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Former PlayStation CEO Jack Tretton and Studio Wildcard CEO Doug Kennedy have created Interactive Gaming Ventures, a new company which aims at funding small studios and help bringing indie games to market.
Interactive Gaming Ventures will target indie developers who already have experience and will provide funding, management strategy, PR, development support and resources, and more. The investment fund will select two to three studios to work with per year, investing between $1m and $5m in each project, Tretton told Business Insider UK, adding that the firm will be looking for titles to "publish on PC first in early access, and then ultimately roll out to consoles."
Tretton, now managing partner at Interactive Gaming Ventures, commented: “Traditional private equity and venture firms appreciate the 100 billion dollar size of the gaming industry, but most lack the understanding and the comfort level to invest in it. We provide these studios structure, cash infusion, and use our relationships to ensure that they are getting an appropriate share of voice from first parties backed by investors that know the industry and seek the outstanding financial returns that a well run publisher can provide.”
In the interview with Business Insider UK, he also said that studios which work with Interactive Gaming Ventures will retain control of their IPs, with the investment firm taking a “percentage of the income in return for [the] investment” when the game actually launches. “It’s really more of a royalty-based investment,” he added. “Our interest is really in the game itself. We invest specifically in the game itself — the developer owns the IP, the developer controls the actual process of developing.”
He also explained the thinking behind this new venture: “We formed Independent Gaming Ventures with money backed inside the industry, with industry understanding. We’re targeting two to three projects a year where we can work very closely with successful indie developers that’ve had some degree of commercial success in the past, but are looking for some management advice, some financial contribution to help grow their business a little bit sooner than they could on their own."
Developers who are interested in pitching to Interactive Gaming Ventures can already get in touch via the firm’s website.
