Cookie Run: Kingdom, a story of adorably sweet and courageous Cookies who escaped the Witch’s Oven in order to find a sweeter life filled with fun and adventure. Since its launch in January, Cookie Run: Kingdom has claimed the #1 Top Grossing game in the Apple App Store and #2 Top Grossing in the Google Play Store. The Cookie Run world and characters have captured the hearts and minds of players worldwide with over ten million downloads worldwide. With the game having passed its one-hundred day mark, we sat down with Co-Producers Eunji Lee and Kilhyeon Cho to hear their thoughts and opinions on the story of Cookie Run: Kingdom’s birth, the progress they’ve made so far, and its future. 

Co-Producers of Cookie Run: Kingdom, Eunji Lee (Left) & Kilhyeon Cho (Right)

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Pre-Registration Raised Hope and Confidence

The grand opening of Cookie Run: Kingdom was just around the corner, and we faced another pivotal moment. The first step in preparation for announcing Cookie Run: Kingdom’s imminent launch was through the pre-registration campaign.

With the Cookie Run series reaching over 1 million cumulative downloads, the key to announcing Cookie Run: Kingdom was delivering a thrilling and immersive experience. Looking back, we undertook the pre-registration campaign like we developed the game by considering the experience and emotions we wanted our players to feel. Examples of this could be seen with pre-orders for The Art of Cookie Run: Kingdom and the Kingdom Passport event. 

The Art of Cookie Run Kingdom was based on the “Compendium of the Cookie World” (mentioned in the previous article) and its elaborate stories and concept art. The compendium wasn’t created to be sold but rather to be a record of our memories and a reminder of the intense journey we had gone on to make Cookie Run: Kingdom. But we realized, through the art book, we could raise anticipation to a whole new level, and players would want to dive straight into Cookie Run: Kingdom’s immersive experience. After deciding to have the art book available for pre-order, we immediately recognized that many people showed great interest in Cookie Run: Kingdom even before its grand opening. Pre-orders sold out sooner than expected, which prompted us to proceed with another sale with a much larger quantity.

Image of the limited edition package, The Art of Cookie Run: Kingdom, available for purchase during Cookie Run: Kingdom’s pre-registration marketing campaign.

We put a lot of thought into the Kingdom Passport marketing campaign. The event was available for pre-registered users, and a few folks received a physical copy of their Kingdom Passports. We were thrilled that so many people participated in the event. Almost 2.5 million players pre-registered for Cookie Run: Kingdom, which exceeded our expectations. 

Sample image from the “Cookie Run: Kingdom Passport” event.

Grand Opening: January 21

On January 21 at 11:00 AM, we introduced Cookie Run: Kingdom to the world. The entire team was breathless as the servers were opened. It was a nerve-wracking experience monitoring the servers and social media sentiment.

The initial reaction from players was mixed. Some called Cookie Run: Kingdom: fun or fresh, but there were several adverse reactions. 

But as the days passed, player feedback became more vibrant and optimistic. “Awkward gameplay at first, but I’m warming up to it.” “Makes me feel warm inside. Can’t stop playing.” 

As time passed, a positive wave washed over us like a tidal wave. Twitter and other social media platforms were abuzz with talk about Cookie Run: Kingdom. People on YouTube and our community channels shared their discoveries on how much thought and care we had put into the big and tiny details. Cookie Run: Kingdom became a hot, viral topic, trending on social media with user-generated memes everywhere. 

It wasn’t until then we truly knew that our philosophy of reaching the hearts and minds of our players had proven itself to be a worthy cause. The non-stop effort, the careful considerations, the attention to minute details—everything had successfully created a game player could love.

Making a Game That Players Love

A key focus for our team was to lead with love. Love has been the foundation of the Cookie Run IP, and we have incorporated it into every aspect of our games. Our highest reward is the sentiment of love that resonates with our fans. Our community has embodied the themes we strived to create. Love has kept us on track and influenced everything we do. 

Love is what made us ask ourselves some compelling questions. “How can we create a game that is loved?” Or, “What kind of game can convey and spread the love?” We repeatedly asked ourselves questions like these during the development of Cookie Run: Kingdom, and we actively pursued the answers to them as well.

Love is all around, and if you look for it, love can be seen in everything. We created our characters to reflect the love you feel when you visit a loved one after an extended period or the connections you make, which may be awkward and clumsy at first, but grow stronger with each passing day.

With this in mind, we kept pushing ourselves to ask the right questions. “What if we created a game with as much sincerity as it takes to write a hand-written letter?” An answer to that was, “It may not look as crisp and pristine as a printed card, but it’s the heart that counts. Wouldn't that bring a spark of love?”  Such questions and emotions, dreams, and imagination played a crucial role in creating Cookie Run: Kingdom as a game to be loved.

