Industry veterans Blizzard, Bungie, Riot Games and Valve have raised $ 37.5 million to launch a new studio called Theorycraft Games.
NetEase led the funding round to the nascent studio, and was joined by NEA, Bitkraft Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners and SISU Game Ventures.
Headquartered in Seattle and Los Angeles, Theorycraft will use the cash to expand its development team with “diverse and driven” talent as it works to create a community-based PvP title for multiple platforms.
Theorycraft team has an impressive resume, having previously worked in high profile franchises League of Legends, Halo, Destiny, Overwatch, Valuing, i Team Fortress 2.
Joe Chung, who served as executive vice president at the League of Legends franchise in Riot, will lead the studio as CEO. Another will join Valuing, Overwatch, i Hello technology leader Michael Evans, who has been named technology director; and former Bungie creative director Mike Tipul, who will serve as creative director.
“Theorycraft Games’ mission is to create deep games that give everyone a chance to connect, compete, and be infinitely thrilled by the stories that place players directly at the center, ”a press release says. “Theorycraft plans to meet with players wherever they are, regardless of the platform they play on, where they live or how much money they can spend.”