What New Star Games does

New Star Games is a Buckingham, United Kingdom-based independent game development studio founded by Simon Read, specializing in retro-styled sports-RPG games for mobile, console, and PC platforms. The studio's portfolio spans 12+ titles across soccer (New Star Soccer, Retro Goal, New Star Manager), American football (Retro Bowl, Retro Bowl College, NFL Retro Bowl '25/'26), baseball (New Star Baseball), cricket (New Star Cricket), tennis (Retro Slam Tennis), racing (New Star GP), and casual (Buoyant). Its games are unified by 16-bit era pixel-art visuals, one-touch accessible controls, and RPG-style career progression that combines arcade sports action with lifestyle, relationship, and team management mechanics.

The studio's technology is built around a proprietary retro pixel-art rendering pipeline and simplified control systems engineered for cross-platform deployment across iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Apple Arcade. Core game systems include deep career-mode progression, comprehensive team management (roster building, training, facilities, sponsorship, backroom staff), competitive leaderboards, and split-screen local multiplayer (notably in New Star GP). The team is small (11-50 employees) but includes veterans from Team17, Activision, and Rockstar who previously shipped Worms, Lemmings, Call of Duty: Strike Team, Red Dead Redemption, and GTA.

New Star Games operates a multi-channel revenue model: freemium mobile games with optional $0.99-$1.99 unlocks (Retro Bowl, New Star Soccer, Retro Goal, Buoyant), premium one-time-purchase console/PC titles at £13.99-£24.99 (New Star Manager, New Star GP), and subscription-based distribution through Apple Arcade exclusivity for NFL-branded titles. Distribution is managed through strategic partnerships including Five Aces Publishing (global console distribution), the NFL/NFLPA licensing partnership (authentic teams and players), and Rainy Frog (Japan regional publishing). The studio has reached 50M+ cumulative players, with Retro Bowl achieving 17M+ mobile downloads, the #1 position on the US App Store, and a 4.8/5 rating; New Star GP maintains 96% positive Steam reviews and earned the Famitsu Gold Hall of Fame in 2024.

Name

New Star Games

Legal name

New Star Games

Website

https://newstargames.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

New Star Games is a UK-based independent studio developing retro-styled sports-RPG games across mobile, console, and PC. It serves casual and sports-fan gamers with franchises including the BAFTA-winning New Star Soccer and the #1 App Store hit Retro Bowl, reaching 50M+ players.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retro-style Sports Video Games

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports/Racing Game Studios (MPAFAAAJ)

Keywords

• Mobile game development
• Sports simulation games
• Retro-style gaming
• Casual mobile games
• Independent game studio

Headquarters

HQ city

Buckingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Freemium with Optional Purchases: Core free-to-play model where players can download and enjoy games at no cost, with optional in-app purchases to unlock additional content or remove limitations. New Star Soccer, Retro Bowl, Retro Goal, and Retro Bowl College all use this model with optional unlocks ranging from $0.99 to $0.99.
2. Premium Game Sales: Full-price premium game sales on PC and console platforms. New Star GP sold at £24.99 on Steam and consoles. New Star Manager was priced at £14.99/€16.99/$19.99 on Switch and £13.99/€16.99 on PS4.
3. Apple Arcade Subscription: NFL Retro Bowl '26 is available exclusively on Apple Arcade, generating revenue through Apple's subscription service where users pay for unlimited access to the game along with other titles.
4. Optional Unlimited Mode Purchases: Retro Goal transitioned to free-to-play with an optional 'unlimited mode' purchase offering additional features including 500 Free Bux, Global Championship tournament mode, additional difficulty and season length options, weather effects, and future planned features.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

New Star Games designs, develops and publishes retro-styled sports role-playing video games for mobile, console, and PC. Each title combines simple one-touch or minimal controls with deep RPG-style career progression, lifestyle/relationship management, and team management mechanics across sports including soccer, American football, baseball, cricket, tennis and motorsport.

Product overview

New Star Games develops retro sports-RPG games across mobile, console, and PC platforms. The portfolio includes the BAFTA award-winning New Star Soccer franchise and the Retro Bowl series, spanning American football (Retro Bowl, NFL Retro Bowl '25/'26, Retro Bowl College), soccer (New Star Soccer, Retro Goal, New Star Manager), baseball (New Star Baseball), cricket (New Star Cricket), tennis (Retro Slam Tennis), and racing (New Star GP). All titles feature retro pixel-art visuals, simple accessible controls with surprising depth, and combine sports simulation with career/RPG elements. Games are available across iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Apple Arcade.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Retro Bowl: A retro-styled American football game that became the #1 App Store hit, later expanded with college football version.
• NFL Retro Bowl
• New Star Soccer
• New Star Cricket
• New Star Baseball
• New Star Manager
• New Star GP
• Retro Goal
• Retro Slam Tennis

