Bringing Czech Mobile Games to Asia: Terahype’s Mission to Japan
In early 2025, Czech game studio Terahype joined a business mission to Japan, organized by Startup Disrupt and the Czech Chamber of Commerce, with a clear goal—explore new growth opportunities in Asia. Founded in 2022, Terahype has quickly made a name for itself in the mobile gaming world with titles like Boom Castle, a fresh take on the tower defense genre that attracts over 40,000 daily players. With a compact but ambitious team, they set out to deepen their understanding of Asian markets and find the right partners to help localize and scale their games. What they discovered went far beyond market insights—it was also a chance to learn from fellow Czech gaming founders about growing from a small studio into a globally competitive player.
- What does your company do?
We develop mobile games. Our studio was founded in 2022, and since then, we’ve been working on smaller projects that entertain both our team and players around the world. We believe that a well-crafted mobile game can be a great way to unwind—essentially, we create entertainment, much like streaming platforms do.
We specialize in the free-to-play model, meaning our games are free to download. However, players have the option to purchase in-game currency or other items to progress faster. Alternatively, they can choose to watch an ad in exchange for a specific reward, which helps us monetize the game. Of course, it’s also possible to play the game completely for free without watching ads—it’s entirely up to the player.
We have several games in our portfolio, but our most successful project at the moment is Boom Castle, which is a modified take on the tower defense genre. Essentially, players defend their castle against waves of orc invaders, upgrade their heroes and equipment, and develop strategies to withstand enemy hordes in different stages. Currently, the game has around 40,000 daily players, and thanks to strong monetization, Boom Castle is scaling quite rapidly.
- What were the most important contacts or business opportunities you gained during the mission and what specific steps do you plan to take next?
Since we were unable to participate in Tokyo Game Show, we looked for another opportunity to visit Japan in person and connect with companies that could help us grow. Players in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan collectively generate about 20% of our revenue, yet our game is not well-localized for these markets, and our ASO (App Store Optimization) for these regions could use a lot more attention.
The differences between the European and Asian markets are quite significant, so even if we tried our best, without knowledge of the language, local customs, and player preferences, we’d have little chance of improving our performance in these markets. That’s why our primary goal was to find a partner who could assist us with this. We managed to connect with three relevant companies that could help, and we are now exploring potential long-term collaborations with them.
While their initial support will be focused on Boom Castle, we are planning to launch another game in the coming months, where we’ll need a similar level of assistance. So, we genuinely hope to find a partner who will continue growing with us in these markets.
- What was your biggest aha moment or surprise during the mission?
Honestly, we didn’t encounter anything drastically unexpected. The company representatives we met were very pleasant and well-prepared for our meetings. Aside from the “business card dance,” which is a typical part of Japanese business etiquette, we didn’t experience any major surprises.
However, these missions are not just about meeting companies in a particular country. The group you travel with can also be a significant and eye-opening factor—and that definitely proved true for us. Our biggest “aha” moment wasn’t about Japanese companies but about Czech ones.
Our team currently has nine people, but many of the companies on the mission had hundreds of employees. We had a lot of discussions about the transition from a small company to a large one, about remote-first organizations, and how different founders approach this shift. This reinforced our realization that if we want to scale quickly, we’ll soon need to start hiring fully remote employees.
I’d even say that Brno is the gaming capital of the Czech Republic, but precisely because of that, it’s challenging to find high-quality local developers who are open to new opportunities. The competition among gaming companies here is simply enormous.
- How would you recommend companies that want to participate in a similar mission in the future to get the most out of it?
Prepare well before the trip—it’s great to have plenty of business cards, a list of people you’d like to meet, and a positive attitude. We believe that openness and the ability to network are key to success. If you’re easy to talk to, willing to share advice, and open to grabbing dinner or a drink with others, you can make some interesting connections that might be valuable down the road.
