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For 13 years, Subway Surfers download rate has been consistent: about one million new installs every single day. Half of those downloads come from users upgrading to new devices. The other half comes from children aging into phone usage, and users in less developed countries reaching a level of affluence that allows them to purchase their first smartphones. This steady influx of players has made Subway Surfers the most downloaded mobile game of all time, with 4.5 billion lifetime downloads. Recently, however, Subway Surfers traffic has arrived in more dramatic waves. In 2020, the app saw a surge of new users after TikTokers discovered a way to hack the game. In 2022, a 10th anniversary social media campaigncombined with a TikTok-viral no coin challengeonce again sent downloads soaring. Mathias Gredal Nrvig, CEO of Subway Surfers parent company SYBO, understands the vital role social media plays in the games continued growth. Many of its early competitors have vanished: Draw Something and Zombie Farm are no longer on the app store, and Temple Run (which once inspired Subway Surfers) has stagnated. Through TikTok, though, Subway Surfers has kept its edge. The fact that TikTok loves us means were also being rewarded by Apple and Google, because their algorithms see what trends on other platforms, Nrvig says. Its a flywheel of activation. Subway Surfers social media dominance TikTok is crowded with so-called brain rot content. These posts typically layer two unrelated videos: one showing a TV show or narrated Reddit post, the other featuring a video game. Also called sludge content, the videos lull the doomscrolling brain into a passive state, watching and listening as the parallel feeds play. Its like Cocomelon for teenagers. @bekiedit23 #creatorsearchinsights #reddit_tiktok #aitastories #redditstoriestts #redditredings #reddittiktok #fyp #Aita #viral #edit #subwaysurfers #xyz #subway #subwaysurfersstorytime original sound – beki – beki Nrvig takes a much sunnier view of these videos, saying they give you a moment of zen. They also frequently feature Subway Surfers, repeatedly bringing TikTok users back to SYBOs IP. Theres no clear evidence that these brain rot videos drive viewers to the App Store, but they certainly do keep Subway Surfers in the conversation. [TikTokers] know were not going to go after them for posting our content, Nrvig says. We have a very different approach from other companies, where they do a lot more policing of social media. Subway Surfers in-house social media channels are led by Celia Zimmermann, SYBOs head of player experience. While the company produces plenty of its own content across platforms, the team also spends considerable time supporting the flow of organically created content. Zimmermann describes the games openness as brave, noting that many community managers at other gaming companies dont have the same speed for green-lighting. We have IP that were able to be quite flexible with, she says. This social momentum is especially important for Subway Surfers young audience. Many tween players gather on platforms like TikTok. SYBO does not track younger players directly, but Nrvig estimates anecdotally that about half of the games players are under 18. That figure does not account for the many kids playing on adult devices, which could push the percentage even higher. Of course, not all social media trends are positive. In New York City, a TikTok challenge recently encouraged some young people to try hopping between subway cars. At least six people died in 2024 attempting the stunt. Nrvig calls the trend unfortunate and says SYBO would never repost or amplify dangerous content, though the company ultimately decided not to issue a public statement. Train surfing has been a thing that people are doing in New York, thankfully very seldom, but we havent seen with our downloads that people think of it as something they can do in real life, Nrvig says. Its clearly a game, and a silly game at that, and therefore we dont have any direct connection to it. Can TikTok keep a 13-year-old game on top? Nrvig sees Subway Surfers as part of a standout group of Scandinavian mobile games. Theres Angry Birds, launched in 2009, and Candy Crush, which debuted in 2012. Both remain strong performers, though Subway Surfers download rate now outpaces them by a sizable margin, according to analysts. It also stands out as the only game in the group embracing such a deeply TikTok-driven strategythough it remains hard to say whether virality and revenue always go hand in hand. While SYBO declined to share exact revenue figures, Nrvig notes that 80 to 85% of the companys revenue comes from advertising, with the rest gnerated through in-app purchases. Monthly active users remain relatively steadyaside from viral spikesat 100 to 150 million. With such a stable user base, revenue shifts at SYBO tend to follow fluctuations in the ad market. Analysts are split on Subway Surfers future. Samuel Aune, a gaming insights analyst at Sensor Tower, supports Nrvigs view of long-term stability. He describes the games 10-year download curve as really consistent, especially when compared to its peers. Not a lot of games have lived 10-plus years, he tells Fast Company. Ariel Michaeli, CEO of Appfigures, takes a more skeptical stance. Mobile game downloads have declined across the board on both the App Store and Google Play. But Subway Surfers has dropped a little bit more than everyone else, he says, citing the companys internal tracking. It used to be number one for a very long time. Over the last few months, it started slowly going down [the ranking] . . . Subway Surfers has been around for so long that theres fatigue. And what if TikTok disappeared? That seems unlikely in the U.S. for now, with President Donald Trump having extended the TikTok ban deadline for a third time. But in India, where TikTok is banned, Subway Surfers had to pivot. Facebook is their go-to, and so is YouTube, so thats the place where we go to engage with them, Zimmermann says. For now, Subway Surfers holds its lead. Nrvig argues that among todays top-ranked mobile games, it is the only one growing organically. Its steady stream of downloads continues, driven by strong, recognizable IP and smart social media strategynot by less transparent forces. Were still the most downloaded viral game, Nrvig says. Everyone else has paid for their traffic to get on that list.
