Cat Escape maker Sunday appoints ex-SYBO Christian Balazs in shift away from hypercasual

• Christian Balazs joins the company in a new position as director of games
• He will help build "high-performance teams" and support Sunday's transition into hybridcasual

Cat Escape creator Sunday has appointed Christian Balazs as the company’s new director of games.

The hire comes as Sunday looks towards the potential of hybridcasual over hypercasual, a genre rising in popularity and profitability but which requires more "high-performance teams" to break into when compared with its now-saturated predecessor.

Balazs will help to build such teams at Sunday, his leadership deemed "pivotal" to the hybridcasual shift.

A hybrid hire

Prior to Sunday, Balazs worked an 18-month tenure as co-founder and product manager of gamification consultant Co-Op Modes, supporting studios with existing games and new ideas, and even non-gaming companies looking to implement game-like features.

Earlier in his career, Balazs was game director at SYBO, director of product management at Outfit7, and product manager and producer on the Empire franchise at Goodgame Studios. His vast free-to-play knowledge and expertise in "mass-audience games" are set to be leveraged by Sunday through its transition.

The company already has hypercasual hits like Cat Escape, Dog Escape and Spinner Merge contributing to a portfolio with over 250 million downloads to date, and is looking for continued growth through hybrid games.

"I am excited to embrace the challenge here at Sunday. I look forward to collaborating with our talented team to not only further establish Hamburg as a premier gaming hub but also to lead our successful transition from hyper-casual to hybrid-casual games, setting new industry standards along the way," said Balazs.

"Plus, as a lifelong gamer, I’m particularly excited to blend my passion for quality with Sundays’ knowledge of game design to create experiences that resonate with players worldwide."

Sunday also celebrated the new hire on LinkedIn, stating: "Exciting news! We are happy to welcome Christian Balazs as the new director of games at Sunday! With an impressive track record from top-tier companies like SYBO, Outfit7, and Goodgame Studios, Christian brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our team in Hamburg.

"As the mobile games market evolves, Sunday is committed to staying ahead by transitioning from hypercasual to hybridcasual gaming. Christian's leadership will be pivotal in this transformation, helping us build high-performance teams and develop an innovative hybrid-casual product portfolio.

"At Sunday, we already have a talented pool of developers, and Christian's addition will further enhance our ability to innovate and elevate our game development. His unique skills and drive for excellence will be instrumental in taking Sunday to new heights and solidifying our position as a leader in the mobile gaming industry."

Last week, we interviewed Fingersoft’s new CFO Annika Suni about entering the games industry.