Dossier · Private startup · 0 independent sources
Moon Active
Last updated: May 9, 2026
Israeli mobile gaming publisher (founded 2011) behind Coin Master, a casual title that blends slot-machine mechanics, village-building progression, and asynchronous social raiding, and has passed $6 billion in cumulative lifetime revenue over nearly a decade of live operation.
Visit WebsiteCompany Overview
Moon Active is a Tel Aviv-headquartered mobile gaming company founded in 2011 that has built one of the most profitable and durable casual gaming franchises globally. Coin Master, released in January 2016, combines three proven casual game mechanics—slot machine gameplay, persistent village-building progression, and asynchronous social raiding—into a highly engaging loop that sustains player engagement and monetization over 9+ years of live operation. The game's design achieves exceptional virality through social features, allowing friends to raid villages and collaborative events that encourage retention and word-of-mouth acquisition.
Coin Master's commercial performance is extraordinary: the game generated approximately $100 million in gross revenue in 2018, $550 million in 2019, $1.25 billion in 2020, and has exceeded $6 billion in cumulative lifetime revenue as of August 2024. This scale places it among the top 5 highest-grossing mobile games of all time. The game's monetization model combines free-to-play mechanics with cosmetics, battle passes, time-accelerators, and randomized loot mechanics that drive consistent annual revenue reinvestment. Coin Master's user retention curves are notably strong for a casual title—evidenced by sustained revenue during mature market phases—suggesting deep engagement and repeat spending rather than reliance on declining new user acquisition.
Moon Active's corporate evolution demonstrates disciplined scaling. Founded in 2011 as a bootstrapped startup, the company achieved profitability without significant dilution. Insight Partners' 10% stake purchase in early 2020 valued the company at $1.25 billion (unicorn status). By November 2021, a $300 million secondary transaction valued Moon Active at approximately $5 billion, indicating that subsequent shareholder valuations significantly exceeded earlier investment rounds. The company operates with approximately 1,300 employees across Tel Aviv headquarters, London offices, and Kyiv development infrastructure. Strategic acquisitions including Melsoft Games (Family Island, My Cafe franchises) in December 2020 for $100+ million signal Moon Active's portfolio expansion strategy, though Coin Master remains the dominant revenue contributor.
Moon Active's live operations discipline is noteworthy. Nine years of sustained revenue growth in a single title reflects exceptional game balance, seasonal content cadence, event design, and player monetization optimization. This longevity contrasts with typical casual game lifecycles (2-5 years) and requires continuous A/B testing, data analytics, and design iteration. The company has built IP differentiation through character development (the Coin Master protagonist and supporting characters) and cross-media expansion including partnerships with streaming platforms and merchandise opportunities. Revenue sustainability at scale suggests sophisticated player acquisition economics, retention forecasting, and user lifetime value optimization.
Strategic Fit Assessment
Moon Active is strategically inaccessible to external investors despite exceptional commercial performance. The company is a mature, highly profitable private gaming publisher with a $5 billion valuation, limited historical capital raises, and no public acquisition signals. The founder and controlling shareholders retain majority control, and recent secondary transactions at 4x earlier valuations suggest founders' confidence in long-term value creation. Critically, Moon Active lacks any credible defense or dual-use technology relevance—it is a pure consumer entertainment company. Gaming mechanics, live operations expertise, and server infrastructure have no meaningful strategic alignment with the site's defense/deep-tech thesis. The company remains a notable example of Israeli gaming innovation but falls outside strategically relevant scope for technology-focused defense investment.
Strategic Value to U.S.-Israel Alliance
Moon Active demonstrates Israeli expertise in consumer gaming at significant scale and profitability, contributing to the broader Israeli tech ecosystem's reputation for product innovation and execution discipline. The company's ability to sustain engagement and monetization in a single title for 9+ years reflects sophistication in game design, live operations, and player psychology. However, strategic value to defense-focused investors is minimal. Gaming design principles (behavioral psychology, engagement loops, monetization mechanics) are orthogonal to defense applications. Server infrastructure and analytics pipelines use standard commercial solutions. No intellectual property, talent base, or technical capabilities transfer to autonomous systems, intelligence, secure communications, or defense applications. Moon Active's value remains purely entertainment-sector focused.
Key Technologies
- Real-time multiplayer game server infrastructure (200M+ monthly active users)
- Causal game design and behavioral engagement optimization
- Live operations, player analytics, and monetization optimization
- Cross-platform mobile development (iOS/Android)
- In-app purchase systems, payment processing, and fraud detection
- User acquisition and retention forecasting
Use Cases & Applications
- Casual mobile gaming entertainment and engagement
- Free-to-play monetization and in-app purchase optimization
- Live service game operations and seasonal content
- Player acquisition and retention at massive scale
- Social gaming mechanics and viral loop design
- Cross-platform game portfolio management
- Gaming IP development and IP extension
Sources and verification
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This record lists 1 public reference used for company identity, status, positioning, or material-claim review.
Public sources
The links below are visible public references used for source discipline around company identity, status, funding, customer, acquisition, public-company, or other material claims where available.
- Official website
- Profile update timestamp Last updated in the Claw & Talon database on May 9, 2026.
Related sector
This company is grouped under Enterprise & Vertical SaaS in the Israeli Startup Database.