Hutch, is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Founded in July 2011, with a team of just five, Hutch’s ambition and passion to create games that truly entertain people, has resulted in iconic game launches including F1 Clash (previously F1 Manager), Top Drives and Rebel Racing.
This month, Hutch is celebrating its history and hero milestones, whilst looking to the future ahead to continue providing players with the best mobile racing games. Hutch’s mission has always been to bring cars to mobile and create strategic games that are mobile-first, which enable its community of players to celebrate their passion for cars, and this mission is far from over.
The Growth of Hutch
Founded in 2011 with a mission to be the home for automotive experiences on mobile. Hutch has grown from humble beginnings, expanding from a team of just five to 120, with a studio in London alongside offices in Canada and Dundee.
With 11 releases to date and a growing community of over 300 million players, the studio owes its success to its talent and people-first culture, something Hutch has deliberately prioritised and has been reflected in many awards wins, including the GamesIndustry.biz Best Places to Work Awards in 2018 and 2020.
Cracking Cars on Mobile
In 2012 Hutch released its first title, Smash Cops and since then, has built a portfolio of some of the most successful games in the mobile racing space, including Rebel Racing, Top Drives and F1 Clash.
Partnerships have been key to the studio’s success, enriching the experiences of different communities by introducing them to mobile games. From relationships with WWE to Mattel, Hutch has engaged with leading licensors. In each instance, Hutch always sought to treat brand partners with care and respect, establishing close relationships to better understand audience appeal and deliver experiences that players want to play.
Driven by the passion of its community of car-loving players, Hutch prioritised the introduction of strategic depth to its mobile games, working hard to provide players with the best automotive experiences possible.
Licensing has helped amplify these experiences, including its long-standing partnership with Formula 1, and a wide range of car manufacturers including Lamborghini and Aston Martin. Top Drives, the only automotive card collection game on mobile, includes approximately 2,500 licensed cars, more than any other racing game.
Future Ambitions
During the course of its journey, Hutch completed a series of investment rounds with important partners including Initial Capital, Index Ventures and Backed VC all of whom were excited by the mission, talent and culture at Hutch, eventually leading to its acquisition by the Modern Times Group in December 2020 for $275 million (plus earn-out linked to future performance), kicking off an entirely new chapter for the company as Hutch continues to expand and bring more incredible automotive experiences to mobile.
Shaun Rutland, co-founder of Hutch says:
“We founded Hutch to create a better studio, derived from a shared frustration working in bigger brand game companies. We are extremely proud of our team at Hutch, as we take this time to look back at the journey of our studio. A huge thank you to everyone that’s been a part of the Hutch family, old and new employees, players, partners, suppliers & investors. We’re always working hard to improve experiences for our players and deliver the very best automotive games on mobile. We’re excited to see what can be achieved over the next 10 years.”
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