Flowstate Games

Flowstate Games is a Helsinki-based mobile game studio established in 2019, focusing on the casual arcade genre. The company was founded by a team of experienced game developers, including former talent from Rovio and Dodreams. The founding team includes CEO Edvard Groundstroem, who previously served as marketing director at Rovio and head of marketing at Dodreams, alongside Aleksi Hakkarainen, Rudolf Valli, and Jari Räisänen. The team's collective experience includes work on prominent titles like Angry Birds 2 and the car combat game Drive Ahead, which amassed over 100 million downloads.

The company's strategic focus is on creating what it terms "Deep Arcade" games—approachable, highly replayable, and social mobile experiences. In February 2020, Flowstate Games secured a pre-seed investment round led by Play Ventures to develop its first title. A subsequent seed round in October 2022 raised $2 million, bringing total funding to over $2.5 million, to support the development of its Web3 arcade game, Smash Stars: Thunderdome. This move signaled an adjustment in strategy to incorporate Web3 technologies, aiming to empower player communities through blockchain integration and real ownership of in-game assets. However, according to a PitchBook profile, the company entered bankruptcy liquidation in May 2024.

Flowstate's primary product is Smash Stars, a multiplayer online car combat game. The game pits players against each other in gladiatorial arenas where the objective is to destroy opponents' vehicles. Players can choose from various vehicles, like muscle cars and monster trucks, and customize them with a range of weapons, boosts, and shields. The gameplay features physics-based controls allowing for jumps and flips, and various modes including a "Smash Royale" knockout mode for eight players and a 1v1 ranked mode. The business model for Smash Stars incorporated Web3 elements, where in-game vehicles would be NFTs that players could trade on a secondary market. This freemium approach, common in the mobile gaming industry, relies on in-app purchases for cosmetic items, upgrades, and other game enhancements to generate revenue.

Keywords: Flowstate Games, mobile gaming, arcade games, Smash Stars, Web3 gaming, Edvard Groundstroem, car combat, Helsinki startup, Play Ventures, blockchain games, freemium, NFT gaming, Rovio veterans, Deep Arcade, multiplayer online games, game development, Finnish game industry, Jari Räisänen, Aleksi Hakkarainen, Rudolf Valli