Griffin Gaming Partners, a Santa Monica-based gaming-focused venture fund with $1.5 billion under management, is launching a new fund focused on promising indie games with potential beyond gaming.
The company stated that the Special Opportunities Fund, valued at $100 million, “aims to introduce a new model for venture capital investment in games, with a focus on project-based financing with simple terms, where funding is provided in exchange for a share of game revenues.”
Beyond commonly used equity-based investments, the fund’s goal is to offer “a better way to get capital into the hands of independent studios, many of which are not equipped or interested in traditional equity-based investing.”
Amid the success of independent developers creating blockbuster hits on modest budgets, Griffin identified “the need for and opportunity for equitable financing solutions for small studios.”
Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender serves as managing director of the fund, which Griffin said has already invested in 15 titles, including nine announced projects. The projects represent a mix of titles, from self-published games to those signed with a publisher, including several games published by Hooded Horse.
The fund also includes advisors such as film and television producer Dylan Clark (Batman, Penguin, Miami Vice), along with brand supervisors such as Russell Bender (Five nights at freddy’s, Angry birds, The walking dead, He died in broad daylight).
“Indie games represent one of the fastest growing segments of the interactive entertainment market today,” says Nick Tosto, managing director and co-founder of Griffin. “We know developers want a flexible and transparent financing solution, and we are excited to support their ambitions with our dedicated Special Opportunities Fund. Griffin has been refining its strategy since its founding, and we are proud to bring this new initiative to market with an investment team that we believe is uniquely positioned to help exceptional developers achieve their full potential.”
The company also sees room for these games to move into other forms of storytelling. “We are very excited about the media transfer potential of this fund,” said Peter Levine, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Griffin. “The essence of these games and the meditative nature of their development give rise to close-knit player communities and loyal followers.” He stressed that the industry talent supporting the fund “shows that we are serious about opening up opportunities for these games beyond gaming.”
The six unannounced games the fund has invested in are a sci-fi grand strategy game “based on the popular book and TV series,” Gladiator Management simulation, “God game with physics mechanics”, massively multiplayer dinosaur role-playing game (RPG), science fiction space role-playing game (ARPG), and “fantasy ARPG with base building”.
The nine announced games in which Griffin Gaming’s Special Opportunities Fund has invested are:
Minake This sci-fi-based tactical RPG was created by Overhype Studios (Battle brothers) More than 250,000 copies were sold in less than three months.
The monster took off This top-down co-op horror game for up to four players features a mix of exploration, combat, and character customization across a set of procedurally generated maps.
Mission: Into Darkness A dungeon crawler and extraction game in a dark fantasy setting with cooperative gameplay.
boastful The sci-fi RPG features single-player and cooperative game modes.
Doctrine of Destiny: This hex-based grand strategy title is set in the industrial age.
Darkwood 2 This top-down survival horror game is the sequel to the best-selling game Darkwood.
kinstrive This medieval HD RPG takes place in an “authentic open world with physics-based combat.”
Highland Cape Set in medieval Scotland, the open-world survival craft game features base building, colony management, and real-time combat.
Hell This extraction/loot-based Sky Bullet game focuses on finding “epic equipment to battle waves of demons.”