Conceptualizing the Cookie World was also a grand endeavor, in which we imagined ourselves as Cookies exploring new lands and rediscovering ancient history on our memorable adventure. The same could be said for designing Cookies: their backstory, movement, animations, dialogue, and voice. Each approached with the same meticulous care and utmost sincerity as the rest. Combining these separate elements into a seamless, harmonious narrative was full of twists and turns. But we knew it would be worth it because it was all about providing an immersive and fantastic player experience.

Players noticed our efforts within the first 100 days of Cookie Run: Kingdom’s release. We were thrilled as we saw how players connected with the game, noticing the minor details and relating to the characters as if they were real. 

We started meeting our fans following the release, and it felt like we were reunited with long-forgotten friends. We always hoped that the story of the brave Cookies who escaped their fate in the Witch’s Oven would resonate with players. Happily, this was the case, and we found our Cookies had a deeper purpose - to display acts of courage, friendship, and love in the real world.

Cookie Run: Kingdom’s Potential has Just Started to Bloom

The first 100 days were just the beginning. Alongside the two most recent updates, “Beacons of Unity” and “Lost Kingdom,” we’ve already established a plan for almost a year’s worth of updates and future content. The endless potential of Cookie Run: Kingdom can genuinely begin to spread its wings from here on out. We are confident this is possible.

Among the many things planned, we can sum up this year’s updates as the opening chapter of a grand saga. We are currently in the first chapter of this tale, following GingerBrave and their friends on their epic quest to rediscover the Ancient Kingdoms and learn more about the world around them. Our plan for the second chapter is to focus on contemplating the existence of Cookies and their sense of self-awareness and grow further as they overcome challenging hardships. The third and fourth chapters will unfold to tell an engaging, captivating story that players can relate to and fall in love with, all while having fun and being driven by excitement. Just thinking about it reaffirms that we’d be thrilled if we could successfully create precious moments and memories that will remain in the hearts of many.

A tale of remembrance is contained within the Cookie Run: Kingdom OST - My Kingdom.

In addition, we are actively preparing new content that will allow players to explore and see the vast Cookie World for themselves. Exciting scenes and backgrounds dealing with various narratives and topics, some even closely examining the individuality of Cookies living in the Kingdom. And, of course, the adventure will continue as players help the Cookies explore Earthbread. We plan to pour our heart and soul into these endeavors as we did for the initial development phase.

“What lies beyond the seas? Perhaps a band of pirates?!”

”What treasures and valuables lie hidden in the depths of the mines?”

“The Golden Cheese Kingdom would definitely be built like a maze with many traps!”

”It’d only be natural for the Cookies of the Kingdom to have festivals filled with food and fun, right?”

“If we could open the doors to the Cookie Houses, what would we find inside?”

Cookie Run: The Game We Hope Everyone Can Hold Close to Their Hearts

We want Cookie Run to be more than “just fun.” We wish for Cookie Run to become a good friend with whom everyone can share moments of joy and happiness.

With Cookie Run: Kingdom, the Cookie World has been exponentially expanded, and our adorable Cookie friends have so many supporters watching their backs. This has opened a path of growth, another journey in which we can continue to strive for top-quality content that players will fall in love with. Having that wish come to fruition is no small task, but we are convinced that Cookie Run: Kingdom is the correct first step.

There are so many stories and tales that we wish to share with the world through Cookie Run: Kingdom. Now that the game has reached its 100-day mark, we promise to overcome obstacles just as we did during the early days of its development. With your love and support, we are determined to create touching, memorable stories and content, and we are excited to work on them for you, our fans. 

Not only that, we will strive to deliver a top-quality gaming experience in Cookie Run: Kingdom’s day-to-day management, as well as aim for new heights to provide a more immersive and rich experience filled with hope, joy, respect, comfort, courage, and love. Our long-standing philosophy will not falter, and we will continue working to make the world more enjoyable through the power of play.

Cookie Run: Kingdom would not be able to shine without you. We are sincerely grateful for the love and support you’ve shown us. Our efforts will proceed ever stronger, always with love and responsibility in mind. 

Once again, thank you for granting us the opportunity to bring Cookie Run: Kingdom into the world beyond the barriers between the content provider and consumers. We hope to continue this special relationship to create meaningful memories and stories with you. We’re looking forward to every step of the journey with you by our side beyond 100 days and 1,000 days more

Thank you.

Co-Producers of Cookie Run: Kingdom, Eunji Lee (Left) & Kilhyeon Cho (Right)

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Previous | #1. Constructing the Kingdom

Previous | #2. An Arduous Four-Year Journey