Flagship Funds
Leslie Benzies' Build A Rocket Boy studio raises $110M for "flagship" trio of projects
RedBird Capital Partners leads investment in Build A Rocket Boy’s Everywhere, MindsEye and Arcadia
Pgc London
Pocket Gamer Connects London: The Show Me The Money track
Explore investment advice and funding ideas next Tuesday, January 23rd
Tencent Tumble
Tencent's external investments have dropped 87% in two years
From healthcare to AI start-ups, the number of Tencent investments in external companies decreased from 299 in 2021 to just 39 in 2023
Second Round
Marvel Snap dev Second Dinner raises $100 million
Studio to invest in Marvel Snap live ops and new game development
The Only Way Is Up
Investment in and around the games industry dropped by 79% in 2023
While in America it dropped 86%… But with profits and share prices on the increase, is the scene now set for a bounceback?
Hot Five
Hot Five: Tencent’s newest gameplan, PlatinumGames’ pullout, and investing into Indian Esports
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Quids In
New Zealand devs hang onto 20% tax rebate perk after three-way-tie election
With a new three-way coalition government in place doubts had arisen as to how long the existing tax break could continue
Mena Focus
Savvy Games Group: “Approximately 75 percent of our capital allotment has not yet been invested”
We speak to Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward about the accomplishments of the past year, what we can expect to see next from the MENA region and Savvy’s new games ambitions
Esport Support
Marcos Gaming completes pre-seed round to bolster Indian Esports
Funding from India Accelerator, Finvolve and SucSEED Ventures will support content creation, community growth and more
Sprouting Seeds
Barnyard Games raises $3.4m in seed round to make games for Fortnite
Menlo Ventures led the round with participation from BetaWorks, Alumni Ventures, Charge VC and others
Here We Go
W4 Games raises $15 million to boost Godot engine development and services
Irish start-up aims to double headcount over the next 18 months
Support From Supercell
Supercell co-founder supports $1.6M funding round in Chinese publisher MyGamez
Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja, Small Giant Games co-founder Timo Soininen, Reworks co-founder Ilkka Teppo and former Riot China head of operations Daniel Wang are on board
Venerable Ventures
Laton Ventures is a new venture capital firm investing in early-stage game makers
Founding partner Görkem Türk has started the firm after more than six years at Google
Platform Power
KEK Entertainment raises $8M in seed round to build "platform-agnostic IP"
The round was led by Korea Investment Partners with participation from Woori Technology Investment Co, Kona Venture Partners and others
Nft Now
NFTs incoming: Matr1x doubles funding to $20M ahead of its debut Web3 mobile launch
Matr1x Fire is an upcoming NFT shooter on mobile, bolstered by new $10 million funding round
Production Power
Layer AI seed round raises $1.8M to bolster generative game art production
The AI-powered productivity tool sees support from The Games Fund, GFR Fund and others
Web3 World
SBI Holdings reveals ¥100BN fund to bolster Web3 in Japan
Sega and Square Enix are already well underway on their blockchain journeys, and up to 200 other devs could join them through SBI’s support
Very Noice
Games livestreaming start-up Noice raises $21 million
New company aims to blend multiplayer gaming with livestreaming
Saudi Foresight
Animoca Brands partners with Saudi Arabia in $50M deal to bring Web3 to NEOM
The future of NEOM just got a Web3 update
First Round Funding
Istanbul-based game studio SuperGears successfully completes first investment round led by TMRW foundation
SuperGears first investment round is based upon a valuation of $10 million and will add Crytek founder Cevat Yerli to the board of directors
Hot Five
Hot Five: Web3 tactics gaming, FunPlus’ latest soft launch and a bunch of new investments
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Investment Round
Casual games hub Playbite nabs $1 million in funding
US-based company aims to expand on its userbase of "several hundred thousand" monthly active users
Investments
Developer Funstop secures $1.5 million funding from Indian investors
InfoEdge continue their investment in home-grown talent as part of India's increasingly vibrant mobile tech scene
Finding Funds
