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Bad Robot Games Clinches $40M Series B Fundraising Round

Bad Robot Games, the recently launched video game division of the production outfit founded 20 years ago by JJ Abrams, has landed $40 million in Series B fundraising.

The gaming operation, launched in 2020, said the financing round was led by Galaxy Interactive, with participation from existing investors Horizons Ventures, ICONIQ Capital and Tencent. Bad Robot announced the hiring of the division’s CEO, Anna Sweet, in 2020. The unit was formed in 2018 with initial financing from Tencent and Warner Bros Interactive.

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“Galaxy, Horizons and ICONIQ Capital comprise a veritable VC Dream Team, and we are grateful to have their continued support as we look to change the way people interact with and view video games,” Sweet said. “With this funding, we are able to build out both the studio and co-development sides of our operation, and create games that cross platforms, cross mediums and are based on IP originating from both games and linear content. We are very much looking forward to announcing our first titles.”

Bad Robot Games said it will use the new capital to build out its internal Games Studio, and further evolve towards its goal of building cross-medium stories and worlds. Bad Robot Games’ first internally developed title will be an original AAA game. As with the company’s other projects, this title will be developed in collaboration with Bad Robot’s Film, TV and Animation departments, as well as tap into Bad Robot’s network of artists and creatives.

Led by General Partners Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, Galaxy Interactive invests “at the intersection of content and finance,” according to an official announcement. The company has focused on videogames and game studios, social platforms and marketplaces and blockchain and other Web3 and interactive infrastructure technology.

Before Bad Robot, Sweet was part of the original business team that built the Steam platform at Valve, and also had stints on the content developer strategy team for Oculus and Facebook’s VR products. In addition to her hire last summer, Bad Robot Games also named Left 4 Dead Creator and Lead Designer Michael Booth as GM of Bad Robot Games Studio.

To support the studio’s plans, Bad Robot Games has also added celebrated industry vets Joe Rumsey (as Technical Director), and Oneil Howell (as Senior Level Designer). The new funds will also go in part toward expanding the staff.

Rumsey’s 25 years of games industry experience include work on the original World of Warcraft team. Howell worked at Oculus in its R&D division, and on Just Cause 3 and 4 at Avalanche Studios.

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