As a passionate fan of the gaming industry and someone who closely follows developments within it, I am beyond excited about the latest news coming from Look North World. With Alexander Seropian at the helm, a founding member of Bungie and former executive at Disney Interactive Studios, this Los Angeles-based user-generated content game studio is poised to disrupt the industry in a major way.
Look North World, a Californian game studio and publisher that specializes in user-generated content and is headed by CEO Alexander Seropian, who co-founded “Halo” developer Bungie and previously held top positions at Disney’s ex-game development division, Disney Interactive Studios, has secured an extra $2.25 million in funding, increasing their seed round to a total of $4.5 million.
On Tuesday, London Venture Partners headed the financing round for the company, joined by strategic partners such as Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund, Overwolf, Crush Ventures (the venture wing of Crush Music), Hasbro, Pix Capital, and previous investors Hibbard Road Partners.
North World Look Announces the Debut of Creator Label: A Special Program to Boost Individual Makers on Platforms Like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft. The Initial Signatories Are Austin “Tom Jank” Rodriguez and Jon Jungemann from Sloth Games.
“Look North World announced on Tuesday that they are working on fifteen upcoming games, some based on well-known brands. The fresh funding will help this company speed up the production of new, original games and revolutionize game creation through user-generated content (UGC). Leveraging modern creator platforms, Look North World aims to engage millions of players with their innovative games. In contrast to traditional studios’ lengthy development cycles, they are adaptive to UGC platforms’ swift pace.”
After Electronic Arts sold off their mobile game division and shut down studios like Industrial Toys led by Seropian, the executive explored new opportunities. This shift occurred when Epic announced Unreal for Fortnite together with a creator fund to motivate advanced development within Fortnite. The appeal of launching fresh games every couple of months, featuring innovative gameplay and boasting a vast player base, proved irresistible.
The company has created and released various games on Unreal Engine for Fortnite (UEFN), such as “Dream Job Tycoon,” which features a tycoon-style progression system and a series of mini-games including Cart Attendant, News Delivery, Lawn Care, Professional Boxer, Taxi Driver, Deep Sea Diver, Dancer, Bird Photographer, and Miner. Additionally, they offer tactical shooter game “CNTRL” and “Don’t Press the Button,” where players can either explore the maze to gather weapons or take risks by pressing the button.
North has introduced two high-end modifications for the survival game “Ark: Survival Evolved” by Look North. These mods enable players to customize various elements of the game. Notably, their collaboration with Overwolf, Hasbro, and Studio Wildcard called “Ark x Power Rangers Premium Mod” has sold over 800,000 units.
Seropian stated, “A major transformation is underway in the game industry, changing the way games are produced and distributed. At Look North World, we’re part of this change by creating within flexible platforms that encourage innovation, rapid prototyping, and large user bases. Our Creator Label reflects our belief in user-generated content as the future of gaming. This empowers us to back creators and invest in games that might otherwise be overlooked.”
On their website, Look North presents themselves as a cheerful team of digital magicians, turning coffee into code, pizzas into pixels, and restless nights into thrilling journeys.
Investors Yoyo Yang and Natsuhiro Maruyama from Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund spoke highly of Look North World as a valuable collaborator. With a strong background in video game development and founders who have produced hit titles for conventional games, they aim to leverage their expertise and innovative vision to cater to the preferences of contemporary gamers.
“Matt Bilbey, a venture partner at London Venture Partners, expressed his conviction that investing in Look North World underscores the significance of user-generated content in shaping the future of gaming. With UGC platforms growing in popularity and influence, innovative teams are utilizing them to break new ground and develop captivating, immersive games at an unprecedented speed.”
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2024-07-26 00:24