Underdog’s Post

🚀 Exciting news! The PitchBook Q1 2024 Gaming Report is now live on the platform! 🎮 Here are some key highlights: 💰 Funding totaled $1.3 billion across 153 deals, maintaining Q4 levels. 🔍 Noteworthy deals: Rokid Technology and XREAL raised $70.2 million and $60.0 million, respectively. ElevenLabs and Luma AI raised $80.0 million and $42.4 million for Generative AI platforms. 🌐 Web3 ecosystem growth: Gunzilla Games raised $30.0 million, while Monad, a Layer 1 network, secured a massive $200.0 million Series A. 🎉 Disney’s $1.5 billion late-stage investment into Epic Games made headlines. 📉 Exit activity was muted, with $130.0 million in exit value across eight deals. 💼 Late-stage activity contracted, favoring early-stage investments, up by 75.5%. 💡 AI and gaming convergence: Over 30 sessions at GDC 2024 focused on this topic. 🔄 Valuation step-ups remained flat, while median deal sizes increased. Excited to dive into these insights and trends shaping the gaming industry! 🌟 #GamingIndustry #Q12024Report

I'm excited to announce a new partnership between InvestGame and GDEV Inc.! We are launching a new series of deep-dive analysis features focused on investments in the gaming industry. In our first feature, we analyze VCs' interest in the gaming industry. Is there a shift from pure gaming content to tech innovation, or is content still the main contributor? Please find the link to the feature in the first comment. Stay tuned and subscribe for more in-depth analysis! #investgame #gdev #gamingindustry #venturecapital #investmentingaming #marketanalysis

This month, our team has been featured in Forbes magazine! Our mission is simple yet ambitious: to create a gaming ecosystem where all communities—for every game that uses public data—can come together to play, learn, compete, and earn daily rewards. We believe that today’s gaming is more than just playing; it’s about empowering communities. Empowering gamers to take ownership of their experiences, collaborate across platforms, build stronger, more inclusive communities. By collecting public data, we’re giving players tools to create strategies, and share their findings to others. Being featured in Forbes is a huge milestone, but it’s just the beginning. We couldn’t have done this without the passion and support of our amazing community. Now, we’re inviting YOU to be a part of this journey. What do you think the future of gaming should look like? Share your vision in the comments below! Feel free to reach out—we’d love to hear from you! Merry Christmas! Jérémy Rosman | Mark To-Ngam | Jérémy Fritsch | Mathieu Basset | INNOVACT, incubateur de startups à Reims | Quest for change | Catherine Arbez | Jean-Philippe Cartier | Amina BELKHIR, PhD | Mani P. | Warren Michel | Mately | William Pierquin | Esport des Sacres | Ubisoft | Riot Games | Blizzard Entertainment | Supercell

Sony is making PlayStation games smell. The company announced plans for future player immersion at CES. But here’s the catch: → Their patented smell tech has been around for years with little progress. → The current prototype is a full-room LED setup with smell dispensers. → And who really wants to smell The Last of Us? Still, the idea of smell teleportation is fascinating. So, I dug deeper and found Osmo. Last year, this startup successfully digitized and recreated the scent of a coconut. 🎥 See video for the full story and follow Anna for more stories about emerging tech. 🍿 DM Socially Produced, if you're a founder or brand looking for help with short-form content. #ai #gaming #startups

This week has shown some promising signs that the gaming market is rebounding, continuing the trend of consolidation that had slowed over the past year and a half. 1) Just two days ago, Plarium was acquired by Modern Times Group MTG AB. 2) Today, Embracer Group sold Easybrain to Miniclip for an impressive $1.2 billion — double the $640 million Embracer paid to acquire it just three years ago. That's a remarkable 100% return! Congratulations to Easybrain and Embracer Group on this successful deal! Here's what this means for the gaming market: - Consolidation is picking up, which is a positive sign. Capital is actively flowing into the industry, supporting growth instead of sitting idle. - The gaming market appears to be on a recovery path. I’ll dive deeper into the key trends shaping gaming in 2025 in a separate post. Right now, there are many great funds are showing strong activity and placing big bets on exceptional teams and innovative gameplay concepts — A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN, Play Ventures, GEM Capital, The Games Fund, Konvoy, and many others. If you're building something new and exciting in gaming, now is an great time to take action while others remain cautious.

