Jonathan Huang’s Post

Today's the second anniversary of A16Z GAMES and (roughly) the first anniversary for A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN. A lot's changed in the last two years! When I joined we were still investing in games from the consumer fund. We spun out our fledgling "startup" VC with six people; now we're a team over twenty strong. We cover everything from talent to marketing to creators to content to BD to publishing. We started with games studios - I invested in Theorycraft Games, The Believer Company, Azra Games 🔜 Consensus Austin, Roboto Games, Metatheory Inc., Lumi Interactive and others my first year - but we've also gone way broader. Now we have a broad portfolio of tech x games, ranging from AI, web3, AR/VR, infra tools, prosumer platforms, and gamified apps. We launched SPEEDRUN! It was a total experiment at the beginning; can we teach the principles of game design and inspire the next generation of great game founders? And now it's a real institution. Seventy plus companies, tens of millions of dollars deployed, and many startups that have grown their business and raised follow-on capital. It's a real team effort with Andrew Lee Joshua Lu Samira Behrouzan Petra Garrett and the rest of the team. Every function has scaled. Jordan Mazer and Caitlin Cooke have become LinkedIn whisperers and have directed thousands of candidates. Doug McCracken Samira Behrouzan Lester Chen have done a great job rebranding our fund, launching a YouTube, and now a substack too. Katia Ameri has turned tech week into a real institution with tens of thousands of people. So what next? Well first, we're bringing SPEEDRUN to LA, and applications close tomorrow. We want to connect the tech x games ecosystem in LA and support the burgeoning community here. And second, we raised GAMES FUND TWO. For my part, I've launched my own substack, TikTok, and continue to invest in the best B2C founders out there. If you're building a studio, UGC platform, gamified app, anime, or web3 startup, let's chat.

I sat down with Aaron Bush at Naavik to talk through my latest thoughts on games investing. We covered a lot of ground, including spicy takes on: 1) Why most game studios shouldn't raise VC 2) The characteristics of the ones that should 3) Is gaming overinvested? 4) How to adapt to the end of the cheap money era 5) What's underhyped in gaming today 6) The impact of AI on game development 7) How to identify sources of distribution advantage 8) How startups can build moats to escape competition 9) How we invest and what we look for

MMORPGs have lost their way over the past decade, but Chris Mhley and Power Proc Studios, LLC are here to change that with your help. Soul Kingdoms is a new "MMO-lite" with RPG elements that bring back the feeling that I've been missing since games like Runescape (Classic) and Ragnarok Online. MMOs these days are all about the agonizing grind or pay-to-win tactics, but now that I'm not a teenager I can't dedicate that kind of time to a single game without it taking years to get anywhere. This new game is different--it can actually fit into my adult-life schedule! Because of its "lite" nature, I can see myself getting my RPG fix in fast-paced, strategic battles without fretting about having to chop down 2893075432 trees to get to the next level. Plus, it's just flat out fun! I've been watching this game evolve since the very beginning, even having been a part of its unreleased predecessor over a decade ago. Chris's passion and ambition to putting out only the best work has never waned and Soul Kingdoms is a testament to that. If you also demand to see an evolution of the MMO space, give this game a follow, become a Patreon subscriber, and keep an eye out for updates around seeing this in Early Access!

Why has mobile gaming become such a tricky space for investors? In my latest piece, I explore the challenges mobile game startups face in 2024. From scaling issues to rising user acquisition costs, it’s clear the landscape has shifted. In the piece, I discuss why many studios struggle to raise capital and the key factors VCs are now looking for. Plus, I highlight the rare founders who still capture investor interest. If you’re building in mobile gaming, now’s the time to shake things up. Check out the full piece to learn more about navigating this market. https://lnkd.in/gcg7hTuj

Big Karma - Startup Pitch Now Live! 🚀 Up next from our 2024 Accelerator cohort, we’re excited to share Big Karma's pitch video featuring founder Pascal Clarysse! About Big Karma 🎮  Big Karma produces video games and digital entertainment starring action heroes and champions who leverage their disability to win: Phenoms - Be Impossible Location📍  United States Ask 🌱 Big Karma is currently fundraising. If you’d like to support their mission or learn more, please contact Big Karma to schedule a meeting. Learn More ℹ️ Visit our website for more details about Big Karma, including accessible versions of this pitch, and more info! Access our website at, https://bit.ly/3CpeQfc Video Description: Startup pitch presentation featuring Pascal Clarysse of Big Karma, presenting in a studio with a vibrant purple backdrop. Pascal speaks directly to the camera as the video transitions between him and Big Karma’s pitch presentation slides materials. The video ends with a call to action, text ‘Support Us Phenoms’, alongside a QR code and URL for Big Karma. #DisabilityTech #Remarkable #AccessibleGaming #InclusiveGaming #Gamer #DisabilityInGames #AdaptiveGaming #GameAccessibility 

