Copycats Welcome: How Clash Royale Turned Game Clones Into a Genius Player-Recruitment Machine

In the cutthroat world of mobile gaming, clones are usually seen as a headache — cheap knock-offs that copy your mechanics, art, and even characters to siphon off your players. Most studios respond with legal takedowns or angry cease-and-desist letters.

Supercell, the Finnish masters behind Clash Royale, took a completely different (and much cooler) approach.

From “It’s Just Flattery” to “Let’s Steal Their Players”

King Royale, Rush Royale, or Soccer Royale At first, Supercell didn’t stress too much about the wave of copycat games (titles with suspiciously similar names like King Royale, Rush Royale, or Soccer Royale). After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

But when they noticed these fakes were actually pulling real players away from the original Clash Royale, the team decided to get creative instead of combative.

Their solution? The brilliant “Copycats Welcome” campaign.

The Campaign That Called Out the Fakes (While Welcoming Their Players)

Their solution? The brilliant “Copycats Welcome” campaign. Supercell didn’t just run normal ads. They created a fun, self-aware campaign that openly mocked the low-budget clones while warmly inviting their players to jump ship.

The centerpiece was a stylish ad film (created with agency DAVID New York) showing Clash Royale’s iconic characters getting sucked into weird, distorted, bargain-bin versions of their own world — only to fight their way back to the real, high-quality arena.

The message was clear and cheeky:
“Why play the cheap copy when you can have the real thing?”

But the real masterstroke wasn’t just the ads.

The Genius Transfer Program

Copycats Welcome: How Clash Royale Turned Game Clones Into a Genius Player-Recruitment Machine Supercell went one step further and built an actual progress-transfer system.

Players who had been grinding in the clone games could go to a dedicated website, report how much time they’d spent and what progress they had made, and have their in-game currency, cards, and other items converted into official Clash Royale rewards.

No starting from zero. No lost progress. Just a smooth, rewarding transition to the real game.

It was basically saying:
“You’ve already put in the work — come get properly rewarded for it.”

The Results Were Insane

The campaign worked spectacularly. In just the first five days, more than 2.3 million players transferred their progress from the clones into the official Clash Royale.

On top of that, the visibility and goodwill of the campaign helped attract a significant number of brand-new players who had never tried the game before.

Instead of spending money fighting clones in court, Supercell turned their biggest copycats into one of the most effective player-acquisition channels they’ve ever had.

Why This Story Is So Cool

“Copycats Welcome” is a masterclass in creative problem-solving.

Rather than getting defensive or aggressive, Supercell reframed the entire situation:

They acknowledged the clones existed.
They empathized with players who had invested time in them.
They offered a better experience + tangible rewards for switching.
They turned a threat into free marketing and player growth.

It’s the kind of move that makes you smile and think, “Damn, that’s actually genius.”

In an industry where most companies default to legal warfare or passive-aggressive tweets, Supercell chose wit, generosity, and smart product thinking — and it paid off big time.

Moral of the story? Sometimes the best way to beat the copycats… is to welcome them (and then steal their players with better rewards).

Would love to see more studios take notes from this one.

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