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E-Commerce
UX designers and product designers have very similar jobs. They both arrange digital parts. They both use Figma more than other designers do. And, according to a recent Fast Company analysis of design job listings, they start out with pretty much the same entry-level salary, around $70,000 a year. But as their careers progress, those salaries diverge. Among job postings asking that a candidate have between four and five years of experience, the average salary offered for UX designers was about $123,720, while the salary for product designers was $149,850. By the time these types of designers reach more developed stages of their careers, requiring at least eight years of experience, UX designers are offered an average of about $153,920, while product designers can earn $197,579. Thats about 28% more for product designers. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); UX design vs. product design To understand what might be driving the discrepancy in salary between UX and product designers over the course of their careers, it is helpful to look at differences in the actual duties that each type of worker performs, and how their careers typically progress. A UX designer is responsible for the feel and flow of a product, e.g. the user experience, while a product designer oversees both visual elements of an app or website and what types of features it should even have to begin with. Alexander Benz, a UX designer, product manager, and CEO of Blikket, a design and development agency for DTC brands, explains that people who start out as UX designers tend to go on become UX managers, involved in the production of a products design system, or they become other kinds designers. But as product designers develop in their careers, they begin branching out into other parts of the business, interfacing with stakeholders from across the organization. When you get into the product, he says, then you also have a bigger responsibility to . . . [take] in the ideas from stakeholders and manage more people in the whole process.” For example, while a UX designer might create a flowchart and visual style for a money transfer feature in a banking app, the product designer is closer to the metal, helping determine what components the app’s feature should actually containDoes it save a list of past transfer recipients? Does it autocomplete input fields?and so on, while considering the feature’s broader success metrics and technical constraints. “I think that is where the salary difference comes in. UX designers everywhere Another factor that could be contributing to the salary discrepancy is supply. There are simply more UX designers today than product designers. This may be because UX design boot camps, such as General Assembly and Springboard, proliferated in the 2010s, when interest rates were low, capital was cheap, and a new startup was seemingly being born every minute. These young companies all needed tech-savvy designers on staff to create their wireframes and user journeys, and boot camps minted them. Boot camps are based on the notion that certain jobs require practicing and perfecting a mostly fungible set of best practices that can be deployed to any client. Boot camps are accessible, cheaper than college or graduate school, and have created hundreds of thousands of additional workers in their respective fields. But while there were many boot camp options for budding UX designers, no such counterpart emerged for product designers. There is no oversupply, Benz says. Instead, product designers occupy roles in their companies that are more difficult to delineate. Their jobs require technical and soft skills that take more than a few months to master. There is no crash-course curriculum in product design. More good news for product designers Product designers are enjoying an extra advantage right now. Because their jobs cant be codified into a standard set of steps and principles, they are largely protected from LLMs. As language models become more sophisticated at performing junior- and, increasingly, senior-level coding tasks, they are threatening all sorts of jobs in tech. Its the jobs that LLMs dont understand that are arguably safest. In other words, the very qualities that make UX designers a target for easy boot camps also make them a target for AI. And the job description of a product designerthe fact that the role involves constant communication with individuals inside and outside an organizationmeans that it is relatively more protected from automation. For UX designers who might be looking for both a salary boost and a shovel to dig an anti-automation moat around their careers, it’s a great time to pivot. This article is part of Fast Company‘s continuing coverage of where the design jobs are, including this year’s comprehensive analysis of 170,000 job listings.
