By
There is no doubt that Evony: The King’s Return has made remarkable progress and established a strong presence in the mobile gaming industry. It remains a key title in the real-time strategy genre. While Top Games was founded in 2015 as an independent developer, 2016 marked its breakthrough with the launch of Evony TKR. The game even gained exposure during the Super Bowl, putting the company on the industry map. Since then, the studio has consistently pursued innovation, creating cross-genre titles and bringing engaging experiences to diverse audiences. Their games emphasize exciting gameplay mechanics while maintaining a user-focused design philosophy.
Evony Features
When it comes to the unique features of Evony, it is a 4X MMO strategy game where players can choose their favorite civilization from seven options. Once in the game, they can gather resources, train armies, summon and level up generals, join alliances, and collaborate in large-scale battles. The game has a learning curve, requiring time and effort to master, but this depth is part of its appeal.
The alliance system is a core feature, helping players worldwide connect and form friendships, fostering diversity and inclusivity. In 2024, Evony also introduced more casual gameplay options, such as Ideal Land Ornaments, and launched weekly events tied to both regular schedules and seasonal celebrations. These additions have significantly enhanced community engagement and encouraged sustained participation.
Recent examples of events include the 2025 Spring Festival, Season 11 Battle of Chalons Preview, Recruit General Algernon Sidney, Redeem Inca Famous City, and Redeem General George Dewey at the Evony Civilization Celebration.
One player shared, “A good part of Evony is how you and your alliance interact with other players. This is a really important aspect of the game. Another fun part is the chat. There are three different channels to chat on: the beginners’ channel, world chat, and alliance chat.”
The VP, Benjamin Gifford, said the company has worked hard to bring fun games to players all over the world, and that hard work has certainly paid off. As a result, Evony now serves gamers in more than 150 countries with multiple languages and has established long-term, close relationships.
Industry Accolades
Top Games Inc., co-founded by David Guo (aka Yaoqi Guo), is a global game developer. Since its launch, the company has topped bestseller lists on Google Play and the Apple App Store. It has also earned several industry accolades, including being named one of the top-grossing developers in April 2022, according to Top Companies.
In June 2022, data.ai reported that Top Games hit a record, becoming the #9 overall-grossing RPG company in the U.S. for the first time, breaking into the Top 10 of highest-grossing developers on both App Store and Google Play.
Evony: The King's Return won the NYX Silver Award in the 2022 NYX Game Awards. The game was also ranked #5 among the best US-based mid-core games by data.ai. In October 2023, Top Games was ranked as the fifth top-grossing American company worldwide on Google Play and the Apple App Store, according to trusted media reports. This success underscores the company’s commitment to creating unique and engaging games for its millions of players.
In 2023, Evony ranked #1 with 10.1% of the market share in the "Top 20 Global Game Subgenres by Consumer Spend," as reported by data.ai’s Game IQ Taxonomy.
David Guo: Actively Respond to Challenges
David Guo, the co-founder and CEO of Top Games Inc., is responsible for overseeing all essential departments. David led the team that created the hit game Evony. With a background in physics, he has previously worked in programming and product management, where he was involved in the creation of the Skynet firewall. In 2004, he co-founded one of the world's largest virtual currency exchange platforms, facilitating millions of transactions and generating significant value.
As a gamer himself, David Guo noticed that many game companies do not prioritize user experience. This observation inspired him to focus on the gaming industry, and he later joined Top Games Inc., a video game developer that serves gamers worldwide in more than 150 countries. At Top Games, Guo's focus is on creating user-oriented games that improve the user experience and pay attention to details and execution efficiency in the development process.
With the intense competition in the mobile gaming market, how does TGI, under David Guo's leadership, tackle the challenges ahead, create high-quality games, and adapt to market changes? I believe this is also a challenge that other developers will face. Internally, David Guo advocates for a data-driven approach and a user-focused development mindset. Externally, he actively seeks to understand and learn emerging technologies, exploring their application in games to enhance the user experience. TGI's corporate culture also emphasizes openness, exploration, and efficiency, which will serve as the core competitive advantage of the team.
