How mobile game publisher HOMA worked with TikTok to create a viral hit inspired by #CleanTok

“Clean It” was not the first TikTok-inspired game to be published by HOMA, whose most popular titles include mobile games such as “Merge Master” and “Aquarium Land.” For years, the developer has created casual games by combining popular game genres with relevant TikTok trends. 

“Trends like this occur naturally because TikTok is fundamentally fuelled by community participation. Gamers on TikTok aren’t a passive audience: they are engaged co-creators that drive significant impact and sustained attention for new title launches and IP like “Clean It,” said TikTok head of business marketing, global gaming, Annie Arsane. “Our research shows that 41 percent of gamers on TikTok agree TikTok has inspired them to create their own videos about their favorite games.”

In the case of “Clean It,” HOMA merged the #CleanTok trend, which highlights videos of creators cleaning and tidying filthy spaces, with the popular “idle arcade” game genre — and the combination appears to have taken hold with mobile gamers and TikTok users alike, garnering over 2.5 million installs in its first six months.

“We have very different curves of progression, in terms of numbers of installs, when a game is being launched. Sometimes, it’s really exponential,” said HOMA co-founder and chief revenue officer Olivier Le Bas. “In the case of ‘Clean It,’ it was really exponential, and it was one of our top successes for games coming from these TikTok trends.”

In addition to being inspired by a TikTok trend to create “Clean It,” HOMA is using the platform as a marketing tool to help direct fans of #CleanTok toward the game. The developer has published content to the platform promoting the game and has also advertised the game directly on TikTok. 

“Clean It” was not the result of a direct business partnership between TikTok and HOMA. However, the short-form video platform gave HOMA plenty of assistance as it developed the game. Throughout the development process, HOMA representatives met with their TikTok account representative weekly, receiving support for business functions such as product management and marketing.

“We have a Slack channel where we exchange on a daily basis, on the campaign, optimization, investment and best practices,” Le Bas said. 

TikTok is celebrating the success of “Clean It” as a win — and sharing it as a case study on the company’s official website. The collaborative nature of the game’s launch reflects how TikTok is doubling down on ways to work more closely with game publishers, particularly those in the mobile space. In November 2024, the company posted a job posting for a TikTok Gaming publisher program manager; the listing, which is still live, states that the role “will directly manage our high-profile global content programs, including content partnerships and growth initiatives.”

“TikTok provides hands-on support, offering strategic campaign reviews, custom creative packages and programs tailored for live ops and new launches,” Arsane said. “These initiatives ensure campaigns remain engaging and impactful, driving performance while delivering competitive eCPM rates.”

Uncertainty on the horizon

As TikTok builds closer ties with game publishers, a potential ban of the platform in the United States on Jan. 19 threatens to slow the company’s momentum. HOMA and other publishers that have successfully leveraged TikTok are still hoping for an eleventh-hour reprieve. 

“Part of the reason we would be very sad to lose TikTok as a platform is that I think TikTok, being a newer platform, has an algorithm that I’d consider to be more of a great equalizer,” said Linda Qin, the product director of game publisher Pahdo Labs, who uses both her personal account and Pahdo’s official TikTok presence to market the company’s games. “I’d say YouTube is a lot more aged at this point; Instagram is very much the same way as well, where TikTok is more of a Wild West, where unknown game studios can reach a very large audience in the same way large game studios have been able to.”

At the moment, game publishers are approaching TikTok as more of a brand awareness tool than a way to directly funnel users into installing their titles. Reaching users by leveraging trends such as #CleanTok remains a more effective play for game publishers than for non-endemic brands and marketers looking to reach the gaming audience, with TikTok users naturally understanding the connections between gaming properties like “Clean It” and the trends that inspire them.

When asked about the potential impact of the ban on TikTok’s relationships with game publishers, a company rep pointed to TikTok’s official statement on the matter and declined to elaborate further. Regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the case, however, publishers that have used TikTok as a marketing tool believe they can apply the knowledge they’ve gained on the platform to other short-form video platforms, if the ban truly comes to fruition.

“We have seen things that are successful on TikTok also be successful on Instagram, so we are interested in pursuing a similar strategy,” Qin said. “I don’t think the Instagram algorithm is a one-to-one match — there’s certain content that Instagram likes more — but we do think that there is a lot of potential.”