Ares Interactive raises $70m as it plots expansion plans and new game launch

• Ares Interactive currently employs 50 staff.
• Developer and publisher aims to scale through a mix of acquisitions and building games with senior teams.
• President Mike DeLaet believes there is a gap in the market for mobile baseball games after MLB Tap Sports Baseball was dropped by EA.

Ares Interactive has raised $70 million in a Series A investment round to expand its operations and launch a new baseball game in 2026.

The company was founded by former Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo De Masi and is headed up by president Mike DeLaet, who previously worked at Mattel as global head of digital gaming and Scopely as SVP of strategic partnerships.

The developer and publisher, which aims to make cross-platform free-to-play games, was founded in 2024 and has studios in San Francisco (7th Inning) and Berlin (Swift Games).

Ares is currently operating live games, including survival roguelike RPG Heroes vs Hordes, which is said to have surpassed 13 million installs to date. The company is currently working on Baseball Hits 26.

The funding round was led by General Catalyst with participation from executive chairman de Masi.

Ares' advisory board includes ex-Glu CRO Chris Akhavan, former Apple VP and head of worldwide App Store Matt Fischer, ex-Seriously CEO and co-founder Andrew Stalbow and former Kabam COO Kent Wakeford.

Expansion plans

Speaking to PocketGamer.biz, DeLaet said Ares currently has a team of 50 staff. It aims to scale through a mix of acquisitions and building games with “smart, nimble, senior teams”.

“The capital allows us to accelerate development, expand our portfolio, and invest in shared technology and infrastructure that improve efficiency, product quality, and long-term growth across the business,” he said.

DeLaet added: “We believe we’ve assembled one of the strongest teams in the industry, passionate veterans who have delivered multi-billion-dollar outcomes multiple times across mobile gaming and are excited to build the next generation of player-loved franchises.

“Beyond talent, we’ve built a disciplined playbook for developing games, acquiring studios, and leveraging technology to consistently deliver high-quality, scalable products. That combination of proven execution and repeatability is what gives investors confidence at this scale.”

Key parts of Ares’ messaging are its cross-platform ambitions and use of AI tech. DeLaet said that while its current portfolio is mobile-focused, the goal is to make its games playable wherever players want to engage.

“The broader strategy is to remain platform-agnostic,” he said. “This approach gives us flexibility, wider reach, and, importantly, a more direct relationship with our players, which we see as critical to building durable, long-term franchises.”

On AI, DeLaet said the tech can help enable faster iteration, high-quality output and ambitious experiences “without sacrificing efficiency”. The company is using AI tools across development, art and operations.

Baseball’s back

At Glu, which de Masi founded prior to Ares, the team worked on the MLB Tap Sports Baseball series. Following the $2.1 billion acquisition of the company by EA, the franchise was dropped. The publisher closied the game after it was “unable to meet our performance expectations”.

Ares is now working on its own sports title with Baseball Hits 26. DeLaet said “no other baseball title has truly replaced the audience or revenue that MLB Tap Sports Baseball generated”.

“That demand didn’t disappear,” he said. “Our team has been working in this space for a long time, and we believe Baseball Hits 26 delivers a fun, accessible, and highly engaging experience that the market has been missing.

“With the right execution and scale, we believe it can become the leading baseball game on mobile.”