Support-a-Creator Deconstruction: Supercell Creator Program - Current Program Structure

Welcome back for part two of our Support-a-Creator Deconstruction series featuring the Supercell Creator Program. In part one, we explored the origins of Supercell's creator program and its original structure and benefits to content creators. Now, we'll dive into the program as it stands today, highlighting the updated program structure and the current benefits it offers creators. 

Current Program Structure

To partner and support even more content creators, Supercell introduced updated creator tiers with ample opportunity for smaller content creators to level up and grow thanks to a new benefit – the Creator Academy.

The new tiers and their respective minimum requirements include:

• Users

• Minimum Requirements: 100 followers on YouTube, 25 subscribers on Twitch, or 1,000 followers on TikTok

• Benefits: Receives access to Creator Fan Kit, Creator Academy, and can earn Creator Elixir

• Official Creators

• Minimum Requirements: 5,000 followers on YouTube, 3,000 subscribers on Twitch, or 15,000 followers on TikTok

• Benefits: All benefits from the User tier, plus this tier can earn and spend Creator Elixir, they receive occasional Merch codes, and previews of game updates 

• Super Creators

• Minimum Requirements: 100,000 followers on YouTube, 50,000 subscribers on Twitch, or 25,000 followers on TikTok

• These creators are handpicked by Supercell 

• Benefits: All benefits from the Official Creator tier, they receive an in-game creator code, plus their video content can be watched by players in-game via the “Video Inbox”

Benefits Breakdown

The Supercell Creator Program is a robust example of what to look for in any content creator support initiative. It goes above and beyond the typical offerings that you might find in other programs.  The available benefits include:

Creator Fan Kit: While this benefit is technically open to anyone who cares to access it, this repository of Supercell and game-specific media assets (audio, imagery, logos, fonts, etc.) is a one-stop shop for all Supercell assets. This fan kit is incredibly helpful to creators and ensures that they have everything they need to create high-quality content.  

Creator Academy: Available to all creator tiers, this educational resource aims to develop the content-creation and life skills of individuals in the program. From dealing with creator burnout to perfecting software settings, the academy resources are developed by content creators themselves, so less tenured creators can rest assured that they’re getting first-hand advice and knowledge. 

“We here at Supercell want to provide creators with the tools and knowledge to help them grow their channels which can help those who use our services to become full time content creators,” wrote Supercell Creator Program manager Rick Crane in a Linkedin post. “I personally feel that a lot of companies focus on just the larger creators but I am ecstatic to be part of a company that caters to as many as possible, and Supercell has allowed me to do this.” – Rick Crane, Supercell, Creator Program Manager

Creator Elixir: This is a quest and reward system built into the creator program that was unveiled in October 2023. Users, Official Creators, and Super Creators can earn elixir by “surpassing milestone ‘Bounties’, such as hitting 50 followers on Twitch or getting 5,000 likes on Youtube”, completing Creator Academy quizzes, or even by simply logging into their Creator Portal. 

This elixir can then be spent in a marketplace featuring in-game items and physical merch that they can keep for themselves as well as give away to their community. Users gain access to this marketplace once they’ve reached “Official Creator” status. 

Merch Codes: Supercell will occasionally distribute codes that Official Creators can use to redeem exclusive game merchandise. This merchandise is sometimes meant for the creators themselves and other times is meant to be given away to their loyal followers.

Update Previews: This benefit allows Official Creators to create content and publish it alongside game updates.

Creator Boost: Exclusively available to Super Creators, this benefit demonstrates Supercell’s unwavering commitment to supporting content creators and their businesses. Super Creators can earn a 5% revenue share whenever their followers make an in-app purchase using their Creator Boost code. These codes remain in a player’s setting for one week; after which they have to reenter the code if they want their purchases to continue being attributed to a creator.

 

 

Video Inbox: This perk is also exclusive to those who have achieved “Super Creator” status. These creators can upload their videos or share a live stream via the Video Inbox system and as a result, reach millions of viewers. To not have the inbox flooded with only one creator’s content, creators are limited to uploading one video per week to the inbox.

Program Features that We Love

Creator Boost

Despite the technology being available (e.g. Nexus’s Support-a-Creator API), few live service games have implemented revenue sharing with creators, which we feel should be a core facet of every creator program. On the other hand, Supercell painstakingly built a revenue share system in each game. Via the assignment of unique creator codes, usable when purchasing in-game currencies and related microtransactions, Supercell “Super Creators” receive tremendous support whenever a member of their community attaches the creator’s code to their account. In his 2021 company address, Ilkka Paananen, Supercell CEO, reported that there had been 70 million Creator Boost purchases made by 23 million players since the feature's introduction; this number has obviously grown since then.

“I think the proof of just how important content creators are to our game and Supercell overall can be shown by our Supercell Creators program, that we launched at the end of 2019. Here we provide dedicated support to those players who cover our games. This is anything from having a place to chat with other creators, to financial support in the form of a Creator Code. Even when the game is in a rough spot, or people have perhaps stopped playing, they will still watch these content creators - and that is great.” – Drew Haycock, Supercell Community Manager, from “How Supercell continues to grow multi-billion dollar hit Clash Royale five-years on” by Matthew Forde

Supercell certainly believes in and benefits from the revenue-driving power of content creators. Similarly, in studies we’ve run with our partners, we’ve seen that players who use creator codes spend more per purchase (and purchase more frequently) than those who do not use creator codes – indicating that creators are powerful monetization partners and can help convert casual players to superfans. 

Creator Elixir and Creator Academy

We love that Supercell has built program features that prioritize supporting the long tail of the creator program, instead of just focusing on the largest creators. By doing so, they’re cultivating a more vibrant (and larger!) creator community that will stick around for years and new games to come. 

“We believe that our Content Creators are vital to our success, and hope to continue growing with them.” - Ilkka Paananen, Supercell, CEO

The Future of the Supercell Creator Program

It’s hard to find fault with a program as robust as the Supercell Creator Program and with a team as dedicated as the four Supercell team members who run it. That said, there’s always room for more growth, which the Supercell team openly acknowledges and speaks about. In the next part of this series, we’ll reflect on the program’s growth since its launch and share what we think could help propel it even further.