Top 3 Mistakes Gaming Startups Make by Deconstructor of Fun Starting a game studio is a tough mission. 💪 It involves a combination of creative vision, business insight, technical knowledge and strategic planning. 🎯 And follow some crucial steps, such as: ✅ Begin with a clear concept, define your sub-genre/niche, but always based on market research. ✅ Create a business plan, set a budget, and assemble a team of developers, designers, and artists. ✅ Build a game prototype using a suitable engine, test it frequently, and refine based on feedback. ✅ Choose a monetization strategy, optimize app store listings, and promote through marketing and community engagement. ✅ After launch, provide ongoing support, explore funding options, and expand with new contents and team growth. However, even though we followed the playbook to the letter, we failed on our journey. That's why it's so important to listen to the experiences of investors with a track record. Hosted by Jen Donahoe, Deconstructor of Fun has launched an episode of its podcast with gaming VCs superstars, presenting the 3 main mistakes a gaming startup makes. Anton Backman from Play Ventures, Jere Partanen from SIS Ventures , and Sikander Singh Chahal from Transcend. give us powerful insights. 👉🧠 👇 Swipe down to see the summary of the pod published on the DoF blog. 👇 But we recommend our partners listen to the full episode (link in the comments). Every tip can be a gem of wisdom. 🧙♂️ - x - Would you like to talk more about the mobile game market? 🤔📲 Get in touch with Bruno O. (CEO) and Eduardo Krakauer (CFO) at the Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki (a event by PocketGamer.biz). 🇫🇮 Super Company is a publisher specializing in acquiring and partnering with mature or sunset mode games and apps. 🚀📲 It would be a pleasure to talk to you about our sector and perhaps make a partnership. 🤝 What do you think? 😉 Let’s go to #PGCHelsinki! 🛫 #PGConnects #mobilegames #gaming #gamedev

Excited to announce that BITKRAFT Ventures is leading Party Icons' $9m Private Round, bringing the project's total funding to $20m! Short-form thoughts on BITKRAFT's excitement around our thesis of: i) Leveraging web3 to unlock net-new core gameplay ii) Deftly bifurcating and addressing web2 + web3 users iii) Twin engines of Party Heist (Core) + Party Games (Supp) conferring platform-esque network effects -------------------- In investing there is a prevailing heuristic that loosely classifies products as either Painkillers (solves painpoints) or Vitamins (amplifies existing abilities) Our study of top decile outcomes in the tech startup landscape suggests a persistent trend of Painkillers accruing far greater enterprise value than Vitamins to engender power law outcomes, and it is this principle which drives our conviction to hunt for projects explicitly solving web2 painpoints In gaming speak, this translates into games which effectively leverage web3 to unlock completely new modalities and genres of play Using Hunger Games as a parallel to understand the product, Party Heist is the core game mode in Party Icons which allows users to roleplay as either Tributes (jump in, find loot, survive, extract with loot) or Sponsors (ultra affluent overlords sponsoring the competition). Web3 natives who wish to go on a power trip need simply purchase the OGX NFT which will unlock the ability to speculate/ bet on tributes' success and even directly "buy-and-airdrop" weapons/ armor directly to their chosen tributes and influence their odds at winning Web2 gamers wishing to experience the thrill of Hunger Games can jump in and play the game without being forced to interact with any of the web3 elements, while being delighted by emergent modes of gameplay made possible by Web3. Over time, they may very well come to appreciate and adopt the technology Party Heist hence elegantly bifurcates yet addresses two distinct user groups, allowing both of these user segments to synergistically co-exist with each other for the ultimate Hunger Games experience This is but one aspect of the Party Icons experience, which also includes i) A PGC-first and UGC-later party games ecosystem where users may socialize after intense rounds of Party Heist (a la Fortnite) ii) A fully open digital economy and marketplace that will be the lifeblood of the loot extraction system, and iii) A social and competitive experience explicitly designed for short-form video as a distribution channel This audacious vision is the brainchild of the founder Sim, someone whom we have learned so much from in the course of our partnership. There is no better founder to attempt building out a genre-defining title and lead the charge towards web3 adoption, and we are excited to be in his corner for the coming journey -------------------- BITKRAFT Ventures is excited to be Party Icons' partner from Day 0. We're about to get the party started and everyone is invited. See you there!

