Lightfox Games

Jordan Arnold, Co-Founder & COO

Seattle, WA

The mobile game Knight's Edge: a 3v3 dungeon race

2025

Lightfox Games brings social multiplayer fun to gamers worldwide

Started in Seattle in 2019 by longtime coworkers, Lightfox Games builds social mobile games like Knight’s Edge and Rumble Club. The studio ships fast and keeps play free thanks to ads, so that anyone can access its games.

Level 1: origin story unlocked

Summers in Seattle have a way of tricking visitors into moving there. “Between late July and mid-September, you’re like, ‘oh, I can do this,’” jokes Jordan Arnold, co-founder and COO of Lightfox Games. “Then it’s all dark and gray for the rest of the year.”

Lightfox’s origin story is also very Seattle: in fact, four colleagues who met in Seattle’s game scene (first at the studio Z2, then at King after it acquired Z2), decided in 2019 to build something small, nimble, and, most importantly, theirs.

“We thought it was a really good time to try the startup thing again… to execute really quickly with a small team,” Jordan recalls.

Their name captures the mission just right too: light for staying small and efficient; fox for being clever with tools so that everyone can wear multiple hats; and LFG (Looking for Group) because their games are built to connect people.

“Everything we build is social,” says Jordan. And that same social DNA shows up in the kinds of games they make as well.

Their first release, Knight’s Edge, is a 3v3 dungeon race where two teams sprint through enemies toward a boss. Their second one is Rumble Club, which flips the vibe to a physics-powered 20-player, last-one-standing battle royale — equal parts silly and social.

And the mobile part of this formula? For Jordan, it’s all about the fast feedback.

“It’s fun to work on things you can make collaboratively with a community,” he says. “Mobile was the place where you could push a release, get feedback, and change it three days later.”

Today, Lightfox is seven people strong, based out of the greater Seattle area, all working together to build multiplayer experiences for players all over the world.

The mobile game Rumble Club: a physics-powered 20-player, last-one-standing battle royale

Level 2: the monetization shrine

From day one, Lightfox built monetization around how players engaged with their games. And because their games are so multiplayer, they needed scale, and scale meant keeping the games free to join.

“Because all of our games have matchmaking, you need to have a free SKU to get that kind of scale,” Jordan says. “That makes ads an obvious way to support that reach.”

Inside the game, rewarded ads are integrated where they feel natural, never getting in the way of the fun. The goal: to “strike a balance where ads enhance rewards or progression without disrupting the gameplay.”

This approach is also about access. That’s because, in some parts of the world, in-app purchases are less common or pricing simply feels off due to exchange rates. So that’s where rewarded ads come in. They make those kinds of players feel equally welcome.

“It gives a great way for players around the world to get something they’re looking for without necessarily having to open their wallets,” Jordan explains.

And Lightfox relies on Google AdMob to do much of this, especially thanks to the platform’s high-quality, well-vetted ads.

“There’s a good pool of advertisers, plus CPMs are good,” Jordan says. AdMob helps keep their games open to a wider audience, and fund ongoing improvements.

“Ads give a great way for players around the world to get something they’re looking for without necessarily having to open their wallets.”

Boss room: results and what’s in store for the future

Just open Rumble Club up and you’ll see Lightfox’s ad strategy in action. Rewarded ads are a bigger slice of that game’s business, while for a game like Knight’s Edge, that one leans more on in-app purchases.

Either way, ads contribute to the overall mission, not to mention, the bottom line.

“Ads get you closer to profitability, faster,” Jordan says.

Then there’s the team itself. The crew made its first non-founder hire in 2021 and now counts seven people on its roster: small enough to move quickly, close enough for shared language even.

“There’s a lot of accountability,” Jordan says of his crewmates, “but it’s a lot of fun… you get to put your hands in a lot of different things and contribute.”

Ask him for a favorite milestone and he’ll give you a moment instead: looking up on a flight and seeing someone playing a Lightfox game. “There’s nothing cooler.”

The plan for the future is clear: stay light, build for connection. That means keeping the doors open with ads, not paywalls.

“Everything we build strives to be social,” Jordan says. “We’ll keep finding fun ways to connect folks, with ads helping us to level up.”

About the Publisher

Jordan Arnold co-founded Lightfox Games after earlier stints at studios like Z2Live and King’s Seattle team. As COO, he focuses on the day-to-day and helps its seven-person crew make multiplayer games that bring people together.