Video Game Venture Capital – VGVC

Fluid Entertainment, a California developer now working on a children’s MMO, has secured 3.2M in a Series A round of funding. The round was led by Trinity Ventures.

Fluid has developed numerous children’s titles around licenses like Pokemon, Harry Potter and Powerpuff Girls. This is their first forray into the MMO space.

The children’s MMO/VW space will be an interesting one to watch over the next year. Just about every toy company has learned from Webkinz phenomena that an online experience can enhance the experience and a physical toy can move the transactional cost from a credit-card subscription barrier to a retail transaction that parents understand. However, the segment is getting crowded, children are fickle when it comes to toy fads, and the community attachment is not as great for these games as it is for something like WoW.

Sources

1. GamesIndustry.biz, March 12, 2008

Playfirst, developer and publisher of casual game titles, has announced that it has raised $16.5M in its series C round of financing.

The round was lead by DCM and also included original investors Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners.

Sources:

1. Techcrunch, December 18, 2007

Seattle-based Hidden City Games, Inc, has raised $15M in series B funding. The funding was lead by Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners.

Hidden City Games’ management team is comprised of a mix of ex-Wizards of the Coast employees with a handful of ex-Microsoft folk.

Given their pedigree, it’s not surprising then that Hidden City Games is making collectible trading card games. Products include Spectromancer and Dragon Hoard, as well as Bella Sara, a Magic-like game aimed at girls. (Which sounds like ’2 known quantities and 1 risky bet’, which is a nice recipe in our opinion!).

Sources:

1. PEHub, October 29, 2007