Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen Issues Apology but Clash Royale Fans are Not Happy

An apology was just issued by Ilkka Paananen, Supercell's current CEO. In a blog post from a few days ago, he stated that 2025 has been one of the most successful years for Clash Royale. He now apologises for failing to credit content creators and streamers like Jynxzi for popularising the game.

Both his previous blog post and this apology have received severe backlash from the Clash Royale community. Let's have a look at what this Supercell CEO apology sounds like and why the community is furious over it.

Who is Ilkka Paananen?

Before we dive deep into what the Supercell CEO apology has to say, let's first know who is Ilkka Paananen. He is the current CEO and one of the co-founders of Supercell, the latter being a title shared with Mikko Kodisoja. The duo founded the company on May 14, 2010, creating a browser game called Gunshine.net. Soon, they shifted their attention to the mobile gaming market, developing hit free-to-play multiplayer games like Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Brawl Stars, and more.

We also recently covered the Clash Royale Tier List, which you should not miss.

Supercell CEO Apology: What Ilkka Paananen Has to Say

Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen shared a blog post on February 10, 2026, stating that 2025 had been one of Clash Royale's most successful years, with a 500% growth in player count and player engagement. He also credited the developers behind the game's success since they “made changes to progression, simplified the game by removing extraneous systems, and added desirable new content."

This post was negatively received by popular streamer Jynxzi, who stated that contributions from content creators were completely omitted. This sentiment was also echoed by Mr Beast, who stated that he started playing Clash Royale again after watching Jynxzi's streams.

After the initial backlash, Ilkka updated his blog post two days later, on February 12, 2026. He now officially recognises the contributions made by content creators, stating that, “creators like Jynxzi returned to the game with incredible passion, investing their own time, money, and energy into bringing Clash Royale back to relevance and introducing new players.”

Fans are Furious Over Supercell CEO Apology and Clash Royale's Current State

While this Supercell CEO apology was meant to address community backlash, it only seems to worsen it, as people are now voicing their opinions online.

People are now calling out the Clash Royale developers for introducing Hero cards, which heavily favour players who pay for these unbalanced and broken cards. They also called out Ilkka for having an inflated ego. He shared this apology only after the initial backlash, while crediting the developers for the success the game received.

Also, here's our coverage of the best Clash Royale Meta Decks you should not miss out on.