Venture Capital Leaders Support Visionary Team for Next Generation Open-world Game
Passion and great talent—those are the two elements for success that the founders and investors of The Believer Company confidently have in place. The Los Angeles based gaming startup with its founding team of industry veterans has brought together world class developers who will deliver on their vision for the next-generation open-world game.
“The team already assembled at Believer stands ready to change the industry through an unyielding devotion to players,” said Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners that led the $55 million Series A funding round. Baier-Lentz is referring to both the visionary leadership team and the veteran developers and producers who are onboard.
CEO Michael Chow, former Riot Games Vice President, leads the startup that includes a number of former Riot Games personnel. He brings his experience of Executive Producer on League of Legends: Wild Rift and Co-Founder of Words with Friends developer Newtoy.
Top talent joining the company includes:
- Chief Product Officer Steven Snow, a founding member of Riot Games who built the studio’s player-focused culture,
- CTO Landon McDowell, previously of Microsoft, Riot Games, and Linden Lab,
- CCO Jeremy Vanhoozer, previously of Bungie and Electronic Arts,
- CMO Shankar Gupta-Harrison, previously of Riot Games and Dentsu X,
- Grace Park, Director of Operations, previously of League of Legends: Wild Rift, and
- VP of Design Jeff Jew, formerly of League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra.
Strategic partners and advisors include entertainment and media industry leader Michael D. Eisner, former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, and Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott. Each are leaders who have pushed the boundaries of popular culture, technology, and interactive art that aligns with The Believer Company.
Michael D. Eisner’s Tornante joined the funding round that also included: Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT, Cleveland Avenue, Riot Games, 1Up Ventures, and others. Having top venture backing in addition to the deep leadership and talent they have brought together, positions Believer for success.
“When Michael, Snow, and their fellow founders at Believer speak about what’s next for video games, the industry stops and listens,” said Andrew Chen, General Partner at a16z. “Time and time again, through both innovative use of new technology and subversive design principles, they’ve defied convention and realized ambitions other developers hadn’t dreamed yet”.
Believer views the last half-century of gaming progress as a warm-up for their global collective of top players, creators, and technologies— that will make up the difference between the possible and impossible. The passionate team of game creators has set the high goal of delivering on players’ dreams that were thought to be unachievable.
“Players are the best audience to serve in the world. They’re noble, smart, discerning, and infinitely inventive,” said Chow. “We hold their investments of time, skill, and hard-earned money as sacred, and we will always put their needs first at every stage of Believer’s journey.”
Chief Product Officer Snow sees Believers’ success and fortune tied to their new game studio and IP, but most importantly their focus on the players. Snow has the expectation that their gaming startup’s innovations could have an impact similar to other shifts that have occurred in gaming.
“The last few years have brought forward some very exciting technologies. In our world, where the player is the focus, our goal is to bring select technologies into the development and gameplay spaces that players love”. Snow said. “Bringing free-to-play to North America and Europe with League of Legends really changed the landscape of how games as a service could work.
The company’s founding motto is Credo In Ludos, or, “I believe in games”—underscoring the passion and commitment each team member has to pursuing innovation in gaming and their startup venture. They see it as “as a lifelong calling, and not merely a business”.