Products and services

• New Star Soccer BAFTA Award-winning mobile soccer RPG where players build a career as a young footballer, managing skills, relationships, finances and lifestyle. Free-to-play with optional in-app unlock; targeted at casual mobile gamers and soccer fans.
• Retro Bowl Retro-styled American football game with simple roster management and on-field gameplay. Free-to-play with optional $0.99 unlock for unlimited play; available on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.
• NFL Retro Bowl '26 Apple Arcade exclusive featuring officially licensed NFL teams and players rendered in retro pixel-art style. Includes a weekly Championship Leaderboard for competitive play; targeted at sports fans and existing Apple Arcade subscribers.
• Retro Bowl College Official college football spin-off of Retro Bowl where players manage one of 250 college teams, develop young talent and pursue the NFL Draft. Available on iOS and Android with optional $0.99 unlimited bundle.
• Retro Goal Fast-paced arcade soccer action game with simple team management and 16-bit-inspired retro graphics. Free-to-play with optional unlimited mode in-app purchase; later ported to Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam).
• New Star GP Retro-styled arcade racing game with a career mode spanning five decades of motorsport, team management, pit strategy and 2-4 player split-screen multiplayer. Released as a premium title at £24.99 on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, later released on mobile.
• New Star Manager Soccer club management simulation in which players take full operational control of New Star FC, managing facilities, players, training, sponsorship and backroom staff. Premium title available on Steam, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
• New Star Baseball Baseball role-playing game where players experience the career of a professional player from high school to the majors, managing skills, relationships and lifestyle. Available on iOS and Android.
• New Star Cricket Cricket career simulation that expands the BAFTA-winning New Star Soccer formula into cricket, featuring leagues worldwide and the professional player lifestyle. Available on iOS and Android.
• Retro Slam Tennis Full role-playing tennis experience in which players work their way up the world rankings by competing on various courts, hiring coaches and managing sponsors and relationships. Available on mobile.
• Buoyant One-touch, high-score-chasing endless game with wave physics. Ad-free, with a single optional £1.99 in-app purchase for unlimited plays; available on iOS and Android.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50 million players across the New Star game series
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Proteus InteractiveminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026Partnership for a Steam bundle combining New Star GP with Early Access to Dart Racer, a retro-styled arcade pod racer. The bundle offers a 10% discount compared to purchasing separately.
• Apple ArcadecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 4 September 2025Apple Arcade serves as the exclusive platform for NFL Retro Bowl '26, available as part of Apple's gaming subscription service. This provides preferential distribution and discovery within the Apple ecosystem.
• Rainy FrogminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 28 October 2024Rainy Frog published New Star GP in Japan under the title GP Club Life. This regional partnership helps distribute the game in the Japanese market.
• NFL and NFLPAcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 4 September 2024Official licensing partnership with the National Football League and NFL Players Association for NFL Retro Bowl '25 and NFL Retro Bowl '26. The games feature authentic NFL teams and players reproduced in retro pixel-art style. Ed Kiang (VP of video gaming at NFL) and Sophie Gage (VP of business & legal affairs at NFL Players Inc) are key representatives.
• Five Aces PublishingcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 24 January 2019Five Aces Publishing serves as the publisher for New Star Games titles. Martyn Brown is managing director of Five Aces Publishing. The partnership handles distribution and publishing for console releases including New Star Manager on Switch and PS4, and New Star GP across all platforms.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Playdemic: Mobile sports game developer behind Golf Clash, sharing New Star Games' model of accessible, free-to-download sports titles monetized through in-app purchases on iOS and Android.
• Gameloft: Established mobile game publisher with multiple sports and racing titles (e.g., Asphalt, various sports sims) distributed across mobile and console storefronts with freemium and premium pricing models.
• Miniclip: Mobile and web-based casual sports game publisher (8 Ball Pool, mobile football titles) with similar freemium monetization, cross-platform distribution, and large user bases.
• Outfit7: Mobile game studio with a portfolio of casual, family-friendly titles (Talking Tom Gold Run and adjacent games) using freemium models with optional unlocks across iOS and Android.

Broad incumbents

• Supercell: Top-grossing mobile game studio with a portfolio approach analogous to New Star Games, monetizing multiple titles globally through app stores with live operations and recurring content updates.
• Rovio Entertainment: Multi-title mobile game studio (Angry Birds franchise) operating across mobile and console with similar freemium-to-premium distribution strategies and branded IP expansion.
• Zynga: Major mobile casual game publisher with sports titles (e.g., football and golf games) using free-to-play models, in-app purchases, and cross-platform launches on iOS, Android, and web.
• Electronic Arts (EA Sports): Dominant sports game publisher (Madden NFL, FIFA/EA Sports FC) operating in the same sports gaming vertical as New Star Games but at premium, photorealistic AAA scale on console and PC.
• 2K Games: Major sports game publisher (NBA 2K, WWE 2K) competing for sports gaming consumer wallet share with premium console/PC titles, contrasting with New Star Games' casual mobile-led approach.

Emerging players

• Psyonix (Rocket League): Developer of Rocket League, an arcade-style sports (racing/soccer hybrid) game sharing the accessible retro-style arcade gameplay philosophy that informs New Star GP and Retro Goal.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/newstargames
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/newstargames
• Facebookfacebook.com/34755547226
• Instagraminstagram.com/newstargamesofficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/new-star-games-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New Star Games