Moon Beast Productions is raising $4.5 million for the RPG

Moonbeast Productionsan independent game studio founded by industry veterans Phil Schenk, Peter Hu, and Eric Schaefer, has secured $4.5 million in seed funding.

Led by 1AM Gaming, the round was joined by 1UP Ventures, The Mini Fund, Overwolf, Versus Ventures, and a network of notable angel investors including Gaingels, Koh Carnage, and Mark Pincus.

This funding, which arrived in June, represents a defining moment for the studio, providing the resources needed to expand the team while maintaining the lean, focused approach it has set. Moonbeast Productions Since its beginning. This investment will accelerate the studio’s development of an innovative action role-playing game (ARPG) that challenges traditional design paradigms.

“In today’s challenging financing environment, we are very fortunate to have investors who understand our vision,” Peter Ho, president and co-founder, said in a statement. “Our approach has always been about working smarter, not just harder. We build reusable, data-driven systems, which allow us to iterate quickly and create more with less.

The studio is fully aware of the challenges facing independent game developers. While big-budget games dominate the market, gamers are increasingly hungry for new and innovative experiences that break away from traditional design. Moon Beast sees this as an opportunity to offer something truly different. The company game is in its first playable phase where the company can get feedback.

“We have never been satisfied with the audience watching,” Phil Schenk, CEO of Moon Beast Productions, said in a statement. “Throughout our career, we’ve always pushed to redefine genres. We were there at the beginning, helping to invent ARPGs with Diablo and Diablo II. In the years since, from Hellgate: London to Torchlight, and Marvel Heroes Online, we’ve continually sought to expand what’s expected Players like that.

An ARPG game for everyone

Shenk has not yet revealed the name or details of the game. But the upcoming project is a testament to this philosophy. Looking back at the pivotal moment after Diablo II, the team explores an alternative path for action RPGs – one that would have been impossible with technology that had been around for more than two decades. Their new game aims to reimagine what the genre could become if ARPG designs took a different path.

“A lot of people have a hard time getting the A or B round, and the C round is tough too. We were lucky to find 1am Gaming and others who believed in us, and wanted to help us make it happen,” Schenk said in an interview with GamesBeat.

“We want to get our name out there and let people know that we’re still alive and that we’re moving away and we’re excited about what we’re building,” he added. “And then that will lead into next year, when we’re really looking forward to being able to tell people about what we’re working on.”

Schenk said the offering was attractive to some investors in part because it did not focus on more skilled players, even though it is an action RPG.

“It’s an ARPG that everyone can play,” he said.

Leveraging advanced procedural generation and dynamic world technologies, Moon Beast creates a game world that delivers truly unique experiences with every playthrough. The goal is an expansive, open-ended design that provides players with unprecedented freedom and replayability.

“For the past 20 years, we’ve dreamed of ARPGs in more open, dynamic worlds,” Eric Schiffer, creative director, said in a statement. “We finally have the technology capabilities and decades of design experience to bring these visions to life. We’re going back to what made the early Diablo games look so great, but taking them in cool, new directions.

One major innovation is the studio’s commitment to user-generated content (UGC). “Our world-class technology is dynamic in nature, making it extremely easy for players to create and integrate their own content,” Hussain said. “We are building in-game tools that allow players to not only modify, but potentially create entirely new game modes using our powerful client-server ARPG systems.”

Avner Florenthal, vice president of business development at Overwolf, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled with Moon Beast’s vision of player creativity. Their approach to user-generated content has the potential to extend the life of the game and even spark entirely new gameplay experiences.

“Think about how MOBAs emerged from Warcraft III mods,” Schenk explained. “Our UGC tools can similarly open up entirely new genres built on ARPG gameplay and systems.”

Overwolf focuses on user-generated content and editing. Schenk believes the game will benefit from an embrace of user-generated content and a desire for self-expression.

Lead investor Gregory Milken of 1AM Gaming shared his view in a statement.

“What sets Moon Beast apart from others is their thoughtful approach,” Milken said. “They’re not chasing trends but expertly crafting a unique experience that can truly expand the ARPG genre and shake up the existing formula. We’re big believers in the team and huge admirers of their previous genre-defining work.”

The studio plans to reveal more details about its new project in early 2025.

“I think fans of the original Diablo games will find a lot to love, but I’m also very excited about the new ways we’re updating them,” Schaefer said. “It’s exciting to be able to take a fresh approach to the genre.”

Long trip

It’s been a journey.

“We’ve been very small for a long time, and we’ve built a lot of core technology. We’ve been experimenting with some game design ideas, you know, all related to ARPGs. And we’ve always had the idea of ​​including creators in our plans. But when Eric joined the team, “We’ve become very focused on core gameplay, core ARPG, trying to do everything we can with a small team, wanting to stay independent and maintain creative control.” “This goes back to our roots as Diablo.”

But it won’t be a copy of Diablo, which team members piloted while at Blizzard. But Moon Beast Productions is a startup and is much smaller than Blizzard.

Shenk said the team works with an emphasis on quality as much as possible. The team members find it fun, and have a lot of experience building games. But she remains practical and doesn’t try to bite off more than she can chew.

“We say, not today.” “Let’s keep things within scope so we can have a good chance of delivering something that players will love,” he said.