Just under a year after Supercell released Squad Busters globally, the mobile game giant is giving its crossover title a massive overhaul. These changes make up "the most ambitious game update in Supercell's 15-year history," and all stem from the team listening to player feedback.
In May 2024, Squad Busters' release marked the first new game from Supercell in five years, and the team had big ambitions. Now, after receiving real player feedback following the immensely successful global launch, Supercell is taking the game in a new, more focused direction. At the core of these changes are the Squad Busters characters, which are now split into two categories - Heroes and Squaddies.
Instead of collecting random characters throughout the game, you now get to choose a Hero before the start of each match, as well as two Squaddies, which will appear more frequently in chests on the battlefield. You also get to equip your Hero with unique powers and traits before the match, determining your strategy before the game even starts. The right combination of Hero, Squaddies, and powers is essential, as if your Hero dies, the entire team goes down with them.
In our Squad Busters interview last year, Rob Lowe, Squad Busters' Marketing Lead, said that Squad Busters is "the most broad-appealing game we've ever designed as a company." While this sentiment is wonderful, in a recent roundtable interview, he told us that it ended up backfiring slightly, as attempting to "bridge the gap" between different groups made the game's core audience too broad.
Instead, Squad Busters is now aiming for more experienced mobile gamers with its new strategic elements. Head of Squad Busters, Johnathan Rowlands, said that this update has evolved the game "into an experience that remains accessible but now offers a deeper strategic layer." It's still a casual game, but if you want to succeed, you'll need to use your brain a bit more than before.
If you gave Squad Busters a go at launch and it wasn't really for you, make sure you revisit the free mobile game for this new update, as you might be surprised by how much it's changed. Plus, make sure you keep an eye on our Squad Busters tier list to see just how much this update affects the meta.