What happened
CNBC reported the story on 26 March 2014, weeks after the game appeared: built in one weekend in February, released on 9 March, and by the following month 10 million unique visitors and over 100 million plays. Only about one per cent of players ever won. The Los Angeles Times confirmed the detail on 27 March under a headline that did the work of a summary: the maker of the hit puzzle game says he created it over a weekend.
The game itself is a grid of numbered tiles that merge and double as they slide. Cirulli told CNBC he had been inspired by an existing game called 1024, which used a similar concept, and was frank about the scale of what followed: "I really didn't think about it becoming as successful as it is. I made it just as a weekend project."
Free, and unmonetised
The commercial facts are the strangest part of the story. The game ran in the browser, cost nothing, and carried no advertisements. Cirulli made "a few hundred bucks" from donations by players, according to CNBC.
City A.M. had already written on 17 March about how a 19-year-old had won the internet with an addictive puzzler. Winning the internet and earning from it turned out to be different achievements. A hundred million plays, monetised at even trivial rates, would have produced a substantial sum; Cirulli had built the thing as a weekend exercise and had no apparatus to collect it.
Who he was at the time
He had finished high school in 2013 and had not gone to university, working instead as a freelance web developer in Italy. He turned 20 shortly after building the game.
CNBC reported that job offers followed, and that he intended to pursue his own project instead, saying he had never really been in the games industry and was more interested in web services. That is a rarer position than it sounds for a teenager holding the most-played browser game of the year.
Why 2048 spread
The game's design explains much of its reach. It loads instantly in a browser, needs no account and no download, and is understood within seconds of the first swipe. The one per cent win rate reported by CNBC is the other half of the mechanism: a game that is almost, but not quite, winnable produces the repeat play that viral hits require.
Clones appeared across app stores almost immediately, most of them monetised with advertising, which is the ordinary fate of an easily copied idea released without protection. The research record notes that Wikipedia's coverage attaches to the game rather than to its author, a redirect to the article on 2048.
What is documented, and what is not
Firmly established: he built 2048 in a weekend in February 2014, released it on 9 March, reached 10 million unique visitors within a month and over 100 million plays, and earned only a few hundred dollars in donations.
Not established here: his date of birth, beyond his being 19 when he built the game and turning 20 shortly afterwards, his home city, and what he has built since 2014. No source gathered for this page follows his career past that spring.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matteo Bernardeschi | Italy | Italy called him too young and too little schooled. Berlin enrolled him in | Age 16 |
| Valerio Pagliarino | Italy | LaserWAN, laser-based broadband internet links | Age 16 |
| Andrea Dominizi | Italy | A beetle in the corner of the frame, logging machinery behind it, and a wo | Age 17 |
| Gabriele Cirulli | Italy | Creating the puzzle game 2048 | Age 19 |
| Anna Kazhamiakina | Italy | EGMO gold medals in 2025 and 2026 | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- He built 2048 over one weekend in February 2014 and released it on 9 March (CNBC, Los Angeles Times)
- The game drew 10 million unique visitors within a month and over 100 million plays
- It was free, carried no advertising, and earned him a few hundred dollars in donations
- He had finished high school in 2013 and worked as a freelance web developer
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No source read states his date of birth or home city
- Nothing documents his work after 2014
- The research record flags that a Wikipedia page may exist for the game rather than for him
Questions people ask about Gabriele Cirulli
Who made the game 2048?
Gabriele Cirulli, an Italian freelance web developer, who built it over a single weekend in February 2014 at 19.
How much money did he make from 2048?
A few hundred dollars in player donations, according to CNBC. The game was free and carried no advertising.
How many people played it?
Ten million unique visitors within a month of release and more than 100 million plays, with about one per cent of players winning.
What inspired 2048?
An existing game called 1024, which used a similar merging concept, as Cirulli told CNBC.
How old is Gabriele Cirulli?
He was 19 when he built the game and turned 20 in 2014, pointing to a birth year of about 1994. No source read here gives his date of birth.
Did he join a games company?
He told CNBC he had job offers but planned to pursue his own project, saying he was never really in the games industry.
Is Gabriele Cirulli on Wikipedia?
The research record notes a redirect to the article on the game 2048 rather than a standalone page about him.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Gabriele’s story?
How long did Gabriele Cirulli take to build 2048?
How much did he earn from the game?
What game inspired 2048?
Sources
- 19-year-old makes viral game hit in a weekend — CNBC, 2014-03-26
- Maker of hit puzzle game '2048' says he created it over a weekend — Los Angeles Times, 2014-03-27
- How one 19 year old won the internet with addictive puzzler 2048 — City A.M., 2014-03-17
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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