A decade at the intersection of games, people, and growth — turning players into partners and communities into a competitive advantage.
It started with a mobile game. Ryan Lighton was a casual Clash of Clans player who ended up moderating the game’s subreddit — not for a job, but because he genuinely cared. That community brought him to Finland for an event, and changed the course of his career entirely.
Supercell hired him as a Community Manager in 2016. What followed was nine years of building — first for Boom Beach, then for Brawl Stars from soft launch through global rollout and beyond, and ultimately as Head of Community across the whole studio.
His approach has always been the same: treat players as collaborators, not an audience. “When we’re developing, the community has a seat at the table. Game modes, brawlers, skins — they will have an influence on everything we’re developing.”
From Community Manager to Head of Community — captured year by year.
A decade of community building — measured in reach, moments, and results that moved the business.
From individual contributor to studio-wide leadership — working on some of the most-played mobile games in history.
Studio-wide community strategy across all games and franchises. Built Supercell’s Creator Program from zero to a peak of 290,000+ organic creators, reaching a combined 3.71 billion subscribers. Responsible for the systems, people, and philosophy that make community a measurable competitive advantage at Supercell.
Grew with the game from soft launch through global release and explosive growth. Made the bold call to delete all community pages at global launch — wiping 18 months of content to simulate the game being cancelled — one of the most celebrated moments in mobile gaming community history. Co-hosted Brawl Talk alongside the game lead, reaching 750,000 concurrent live viewers and 6.5M views in 8 hours.
First role at Supercell. Started as a fan and subreddit moderator — hired because of genuine passion for the games and the community he’d already built around them.
Presented alongside Supercell’s Creator Program Owner on how community-first thinking translates into measurable growth — covering a decade of creator relationships, gamification systems, and video infrastructure.
Co-hosted Supercell’s flagship content series for Brawl Stars, delivering major game announcements directly to the player community — one of the most-watched formats in mobile gaming.
Featured in Apple’s App Store editorial on Brawl Stars, articulating Supercell’s philosophy of community-led development in a format seen by millions of players globally.
Available for conference keynotes, panels, podcast conversations, and interviews on community strategy, creator programs, and the intersection of player relationships and product development.
Behind-the-scenes at Supercell, game community moments, and life in Helsinki.
Follow @rlighton
Whether you’re thinking about community strategy, a speaking opportunity, a collaboration, or just want to connect — Ryan is open to conversations worth having.
Based in Helsinki · Working globally