Nils
Ersson
Twenty years in games, twelve at King. My teams and I were key drivers of the Candy Franchise's 2015 turnaround — one of the unlocks of Activision Blizzard's $5.9B acquisition of King. Returned in 2020 to rebuild Candy Crush from a declining trajectory. As Head of Product, owned Candy Crush end-to-end — all product teams and live operations. Built up the organisation from ~200 to ~500 people, running ~400 directly. Introduced new product mechanics and live-operations practices that are now standard across casual gaming. Annual revenue more than doubled during my tenure. By 2023 the Candy Crush franchise had passed $20 billion in lifetime revenue and 5 billion downloads, with hundreds of millions of monthly players — among the highest-grossing media franchises ever made, and one of the most recognised gaming brands in the world. Candy Crush was a meaningful part of the rationale for Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard — generating the bulk of King's revenue, bringing the mobile scale that Microsoft's console- and PC-led portfolio needed, and demonstrating long-term cash generation expected to continue for decades.
Before King I worked in online gaming and free-to-play — Ongame, bwin.party and EA. The approach has stayed consistent: data-driven, value-focused, deep on monetization. Over time my role has shifted from managing products directly to building effective teams and organisations.
I stepped back from running Candy Crush day-to-day in 2024 after a decade of senior operational roles at King. King asked me to stay on as First Vice President and senior advisor to the executive team — a role that has since expanded back into operational scope: starting a new game development project and standing up AI game development. Outside of King I sit on the board of Infundo, a Stockholm investment company taking focused positions across tech, gaming, and energy through active board engagement. Selectively open to additional board seats, advisory work, and operating-partner roles — particularly in games, AI, and consumer tech.
- Mobile only — Candy Crush also ran on Facebook and other platforms not captured here.
- Excludes advertising revenue, which was a significant and growing share of monetization during the 2020–2024 period.
- Substantially underestimates actual performance — King officially announced Candy Crush passed $20 billion in lifetime revenue by 2023; this data set sums to roughly half that.
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2024 — NowFVP, Senior Advisor & Business Performance+
First Vice President at King. Stepped back from running Candy Crush day-to-day in 2024 to advise the executive team on strategy, business performance, and product organisation. The role has since expanded back into operational scope — starting a new game development project and standing up AI game development. Part-time, alongside selective board and advisory work.
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2021 — 2024FVP, Head of Product — Candy Crush+
Owned Candy Crush end-to-end across all product teams and live operations. Built up the title from ~200 to ~500 people, running ~400 directly. Annual revenue more than doubled during this period.
Introduced new product mechanics and live-operations practices that have become standard across casual gaming. Candy Crush's scale, longevity, and projected long-term performance were a meaningful part of the rationale for Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard — a franchise positioned to keep generating significant revenue for decades.
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2020 — 2021VP, Head of Operations & Analytics — Candy Crush+
Returned to Candy Crush to rebuild it from a declining trajectory. Built a new Operations & Analytics function from scratch, growing it from ~20 to ~100 people in roughly a year. Covered ads, content, events, IAP monetization, and feature optimization — the foundation for the broader product reorganisation that followed.
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2019 — 2020VP, Head of Business Performance — King+
King-wide role spanning all titles. Led the central analytics function and the global business performance craft. Retained Candy franchise leadership responsibilities through the transition.
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2017 — 2019VP, Head of Business Performance — Candy Franchise+
Franchise-level business performance lead across Candy Crush Saga, Soda, Friends, and Jelly. Drove the analytics, monetization, and performance work that sustained the franchise as the dominant share of King's portfolio.
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2015 — 2017Senior Business Performance Director — Candy+
Senior role in the analytics and performance function during the Candy Franchise's 2015 turnaround — one of the unlocks of Activision Blizzard's $5.9B acquisition of King. Worked closely with game leads on the strategic and operational shifts behind the turnaround.
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2013 — 2015Game Performance Manager — Monetization+
Joined King to bring free-to-play monetization expertise. Worked across the title portfolio on monetization frameworks, IAP optimization, and player value modelling as the company transitioned from ad-driven web games to IAP-led mobile.
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NowBoard Member+
Board member of Infundo, a Stockholm-based active-investor firm taking focused positions across tech, gaming, energy and adjacent sectors. Operates through board engagement and operational support to portfolio companies.
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2012 — 2013Director of Monetization — Play4Free Publishing+
Led monetization for EA's Play4Free publishing portfolio. Owned IAP design, pricing, and live-ops optimization across multiple free-to-play titles.
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2011 — 2012Business Intelligence Analyst — Play4Free+
Analytics work supporting EA's Play4Free publishing portfolio — player behaviour modelling, monetization analytics, and live-ops measurement. Stepped up as acting Head of BI for a transitional period.
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2006 — 2011Online poker & gaming — Ongame Network, bwin.party+
Five years across analytics, business intelligence, and product roles in online poker — Ongame Network (then a major B2B poker platform) and its acquirer bwin.party. Most recently as Product Owner for the cash games product line. Where I learned the foundations of data-driven product work in real-money games.