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E-Commerce
When youre job-hunting for the first time, that old adagewho you know matters more than what you knowcan seem daunting. In my two decades of helping new professionals access their desired industries, Ive learned that creating meaningful networks can start from scratchbut conventional networking advice doesnt always hold up. Instead, you need to emphasize your value. Heres how to tackle it. 1. Launch an Outreach Campaign: The 100-Connection Method The most successful networking strategy I have observed requires a deliberate approach to building professional relationships. Develop a list of future workplaces within your industry, then aim to reach out to 100 of their professionals. How to execute this: Use LinkedIn, company websites, and industry publications to find professionals who work at your target organizations. Build a system with a spreadsheet to handle your outreach efforts over a period of 36 months. Develop specific connection requests that show your serious interest in their professional development, with personal messages via email or LinkedIn. Dont request employment opportunities; rather, ask to hear about their professional path. The majority of experts are willingand even eagerto discuss their careers with young professionals who make thoughtful approaches to them. When your outreach is authentic and specific, Ive seen a positive response rate of up to 40%. Once you start, make it scalable: Aim for 23 new connections per week. 2. Offer Value Before Seeking It Young professionals fail to understand that networking requires them to provide value first before expecting anything back. Heres how to do it. Offer industry trends to relevant professional networks during face-to-face interactions. Connect professionals to contacts in your existing network, regardless of their network size. Write blog posts, LinkedIn articles, or research summaries that demonstrate your understanding of the industry. People naturally feel compelled to give back to you when you help them. When youre reaching out to 100 people, that multiples. 3. Use Technology to Remove Traditional Barriers Modern technology has made networking more accessible to all people than ever before. Use these tools strategically: Virtual meeting platforms: Geographic limitations no longer exist. Through video calls you can establish business relationships with leaders from across the country (or beyond). AI-powered research tools: The combination of LinkedIn Sales Navigator and company websites and industry databases helps you find appropriate contacts and discover their professional backgrounds prior to making contact. Professional transcription services: Use tools like Otter.ai during informational interviews to generate precise recordings, which enables you to maintain full attention on relationship development during discussions. 4. Master the Art of Informational Interviewing The standard job interview places you in a position to request something from the interviewer. Through informational interviews, you provide an opportunity to acquire knowledge from professional expertise. Heres how to get the full use out of an informational. Create 57 well-prepared questions that focus on your acquaintances career development, professional understanding, and industry advice. Keep meetings to 2030 minutes maximum. During the conversation, ask for the names of three professionals who can provide valuable insights. Send a thank-you note to the participants right after the meeting. Not sure where to start? These are some helpful questions to ask. What changes has the industry undergone during your professional lifetime? What are the most important skills that are rising to prominence in your field? Who should I reach out to next in my industry exploration? 5. Transform Conversations into Lasting Relationships Young professionals who succeed maintain valuable relationships from their business contacts instead of just collecting business cards. Turn these conversations into assets. You should document the most important information that comes from your conversations. Write about the lessons youve learned and share it with your network. Develop a system for staying in touch with connections, whether that be quarterly check-ins, sharing relevant articles, or congratulating them on achievements. Look for ways to reconnect contacts with each other when it makes sense. Develop a personal advisory board from your 100 connections; 10 to 15 people will establish long-term mentorship roles. Nurture these relationships consistently. The Long-Term Payoff Recent graduates who focus on value creation instead of value extraction have successfully made industry-changing career transitions and built strong professional networks. Begin by establishing one professional connection during this present week. Focus on what you can learn from them and how you might be helpful. Strategic and consistent relationship building produces surprising opportunities that surpass your expectations. Remember: You’re not building a network to get somethingyou’re building relationships to contribute something. Its from there your network will grow.
Category:
E-Commerce
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