Boston-based independent video game studio Proletariat announced the completion of a $20 million Series C funding round. The investment will be used toward the development of its upcoming battle royale role-playing game (RPG) Spellbreak.
Take-Two leads $20 million Series C
The funding round was led by American video game holding company Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), which owns Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar Games and NBA 2K publisher 2K. Take-Two executive VP and head of corporate development and independent publishing Michael Worosz will join Proletariat’s board with this deal. Other participants include existing investors like venture capital firms Spark Capital and FirstMark Capital.
“Proletariat has a strong reputation as an organization that embraces a transparent development approach to deliver amazing experiences to its players,” said Michael Worosz on the investment, in a release.
“We are quite impressed with Seth and his team composed of exceptional creative talent at Proletariat and are proud to invest in their business and future success. Personally, I’m greatly looking forward to working with the Company to help make Spellbreak a hit when they publish the game next year.”
Triple-A fantasy battle royale game Spellbreak is currently in closed beta. The funding will allow Proletariat to expand its development team and release Spellbreak on additional platforms beyond the PC.
Proletariat’s Spellbreak title
“We’ve been looking for the right industry leaders to work with to help us take Spellbreak and Proletariat to the next level,” said Seth Sivak, CEO of Proletariat Inc. “Michael and Take-Two bring a wealth of experience that will be vital as we expand the team, ramp-up development and prepare to self-publish Spellbreak next year for audiences around the world.”
Proletariat’s Spellbreak joins an overcrowded market filled with battle royale games like Epic Games’ Fortnite, Bluehole’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Respawn Entertainment’s (NASDAQ: EA) Apex Legends.
Other titles also include NetEase’s (NASDAQ: NTES) Knives Out and Rules of Survival, along with Garena’s (NYSE: SE) Free Fire. However, Spellbreak differentiates itself from competitors through its spell-based gameplay and fantasy theme. With the investment and backing from a company like Take-Two, Proletariat hopes to make a mark in the scene.