HOW A STRATEGIC SHIFT GAVE CODIGAMES AN EXTRA LIFE.

Codigames is a young Spanish smartphone game company with an unusual ability to create successful free-to-play video games in a short period of time and easily scalable. The firm is already considered as one of Europe's start-ups with more potential to become a unicorn in the next years, and despite being only 9 years old, it has put up some impressive numbers: recording multimillion quarter revenues; with less than 60 workers; and reaching the number one spot in the US video games market. The secret of this accomplishment is based on, firstly, a radical strategic shift from the classic vision of 'author games' ('hardcore' style) where the company started to compete in the first moment, towards a more general and democratized vision of gaming ('casual' style), therefore reaching the great mass of players who usually look for more collaborative and social games. Normally, these types of games are quite easy to handle and understand, presenting a similar gameplay which, not only extends the life cycle of the games, but also improves the bond and money expended by the user. Secondly, on the work methodology applied, where several games (that apparently seem individual pieces) are developed at the same time, reusing the technological development and players' know-how gained in previous projects to, therefore, generate quick and quality launches. And thirdly, on their ability to carefully and in detail monitor, through statistics and data analytics, the success or failure of the different games, selecting and replicating its projects accordingly and improving the parts that do not achieve the desired performance. So far, Codigames is the most successful company of Marina de Empresas, a unique consolidated business ecosystem placed in Valencia (Spain) and formed by a business school, a start-up accelerator, and an investment vehicle gathered in what has become as one of the most important and vibrant entrepreneurial hubs of the Mediterranean area. The case allows the discussion of important concepts such as how an entrepreneurial company can scale in size while retaining the 'power of being small', how the environment (understood as entrepreneurial ecosystem and financial circumstances) can support and act as a lever for change, the importance and types of strategic change within a firm, the relevance of implementing ambidextrous management styles to apply them, and the understanding of the current video game market deeply affected by the new paradigm driven by the increase of data-user privacy protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]