—Kel McKnight, B1Daily

Raid: Shadow Legends is a game developed by Plarium, a private video game company founded in Israel in 2009. In 2017, Plarium was acquired by the Australian gaming company Aristocrat Leisure for approximately $500 million, making it an Australian-owned subsidiary.

Few mobile games have become as recognizable as Raid: Shadow Legends. Through an aggressive marketing campaign that flooded YouTube videos, Twitch streams, podcasts, and social media with sponsorships, the fantasy role-playing game transformed from a relatively unknown mobile title into one of the most downloaded and discussed games in the world. Its ubiquity has also sparked questions about its origins, with some players claiming that Raid is an “Israeli project.” Although the game was indeed developed by an Israeli-founded company, the story behind its creation is far more global than many realize.

Plarium was established in Herzliya, Israel, during the country’s rise as one of the world’s leading technology hubs. Often referred to as the “Startup Nation,” Israel has earned a reputation for producing innovative companies specializing in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, financial technology, and software development. Over the past two decades, the country has also become an increasingly important player in the gaming industry.

While Israel is not known for producing blockbuster console franchises on the scale of Nintendo, Sony, or Rockstar Games, it has developed a strong presence in mobile gaming, free-to-play game design, analytics, advertising technology, and the monetization systems that power many of today’s most successful games.

In 2017, Plarium’s success attracted the attention of Aristocrat Leisure, an Australian company best known for manufacturing casino gaming machines and developing digital gaming products. Aristocrat purchased Plarium for roughly $500 million, integrating the studio into a much larger international organization. Since then, Raid: Shadow Legends has continued to be developed by teams spread across multiple countries, reflecting the increasingly international nature of modern game development. The game’s ownership is Australian, its workforce is multinational, and its player base spans virtually every corner of the globe.

Israel’s influence on the gaming industry extends well beyond Raid: Shadow Legends. Numerous Israeli technology companies develop software that supports games behind the scenes, including analytics platforms, cloud infrastructure, advertising systems, artificial intelligence tools, cybersecurity solutions, anti-cheat technology, and user acquisition services. Many players interact with these technologies every day without realizing they originated from Israeli companies. Rather than dominating the production of major console exclusives, Israel has established itself as a leader in the technologies that help modern games operate efficiently and profitably.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, the origins of Israeli-founded companies have come under increased public scrutiny. Some gamers have questioned whether purchasing games developed by companies with Israeli roots indirectly supports Israeli government policies. Others argue that multinational corporations employ thousands of people from different countries and should not automatically be associated with the governments of the nations where they were founded. These debates have become part of broader discussions surrounding global business, consumer activism, and the relationship between private companies and national politics.

The story of Raid: Shadow Legends also highlights how interconnected the gaming industry has become. A single game may be conceived in one country, programmed in another, illustrated by artists on another continent, tested by teams across Europe or Asia, published by a company headquartered elsewhere, and ultimately enjoyed by millions of players around the world. Raid exemplifies this international collaboration. While its origins can be traced to an Israeli-founded developer, it is the product of a global workforce operating under Australian ownership for an international audience.

Understanding that distinction is important. Plarium is a private commercial enterprise, not a government agency or state-owned corporation. Although the company was founded in Israel and contributed to the country’s growing reputation as a technology and gaming hub, there is no public evidence that Raid: Shadow Legends was developed on behalf of the Israeli government or functions as a government-backed project. As political debates continue to influence discussions about technology and entertainment, separating the actions of governments from the operations of multinational private companies remains essential for accurately understanding the global gaming industry.

—Kel McKnight, B1Daily