Riot veteran MJ Wong prepares Web3 AstrArk for gamers who "should be better treated"
$5.4 million has been raised in funding towards the launch of two Web3 games
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell’s mo.co launch, Netflix’s gaming strategy, and an AI seed round
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Ai Advancement
Harmony Games raises $3M in seed round to build an AI puzzle game
The seed round was led by Griffin Gaming Partners
Market Moves
Merger and acquisition deal value exceeds $11 billion for 2023
Some of the biggest names in gaming restarted their acquisition strategies in Q3
Vc Funding
The games industry drew $454 million in VC funding in the third quarter of 2023
The figure represents a 9% decline from the previous quarter
Invest To Win
AppQuantum’s Core is the King will invest up to $1M in selected hybridcasual mobile devs
Core is the King is their new programme to support developers making hybridcasual games
Forge Finds Funding
Riot-backed Forge raises $11M to launch a platform rewarding gamer communities
Makers Fund, Animoca Brands and Bitkraft Ventures led the round
Alternative App Stores
PUBG maker Krafton invests $14.8 million in alternate app store One Store
The South Korean store aims to expand in the West and take on big tech
African Advancement
Sony Ventures to invest $10M via new fund for African startups
Fintech may be Africa’s biggest funding category, but Sony’s focus is on entertainment
Studio Seed
Krafton invests $7M in former Riot and Blizzard artist’s Studio Sai
The Seed Round comes after the success of Eternights and will support development of Sai’s next game
Investment
Krafton launches India game incubator with $150k potential investment for local studios
The company is going all-in on the Indian market previously despite BGMI's withdrawal and subsequent reinstatement
Better Than Betting
Omada raises $7.5M for a sports game with a twist: tackling gambling addiction
Money isn’t spent or won on bets, providing a healthier alternative
Investment
Saudi stakes a $50 billion+ claim in the gaming world - Nintendo, Activision, EA & more
Move over Tencent, Savvy Games and the PIF are THE new market makers in the global games portfolio
Making Myths
Spectarium raises €5M in Seed Round to bolster personalised AI RPG Myths
Each player will have a unique experience by leveraging AI technology
Mythic Manoeuvres
Mythic Protocol raises $6.5M towards blockchain, collaboration and cross-platform ambitions
Founder Igor Tanzil wants to avoid the trap of "squandered" potential by "frenzied financialisation"
Dino Designs
Zynga, FunPlus and NetEase veterans receive $8M investment for NFT dinosaur game
New studio GamePhilos gets support from Xterio, Animoca Ventures, SevenX Ventures and Chain Hill Capital
Making A Metaverse
Animoca Brands raises $20 million towards a new metaverse project
Mocaverse will allow Moca ID collectors to build up loyalty points and more
Indian Increase
Nazara to expand after latest $49M investment
The Indian platform reaches $660M valuation thanks to latest investment from SBI Mutual Fund
Gaming Market
The gaming industry saw $1.2 billion in investments and M&A in 2023’s first quarter
It's not great news for mergers and acquisitions as investments hit their lowest point since 2018
Success In Funding
Play Ventures’ Fund I sees 1.5x return in less than four years
The fund has 20 titles in its portfolio
Investments And Acquisitions
Haveli Investments acquires minority share in Match Masters developer Candivore
The acquisition comes at a cost of $100 million
Stocks
Playtika investor confidence grows despite recent financials
Estimations of the company's stock have risen since their most recent financial release
Investment
Krafton commits to massive $150m investment in Indian startups
The deal indicates the company’s renewed commitment to what has been a turbulent market for them
Financials
Sony sees 6.8% drop in income for games but a rise in sales
Games income increased by 167bn yen despite other slim financial results
Investment
Japanese mobile entertainment company Mixi to invest $50m in Indian market
The money will be issues as part of their corporate venture capital
Investment
Studio Billion receives undisclosed investment in pre-series A bridge round
WePlay Ventures, Aura B4YO Fund and Lima Ventures make another major investment in the Turkish market
Funding
Zibra AI raises $500,000 from a16z Speedrun
The funding brings the company's total investment so far to $2.5 million