Archangel Ventures to fund titles, as opposed to companies.
A new venture firm has been established exclusively to raise funds for game development.
Alan Kane, previously studio finance and operations director of Midway’s Austin studio, has started Archangel Ventures with the sole purpose of funding video game development, reports Statesman.
Kane is in the midst of raising a $12 million to $15 million fund for the purpose of investing in individual titles from developers happy to create downloadable content for iPhone and Xbox Live. Kane is also said to be concentrating on games with budgets totalling no more than $200,000.
"We are looking for companies that are going to take advantage of digital distribution," said Kane, who isn’t concerned with buying equity in the developers behind the titles he funds.
"The terms are more generous and, quite frankly, I am bringing to the table a class of investors interested in the space," revealed Kane, who hopes to let developers keep 60 to 70 per cent of revenue and retain control of any intellectual property through his Austin-based venture firm.
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Interesting because these guys want to invest in titles not companies and games with digital distribution........I sense money men think traditional dev/pub route is too costly
Certainly is interesting. Tho $200k isn't going to go very far for a self-published title when you consider the additional costs involved.
But, hopefully this is a step in the right direction!
The average size of my investments is $200k-$500k = for smaller downloadable titles this is usually the entire budget. For larger deals, I'm usually not the only investor or I am a bridge type investor until a larger investment is justified.
I also agree that this is a step in the right direction. For projects on simpler platforms: like flash games, iPhone games, and even XBLive, budgets can be as low as 25K to 200K. Usually these development teams try to apply for SBA loans or grants, especially from foreign countries. A VC group is another great opportunity for these developers.
Hi Alan,
I see your comment so assume that you are reading this from time to time.
How do I get in touch or could you drop me a mail?
Thanks
Dave Vout
Director
Big Head Games Ltd.
dave@bigheadgames.co.uk
Hi Alan
I agree with Dave and the other guys, what you are proposing sounds very sensible. I suggest you come over to the UK and set up a meeting (or series of meetings) with a whole bunch of us UK developers in one hit. You can get a lot of £ for a $ right now and many of us are well set up to deliver the kind of mid quality titles that will realise your vision. I believe your idea will have a lot of legs with smaller dev firms on this geographical and financial island of ours.
hi Dave,
isn't it about time you invested in t'internet and took a training course in Google!! ;)
Alan's email (from his website) is alankane@me.com
and i certainly agree with the sentiments from yourself and Mr Hare here.
Rob
