The gaming industry has seen significant growth and innovation in recent years, and one of the key players in this space is Pany Haritatos, the founder of Series Entertainment. Haritatos has had a successful year, recently closing an oversubscribed $28 million Series A funding round for his startup. This comes after launching the company just a year ago and securing a $7.9 million seed round led by a16z. The Series A funding round included investments from notable companies such as Netflix and Dell Technologies Capital, as well as follow-on investments from seed investors Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT, and F4 Fund.
One of the major milestones for Series Entertainment this year was the acquisition of mobile game studio Pixelberry. Pixelberry is best known for its interactive fiction game Choices: Stories You Play. This acquisition aligns with Series Entertainment’s goal of creating video games using LLMs (Large Language Models) and GenAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence) technologies. By leveraging these AI technologies, Series Entertainment aims to revolutionize game development by allowing AI to assist in tasks such as character design and game customization. This will enhance the interactive nature of games, enabling NPCs (non-playable characters) to become fully developed characters that can engage in conversations and negotiations with players.
To support its mission, Series Entertainment has developed the Rho Engine, a game creation platform that utilizes GenAI and is described as the first AI-native, multimodal full-stack game engine. Unlike other AI gaming engines in the market, such as Modi.ai Engine and Unity’s Muse Chat, Rho is designed for full-stack game development. Modi.ai Engine focuses on tasks like bug detection and crash identification, while Muse Chat serves as more of an AI assistant. Rho, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive solution that covers both visual and audio aspects of game development.
Investors, including a16z’s Joshua Lu and Andrew Chen, were drawn to Series Entertainment due to its innovative approach to game development and Haritatos’ impressive background in the industry. Haritatos has a wealth of experience in game development and has consistently been at the forefront of emerging technologies. He founded his first game studio during the emergence of Adobe’s Flash player and later sold the studio to Zynga. He then went on to establish a mobile game studio and sold it to Kongregate, a popular Flash games platform. Haritatos eventually became the CEO of Kongregate and later joined Snap’s games group to develop augmented reality and embedded games.
The reputation and track record of Haritatos attracted big-name investors in the gaming industry. In addition to a16z, Series Entertainment secured investments from BITKRAFT, a firm founded by eSports pioneer Jens Hilgers, who co-founded ESL and G2 Esports, and F4 Fund, a firm run by game makers David Kaye and Joakim Achrén, who have built and sold multiple studios in their careers. The rapid growth of Series Entertainment is evident in its expanding team, which has grown from 17 employees at the start of 2024 to over 100 currently. The team is comprised of talented individuals from companies such as Zynga, Machine Zone, Google, and Snap.
While Haritatos declined to be interviewed following the announcement of the Series A funding round, he expressed his gratitude to his investors through a statement. He stated, “We are thrilled that we raised a very successful $28 million Series A during a tough year for funding.” The amount raised in the funding round is estimated to be around 15% of the company’s total value, giving Series Entertainment a post-money valuation of roughly $190 million.
In conclusion, Series Entertainment has had an exceptional year, with significant achievements in securing funding, acquiring a mobile game studio, and developing innovative AI technologies for game development. With Haritatos’ expertise and the support of prominent investors, Series Entertainment is well-positioned to become a powerhouse in the gaming industry. The future looks bright for this ambitious startup as it strives to redefine the future of game development through the integration of LLMs and GenAI.
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