A brand new cellular sport growth studio, Closing Concept, has secured $2.3m in funding in a spherical led by video games funding agency a16z.
The studio guarantees to deal with that perenially nebulous however nonetheless beneficial viewers of “non-gamers” who they imagine their two new titles, each seemingly primarily based round housing, will attraction to. The cash comes from an all-star line up of investor companies such because the aforementioned a16z (Joshua Lu, previously of Zynga and Meta), Powerhouse Capital (who’ve additionally invested in Playtika and Scopely) and founding father of Proletariat video games Seth Sivak.
Co-founder Nitin Rajinikanth commented, “Video games have historically been all about fantasy, a tough fork from the true world. We began Closing Concept as a result of we imagine there’s a chance for enjoyable that’s nearer to the world we dwell in.”
“Our first two titles, HOUSE RUSH! and NEIGHBORHOOD RUSH! are for the 70M+ individuals who browse Zillow only for enjoyable,” he provides. Home Rush itself is at the moment accessible to enroll in playtesting on iOS.
Speeding into the neighbourhood
Though details about Closing Concept is skinny on the bottom for now, it’s seemingly that they’ve been engaged on their two debut titles in stealth mode for a while now. With the titles releasing on cellular we are able to speculate they may be referring to the hypercasual or hybridcasual market which is the place most stereotypical non-gamers might be discovered.
Lots of the firms the buyers have beforehand labored in – or invested in – embody a bevy of our Prime 50 Sport Makers of 2022, akin to Playtika or Blizzard. We will safely decide that the attraction of a studio like Closing Concept, the place the co-founders be aware they’ve already efficiently had two of their firms purchased when pursuing comparable methods, is probably going the attainable cash made upon exit.
What’s most attention-grabbing, nonetheless, is that Rajinikanth touches upon the “strategic mixture of gaming specialists and actual property operators + influencers” that Closing Concept will apparently utilise of their growth. It’s an eclectic combine definitely, however simply the thought alone of what they could be seeking to accomplish is certain to deliver vital consideration to the corporate.
