Sybo Games' Subway Surfers is one of the biggest games in the mobile space. Along with having millions of players, Subway Surfers can also be seen in arcades and has received an animated adaptation on YouTube. For Sybo's latest project, however, it eschewed the free-to-play formula that previously led the developer to success, for an Apple Arcade game based on its Subway Surfers intellectual property.

Subway Surfers Tag is not an endless runner like its predecessor, but rather an arena game in which you ride hoverboards around small levels, fighting robots and pulling off tricks to keep your board's battery alive. GameSpot recently spoke with game director Eoin O'Doherty and Sybo CEO Mathias Gredal Nørvig about how this project came about, what it's like to make a more traditional video game with an ending, what's going on with the animated show's 12th episode, and what it's like to be part of a studio whose small game turns into a massive success.

GameSpot: Subway Surfers Tag is different than I expected. Why the departure from the core endless runner idea of Subway Surfers?