SYBO
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Founder | Sylvester Rishøj Jensen, Bodie Jahn-Mulliner |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen , Denmark |
Key people | Sylvester Rishøj Jensen (Creative Director), Bodie Jahn-Mulliner (CEO) |
| Products | Subway Surfers, Blades of Brim |
| Owner | Miniclip |
| Parent | Miniclip |
| Website | www |
SYBO Games is a Copenhagen-based Danish video game developer established by Sylvester Rishøj Jensen and Bodie Jahn-Mulliner. The company is renowned for creating and owning the intellectual property of Subway Surfers, the leading mobile endless runner game, developed in partnership with Kiloo. Additionally, SYBO released Blades of Brim, another free-to-play endless runner featuring in-app purchases. In late 2019, SYBO was among the pioneering seven studios to debut a game on Snapchat through Subway Surfers Airtime.
In June 2022, Miniclip completed an acquisition of SYBO under undisclosed terms.
Popularity of Games and Television Production
Within a week of its release on iOS, Subway Surfers achieved three million downloads and secured the number one spot across 20 countries. AppAdvice honored it as Game of the Week on May 31, 2012. Following its Android launch four months later, the player base expanded swiftly. The game reached 100 million downloads in eight months and became the most downloaded title worldwide by 2017. In March 2018, it was the first Android game to exceed one billion downloads on Google Play.
Currently, Subway Surfers has surpassed 2.7 billion total downloads and maintains an average of over 100 million active users monthly.
The franchise’s success led to the creation of Subway Surfers The Animated Series, an 11-episode short-form cartoon that premiered on June 1, 2018. The series features protagonists Jake, Tricky, Fresh, and Yutani, alongside villains such as Frank and the Guard. It has garnered more than 120 million views on SYBO’s YouTube channel (SYBO TV), which boasts upwards of 3.3 million subscribers.
SYBO further extended its brand with Subway Surfers Airtime, a multiplayer mobile title launched on Snapchat in late 2019 that allows users to compete against friends using their favorite characters.
Their second endless runner, Blades of Brim (BoB), released in 2015, received Apple App Store Editor’s Choice recognition in 2016. This free-to-play game challenges players to traverse magical realms while combating the Goon Lord’s henchmen.
Company History
SYBO Games was founded in 2010 by Creative Director Sylvester Rishøj Jensen and CEO Bodie Jahn-Mulliner, both graduates of Denmark’s prestigious the Animation Workshop. Their formation followed winning first place for best animation film at the Hamburg Animation Award in 2009.
The award-winning short centered on a graffiti artist evading capture in a subway environment, which inspired the concept behind their flagship game. With financial support from the Danish Film Institute’s New Danish Screen initiative, SYBO developed Subway Surfers, launching it three years later.
Before the success of Subway Surfers, SYBO had released mobile applications Powerflow and Cosmic Cab.
Today, SYBO Games operates as an independent studio focusing on continuous updates for Subway Surfers alongside developing new mobile titles.
Subway Surfers Animated Series
On June 1, 2018, SYBO Games premiered a series of animated shorts on their YouTube platform. By early 2020, this 10-episode series—each episode approximately four minutes—had accumulated 170 million views. Written by Brent Friedman and Francesca Marie Smith, the production was led by Daytime Emmy winner Sander Schwartz with Chris Bartleman serving as supervising director and Michael Hegner as director. This series expands the Subway Surfers brand into digital animation entertainment.
Environment
On September 23, 2019, SYBO became a member of Playing for the Planet, an alliance formed with UN Environment and 19 other game developers dedicated to promoting environmentally responsible game production. This initiative aims to achieve a reduction of 30 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030 through strategies such as afforestation, energy efficiency improvements, raising awareness among players within games, minimizing plastic packaging, adopting circular economy methods for plastics, and managing electronic waste effectively.
Before joining this alliance, SYBO had already taken steps toward sustainability by establishing an organic, predominantly plant-based cafeteria and installing solar panels atop their office building. Additionally, the company supported solar energy projects in India and contributed to waste management efforts in Chile.
Awards and honors
- Winner of Best Pitch at Growing Games 2011
- Named AppAdvice’s Game of the Week for Subway Surfers on May 31, 2012
- Nominated for Unity Awards 2012 Community Choice for outstanding use of the Unity 3D engine
- Awarded Best Danish Game at the Mobil Awards 2012 by B.T. and Magasinet Mobil
- Recognized among the Top 10 nonstop running game apps for iOS and Android by NDTV Gadgets
- Received Best Bathroom Break Casual Game award in 2013 from Best Mobile App Awards
- Nordic Game Awards nominee for Best Nordic Handheld Game in 2013
- Shortlisted for Spilprisen Game of the Year in Denmark, 2013
- Honored as Best Entertainment App for Android at BestAppEver’s 5th Annual Awards
External links
- Articles with short description
- Mobile game companies
- Software companies of Denmark
- Software companies based in Copenhagen
- Companies based in Copenhagen
- Danish companies established in 2010
- Video game companies established in 2010
- 2022 mergers and acquisitions
- Video game companies based in Copenhagen
- Video game companies of Denmark
- Video game development companies
- Companies based in Copenhagen Municipality