LogInThe round was supported by Lightspeed, Krafton, Transcend, Nintendo Family, Founders of Blizzard, Oculus, and Valorant.
Game development studio Gardens announced that it had raised $31.3 million in Series A funding to "blend indie innovation and AAA ambition" in the form of an online PvPvE fantasy adventure sandbox ARPG.
The studio received support from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Krafton, Dreamhaven (co-founded by Mike Morhaime, founder and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment), TIRTA, Rendered VC, Stephen “Slim” Lim (co-creator of Valorant), Nate Mitchell (co-founder of Oculus), Annie and Jeff Strain (co-founders of Prytania Media, co-creator of Guild Wars and State of Decay), Seth Sivak (VP of Development of World of Warcraft), V Pappas (former COO of TikTok), Julien Merceron (CTO of Bandai Namco) and Craig Kallman (CEO of Atlantic Records), among others.
With this funding, the company also adds former Microsoft Chairman John W. Thompson, former Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Jack Tretton, former Tencent President and Take-Two CEO Ben Feder, and Yamauchi No.10 (Nintendo Family) to its advisory team.
“It’s both inspiring and validating to see so much excitement around our vision for this game and studio, especially from these incredibly accomplished investors and partners. Folks with deep ties to Blizzard, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, PUBG, Riot Games, Tencent, and more are all coming together around Gardens; we couldn’t be more excited for the party we’ve assembled and the next chapter of our adventure together,” said Gardens co-founder and CTO Lexie Dostal in a press release.
The Gardens team includes industry veterans that worked on such games as Sky: Children of the Light, Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch, Blaseball, Ultima Online, Outer Wilds, Tunic, Dustforce, and Ashen, and films such as The Hobbit and The Adventures of Tintin.
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