From Madrid to Oxford to Los Angeles, our co-CEO Javier Ferreira’s journey is a story of curiosity, resilience and a belief in the power of play.
In a recent profile with Spain's El Periódico, Javier shared how chance encounters shaped his path — from discovering mobile games at Telefónica to helping build Scopely into one of the world’s most influential games companies.
As Javier puts it, success isn’t about the “perfect idea," it’s about improving every idea, together.
Read more about Javier’s journey in Spanish in El Periódico, and the English translation below.
—
Javier Ferreira, Online Video Game Entrepreneur: “At Home, Phones Are Not Allowed at the Table”
The CEO of Scopely, the U.S. company behind 'MONOPOLY GO!', has established its European headquarters in Barcelona.
By Núria Navarro | El Periódico
Originally published September 14, 2025
The video game industry generates $180 billion a year (film and music combined reach $125 billion), and yet we barely know the faces of the people who run it. Here is one of them: Javier Ferreira (Madrid, 1976), co-CEO of Scopely, owner of games such as Monopoly GO!, Stumble Guys, and Marvel Strike Force, and, according to Time magazine, one of the 100 most influential companies in the world. He lives in Malibu (California) but has one foot in Barcelona, where he has set up the company’s largest European hub.
You’re playing in the Champions League, yet few people know you. Where do you come from?
I grew up in Madrid until I was 11, when I was sent to a boarding school in England. That marked my trajectory. I became aware that, in the end, we all travel alone through the world, and that it’s worth investing in yourself. I spent three years there, continued at an English school, and then studied Economics at the University of Warwick and Anthropology at Oxford.
That’s a solid résumé.
When I came back, my obsession was not working. But at 24 I had a daughter, and my outlook on life changed. By chance, I found a job at Telefónica related to the early days of mobile gaming, and we were very successful.
So you didn’t start out in a garage.
No. I always wanted a global education. I was interested in economics, but also anthropology. I worked clearing forests in Toledo, spent days at the Prado Museum, went scuba diving in the Maldives, and backpacked through Latin America.
Did that backpacker imagine himself as a successful entrepreneur?
Not really. I thought, “I’ll never be the CEO of a company.” The most important things that have happened in my life were accidental: the day I met the mother of my children, the day I got the job at Telefónica, the day I met Walter Driver, Scopely’s founder.
If everything is accidental, then there’s no secret.
My advice is to have a very strong orientation toward self-education. I have three children, and I don’t care if they become doctors or lawyers. What matters to me is that they are the owners and architects of their own development.
Your colleagues highlight your enormous energy.
I think I’m good at motivating teams and building resilience, because in this business you have to overcome failure.
You practice Bikram yoga. Does that help?
I’ve always tried to be very aware of where I am emotionally. At different moments, meditation, psychoanalysis, or journaling have helped me. They’re methods that support self-regulation.
You sold the company to Savvy Games for $5 billion. That must be emotional.
The day we signed the deal—at 3 a.m. Los Angeles time—I felt great joy because, in a way, it put an objective value on what we had built. But I also felt vertigo, because it meant entering an unknown phase.
With money, there’s less uncertainty.
Money hasn’t changed my life very much. The group of people who built the project has stayed together, and we’re focused on what we’ll do over the next few years — just with a calmer energy. Business success isn’t about having the right idea, but about being able to improve failed ideas. I’m not afraid of 180-degree turns; we see them as a strategic objective.
What’s the limit of your ambition?
I’m very excited about being a great father and contributing to the world through education, via foundations.
Speaking of education: it must be hard to scold your kids for using their phones.
I see play as something extremely positive. I’ve opened the door to video games for them and played with them, but I’ve also encouraged other interests—reading, friends, sports. In life, you don’t achieve much by restricting, but by inspiring and exciting. Video games invite active participation and social connection; they serve the function of a park, where friends gather.
As an anthropologist, what do you think of everyone being glued to their phones?
That’s where I am strict: no phones at the table. Presence matters—when you’re playing, eating, or skiing.
Says the one supplying the “drug."
I’ve never met anyone in the industry who wants players to be addicted to the product. What they want is for players to have a pleasant and lasting experience. I think hostility toward video games is generational, because it’s a phenomenon of the last 20 or 30 years.
What are you addicted to?
I’ve realized I need the Mediterranean. What I would call home is Ibiza and Begur, where I went as a child. What truly makes me vibrate are my children and surfing—a passion I discovered late. It’s a very spiritual experience that requires patience, conviction, and overcoming fear.
Do you have fears?
I’ve learned that fear is a signal that you need to investigate.