The Company of Believers, Founded by gamer-obsessed industry veterans and the creation of worlds worthy of them, raised $55 million in funding Series A. The funding, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, will initially go creating a first-class team class to deliver next-gen open-world gameplay, based on originating IP address, stories where player choices matter, and game systems that bring players together rather than separate them. The round was funded with key support from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), plus additional seed funding from Bitkraft Ventures, Riot Games, 1Up Ventures, Don Thompson’s Cleveland Avenue, Michael D. Eisner’s Tornante Company and others venture capital partners.
Believer’s management team is made up of veteran developers, producers and visionaries responsible for the seismic changes in the world of video games. Former Riot Games Vice President Michael Chow will serve as CEO of Believer and inspire the team with his love of player service, cultivated as League of Legends: Wild Rift Executive Producer and Co-Founder from the developer of Words with Friends Newtoy. . Chow is joined by Steven Snow, chief product officer and founding member of Riot Games, who built the studio’s player-centric culture and produced League of Legends to meteoric rise and huge long-term success.
“Gamers are the best audience in the world to serve. They are noble, intelligent, demanding and endlessly inventive,” says Chow. putting your needs first at every step of Believer’s journey. We look forward to growing our team with people as passionate as we are and are actively seeking like-minded talent to believe with us.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to start this journey with Steven,” Chow added. “He’s a loving and dedicated defender of the players, fiercely protective of their best interests at times. There’s no better standard-bearer for what we offer.”
In recent years, there have been very interesting technique. In our player-centric world, our goal is to bring select technologies into the development and gaming spaces explicitly for the betterment of our players and the games they love,” said Snow. “The introduction of free-to-play to North America and Europe with League of Legends has truly changed the landscape of how games as a service operate. It is our privilege to have the opportunity to help shape the future responsibly. And we’re happy to say ‘no thanks’ to technologies that won’t make the game more fun.”
Chow and Snow are joined by technical director Landon McDowell (Microsoft, Riot GamesLinden Lab), Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Vanhoozer (Bungie, Electronic Arts), Chief Operating Officer Tim Hsu (Twitter, Riot Games), Marketing Director Shankar Gupta-Harrison (Riot Games, Dentsu X), COO Grace Park (League of Legends: Wild Rift) and VP of Design Jeff Jew (League of Legends, Legends of Runaterra). Its founding motto – Credo In Ludos, or “I Believe in Games” – underlines each team member’s personal commitment to creating and playing games as a lifelong calling, not just a business. Believer is further supported by a number of strategic partners and advisors who have pushed the boundaries of popular culture, technology and interactive art, including media and industry leader Michael D. Eisner. entertainment, Don Thompson, former head of McDonald’s, and Kevin Scott, CTO of Microsoft.
“Great content franchises aren’t built on one type of medium, but must resonate with their audiences across games, movies, TV, collectibles, and real-world interactive experiences,” says Eisner. “The Believer Company understands this, and we at Tornante are happy to advise them as they bring their vision to life across all platforms.”