🚀 Exciting news! We're thrilled to unveil the GEM Capital Advisory Board! Meet our esteemed advisors: ● Robert Bagratuni, CEO and Founder of Mundfish, developers of Atomic Heart. ● Philipp Gladkov, ex-CEO of Pixonic (War Robots), CEO and Founder of Gameram, a fast-growing social ecosystem for gamers. ● Max Samorukov, CEO and Founder of AppMagic, a mobile market intelligence service that is currently the biggest major data.ai and Sensor Tower rival by number of clients. Each advisor brings unique expertise to the table: 🎮 Bagratuni will advise on PC/console games selection and development. 📱 Gladkov will support mobile teams. 📊 Samorukov will sprinkle some data analytics and mobile app market intelligence magic. 📍 Robert Bagratuni is the CEO of Mundfish and the Game Director of Atomic Heart. Before founding Mundfish in 2017, he was the Creative Director at a global publisher MY.GAMES. After 5 years of development and investment support from Tencent, GEM Capital, and Gaijin Entertainment, Atomic Heart was released to critical and commercial success. The game became the most discussed game on Metacritic in 2023 and received a Steam Award for Outstanding Visual Style, along with many other accolades, such as being featured in BAFTA's The 60 Best Video Games of 2023, Google’s Top 10 Most Searched Games in 2023 and Pornhub's Top 5 Most Searched for Video Games of 2023. 📍 Philipp Gladkov is a successful entrepreneur who founded Gameram. During his tenure at Pixonic, he successfully transitioned the company from social games to mobile games, and launched War Robots, which achieved remarkable success, with over 200 million installations and generating over $900 million in revenue. Under Philipp's leadership, Pixonic became one of the leading game developers in Europe. In 2016, the company was acquired by entertainment software giant MY.GAMES. 📍 Max Samorukov is a veteran of game analytics, having worked in the industry since 2009. Previously a programmer, he spent 12 years as Chief Product Officer at Crazy Panda, contributing to over 20 games. Since 2016, Max has been the founder and CEO of AppMagic. He is also a speaker and researcher specializing in mobile app market analysis. ⬇️ Please find what our advisors had to say as well as the link to the article by VentureBeat in the comments below. #Advisoryboard #games #venture #venturecapital #team #advisors #GEMCapital

Exciting news from Wahed Ventures! We’re thrilled to present our latest investment opportunity: BrainsparkGames, a UK-based multi-award winning EdTech Gaming startup on a mission to revolutionize “learning through play” Brainspark Games uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to build FREE, culturally inclusive educational games, aligned with the UK’s national curriculum for 7-13 year olds. These games remove barriers to learning particularly amongst diverse learners who often get left behind in the current education system. 1. 12 weeks term time condensed into a few hours of fun, fast gameplay 2. Culturally inclusive curriculum 3. AI-powered, neurogames technology 4. Immersive, fun Augmented Reality games 5. Aligned with UK national curriculum & GCSEs 6. Backed by leading games angels and investors We’re delighted to host Reedah El-Saie tomorrow, May 23, at 5pm UK time for our investment webinar. We will be covering her journey to date, the problem Brainspark Games are solving and their future plans post raise. Register for the webinar: https://lnkd.in/eYCbs9GA Disclaimer: This post is intended for our UK Audience. Capital at Risk. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more: https://lnkd.in/epuhbCKf Disclaimer: Brainspark Games Ltd is eligible for Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) tax relief and has received advanced assurance from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) regarding its eligibility.Tax treatment varies based on individual circumstances, and tax reliefs may be subject to changes in legislation. Always seek advice from a qualified tax professional. #brainsparkgames #reedahelsaie #crowdfunding #innovateuk #startup #angel #investment

A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN #3 ‼️Applications are now OPEN for A16Z Games 3rd Speedrun, SR003, which will run for 12 weeks starting July 29th and ending with a Demo Day during SF Tech Week in October. 💰A16Z recently concluded its 2nd edition of Speedrun, SR002, with a Demo Day during GDC that saw more than 370 investors, representing more than $500 BILLION in assets under management. 🎮 Any early-stage founder that is building at the intersection of Tech x Games is eligible to apply - live ops tools, AI agents, 3D retopology, cozy games, and gamified apps. 👨💼 Joshua Lu investing partner for A16z Games: “The program not only provides capital support, but also a team of operators and partners who have worked across the games industry and can equip them with the knowledge that help them go from zero to launch.” ✍️ Apply now for for a chance at $750,000 - read more about the application process on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eChmfbyX