Web-based party games are experiencing a resurgence, enhanced by generative AI technology. One notable startup, Little Umbrella, is at the forefront of this trend, recently securing $2 million in seed funding. The company aims to utilize AI to create engaging social party games, signaling a promising future for its innovative approach in the gaming industry.Little Umbrella’s next Jackbox-style game pits you and your friends against an AI game show host

🎮 Meet Asset Hub from our Spring 2024 Gaming Accelerator! Asset Hub is building the fastest way to create 3D worlds and assets in an agile way. Powered by AI, its platform allows anyone to create 3D models from images and edit texture and topology. "One of the challenges faced by Japanese entrepreneurs and creators is the difficulty in establishing strong connections with overseas communities. Joining Brinc's program presents an incredible opportunity to overcome this hurdle and build a robust network with game communities globally. I'm excited to bridge this gap and expand our reach on an international scale." - Takuya Goto, CEO of Asset Hub 🔗 Learn more about what they do here: assethub.me 🔗 Learn more about Brinc's Web3 Accelerator: brinc.io/gaming --- 🔔 Stay in the loop with Brinc's latest news & updates: bit.ly/3K9W6B4 #Brinc #BrincVC #BrincCohort2024 #Gaming #StartupAccelerator #Innovation #GameChangers

PitchBook - Q1 2024 Gaming Report PitchBook is excited to announce that our Q1 2024 Gaming Report is now live and on the platform.   Select highlights include:   Funding totaled $1.3 billion across 153 deals, effectively on par with Q4 investment levels, which totaled $1.0 billion invested across 154 deals. Exit activity in Q1 was muted, with $130.0 million in exit value produced across eight deals. Key investment trends in Q1 included a contraction in late-stage activity, which fell from 30.6% of deal value in Q4 2023 to 13.8% in Q1 2024, in favor of early-stage investments, which increased by 75.5%. PE activity is also creeping into the sector with notable deals announced for CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments’ acquisition of Jagex ($900.0 million), as well as Haveli Investment’s stake in Candivore. The convergence of AI and gaming continues. At GDC 2024, over 30 sessions and multiple off-site summits were dedicated to this specific topic alongside headline deals mentioned above. Incumbents like Unity and Steam are actively revising their policies for this technology as well.   Register for a report preview here: https://lnkd.in/eh-vsN75 Direct, full access for clients here: https://lnkd.in/e4ZkfB95

Pixelverse Powers Up with $5.5 Million Funding Spree Pixelverse, a cyberpunk-themed gaming ecosystem, has secured $5.5 million in a funding round led by prominent venture capitalists and gaming industry figures. This cash injection fuels their mission to expand their Web3 gaming platform, which boasts an impressive 5 million daily active users (DAU) within its first month. Pixelverse's unique blend of quest-based gameplay, accessible through both browsers and Telegram, has garnered significant traction. This early user base suggests a strong appetite for their brand of cyberpunk fun. The funding will be used to further develop their game ecosystem and reach a global audience. Investors in the round include venture capital firms like Delphi Ventures, Merit Circle, and Mechanism Capital. Additionally, angel investors including Sébastien Borget (founder of The Sandbox) joined the fray. This mix of expertise suggests confidence in Pixelverse's potential to shape the future of Web3 gaming. With a strong start and a war chest full of fresh funds, Pixelverse is poised to make a significant impact in the ever-evolving Web3 gaming landscape. Their focus on user engagement and accessibility positions them well to attract a passionate gaming community. #web3gaming #xogargames #web3 #gaming #racing PixelVerse Merit Circle Delphi Ventures Mechanism Capital BORGET Sebastien

We’re excited to announce a strategic partnership with SpeedX!  Here’s what you can expect from this game-changing collaboration: Tashi Protocol: • Helps developers reduce infrastructure costs with decentralized tech. • Cuts network expenses by up to 50%, extending the commercial lifespan of games. • Our low-latency, gasless system ensures faster, smoother gameplay for users. SpeedX: • A thrilling street racing game where players merge cars and earn rewards. • Their play-to-earn model combines fun and profitability in a unique way. • SpeedX’s innovative gameplay allows players to level up cars and earn COINs as they race. Together, we’ll tackle two major challenges in gaming: reducing infrastructure costs and scaling multiplayer experiences. Tashi’s decentralized infrastructure will power SpeedX, offering a seamless experience and better performance for players. We’re looking forward to sharing more details about this exciting partnership soon!