Continuing the current theme of rumours being proven true in quick time, Intel Capital has joined the line up of Aurora Feint investors in the firm's latest $8 million funding round.

Intel Capital's injection was $3 million, and the round was split with Chinese online gaming company The9, whose initial $4 million stake in Aurora Feint was revealed back in July.

It's not clear if this round includes additional funds from The9.

Keeping the funds flowing

Intel Capital is an established investor in tech companies. However, it's important to note that as Intel's global investment organisation, getting cash from Intel Capital, isn't the same thing as getting bought by Intel itself. 

Intel's funding is also important news for Aurora Feint as current investor DeNA - which owns a 20 percent share in the firm and, in turn, gaming network OpenFeint - purchased ngmoco, handing the Japanese company control of OpenFeint rival Plus+ in the process.

It's a situation VentureBeat claims Aurora Feint CEO Jason Citron has admitted is a little tricky to handle, as presumably, at some point, DeNA will want to exit Aurora Feint to concentrate on ngmoco and Plus+. 

Still, he's obviously pleased with the new funding round and the expansion opportunities it provides to bring OpenFeint to new mobile platforms as well as tablets.

"Mobile games are an integral part of any viable mobile platform, and this investment from Intel Capital will help us expand our cross platform efforts to help bring great gaming content, discovery and community to every mobile device," CEO Jason Citron said in a statement. 

"We're thrilled to have Intel Inside," he added, revealing the firm's gaming network now has 3,400 games and 45 million users on board.

The intel on Intel

"Over the past few years, interest in mobile gaming has exploded, creating a huge market opportunity to deliver these games to the one billion plus mobile device users worldwide,” said Intel Capital MD Mike Buckley.

"OpenFeint's momentum and established user base have positioned OpenFeint as the mobile social gaming platform preferred by developers and publishers.

"With this investment, Intel Capital is investing in a robust ecosystem of gaming content that we hope to help Aurora Feint scale globally."