This creator says he decompiled Block Blast, Candy Crush and Subway Surfers to reveal their monetisation secrets
Ayo Omolewa, a data scientist and content creator known as Ayoships, has built a significant following by releasing videos in which he claims to have reverse-engineered popular mobile games to expose their monetization strategies and alleged “dark patterns.” The creator’s videos have garnered millions of views across Instagram and TikTok, drawing widespread attention to the mechanics behind some of the most commercially successful mobile titles.
His primary targets have included Block Blast (developed by Hungry Studios), Subway Surfers (created by Sybo), and Candy Crush Saga (published by King). For Block Blast, Omolewa published an in-depth blog post titled “How Block Blast harvests its players for ad money,” detailing his findings about the game’s monetization approach. In his analysis, he alleges that Hungry Studios employs player profiling techniques to optimize revenue generation.
Through his website and content, Omolewa describes his work as decompiling viral apps to “expose the dark patterns inside them,” framing his investigations as revealing the deliberate design choices these games make to maximize monetization. His a0.dev platform and broader presence as a content creator have positioned him as a voice in discussions about consumer-facing game design practices and the mechanisms by which free-to-play mobile games sustain their business models.
The viral spread of his content suggests growing interest among consumers and industry observers in understanding how popular games are structured to drive engagement and spending.