take them and what would you show them? I would take them everywhere in our new office! We moved to our current location at the end of 2021 and it’s great to work from an office that feels fresh and truly represents the company and our games.

What’s the best in-house studio event you’ve attended? An exciting event I helped organize was Kolibri Asks, where we had team members submit questions that they would have liked answered by our CEO. After the entries came in, we all voted on the top 10 most interesting. This really created an open dialogue where everyone could get their most pressing questions answered. It is important for me and my team to create a transparent environment where open communication is central, and this event was a big step in that direction.

What is your favorite way to promote teamwork among your teammates? My advice is to be open and willing to communicate. Our team members are friendly people who want to work together on a good cause and impactful projects.

What is the best place in the Kolibri Mobile Studio for a cup of coffee or tea? On our terrace! Especially when the weather is nice, our office terrace is a great place to enjoy a great view of the area.

Interested in joining the Kolibri Games team? The studio is currently looking for various positions within the games, engineering and service teams. Interested parties can register via www.kolibrigames.com/career.

Learn more about our other recently opened studios, including: Ubisoft Da Nang and Ubisoft Sherbrooke.