There are a lot of ways to measure success in mobile games. Downloads, revenue, daily logins. Or, apparently, whether your cookie mascots can hold their own in a Times Square pop-up.
Devsisters has officially brought the CookieRun: Kingdom universe into the real world with its first-ever U.S. retail pop-up, now open at LINE FRIENDS NY Times Square through April 26. For a franchise that started as a side-scrolling endless runner back in 2009, it is a pretty notable step.
If you have somehow avoided the CookieRun rabbit hole, the series has quietly grown into a global mobile powerhouse. CookieRun: Kingdom in particular leans into base-building, gacha-style character collection, and light RPG combat, wrapped in an aggressively charming art style. It is the kind of game that looks harmless until you realize you have been optimizing cookie production chains for two hours.
The Times Square pop-up feels like a victory lap for that growth, especially in the U.S. According to Devsisters, American fans accounted for 65 percent of international merchandise sales outside Korea, which explains why this activation is happening here and not, say, another Seoul storefront.
For the next stretch, the space is packed with more than 130 pieces of merchandise, including New York-exclusive items that lean into the setting. GingerBrave dressed like the Statue of Liberty is about as subtle as you would expect. There is also a themed photo booth, character meet-and-greets featuring Shadow Milk Cookie and Eternal Sugar Cookie, and autograph sessions with their English voice actors, CJ Pawlikowski and Gabi Hankins-Manoukian.
Outside, a large-scale video display pushes CookieRun visuals directly into Times Square’s constant stream of advertising. It is a small but symbolic flex. You are not just a mobile game anymore if you are competing for eyeball space in one of the busiest commercial intersections on the planet.
It is also worth noting the timing. CookieRun: Kingdom saw a surge in U.S. visibility in 2025, landing among YouTube’s top trending topics, and Devsisters has been steadily expanding the brand through collaborations and live events. This pop-up feels less like a one-off and more like a test run for how far the franchise can stretch outside the app.
If nothing else, it answers one important question. Yes, people will absolutely line up in Times Square to take photos with cookies.
