A Year of Milestones for Gaming Executive Pany Haritatos
It's been a remarkable year for gaming industry leader Pany Haritatos. Last month, he achieved a significant milestone by securing an oversubscribed $28 million Series A funding round for his new game studio, Series Entertainment, as confirmed by both an SEC document and the company. Key investors include Netflix and Dell Technologies Capital, with additional contributions from seed investors like Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT, and F4 Fund. This accomplishment follows a successful launch last year, which featured a solid $7.9 million seed round led by a16z.
In addition to fundraising, Haritatos moved swiftly to acquire Pixelberry, a mobile game studio known for its popular interactive fiction game Choices: Stories You Play, back in July.
Series, also referred to as Series AI, aims to revolutionize video game creation using large language models (LLMs) and generative AI (GenAI). The company aspires to become the new Unity by equipping a multitude of game developers with innovative tools. The team has developed the Rho Engine, designed to expedite game development through the use of GenAI.
While skepticism around LLMs exists, the gaming sector is undeniably undergoing a transformation driven by AI technologies. Game developers can now leverage AI to handle the intricate design processes, from creating characters to crafting intricate elixirs, resulting in more immersive gaming experiences. Non-playable characters (NPCs) can evolve into multifaceted personalities, capable of engaging in negotiations with players, while gamers enjoy unprecedented levels of customization.
To facilitate this evolution, developers need advanced AI-integrated game engines. Series claims that Rho is the first AI-native, multimodal, full-stack game creation platform, encompassing both visuals and audio. While competitors like Modl.ai Engine and Unity’s Muse Chat exist, Series distinguishes Rho by positioning it as a comprehensive solution for game development. Modl.ai focuses on tasks such as bug detection and game crashes, while Rho is dedicated to end-to-end game development.
Investors Joshua Lu and Andrew Chen from a16z were so enthusiastic about collaborating with Haritatos that they penned a blog post declaring Series as a groundbreaking studio and technology company reinventing game development through generative AI.
Part of the excitement surrounding the investment stems from Haritatos himself, who boasts decades of experience in game development and a talent for timing his ventures perfectly. In the late 1990s, he founded his first studio focused on browser games, capitalizing on Adobe’s Flash player, which led to its sale to Zynga. He later established a mobile game studio and sold it to Kongregate, a major platform during the Flash games boom. Haritatos subsequently ascended to CEO of Kongregate before selling the company to Swedish gaming studio MTG. Most recently, he took the helm of Snap’s games group, focusing on augmented reality and embedded games.
This extensive background is why his list of investors includes major names in gaming. Through support from a16z’s dedicated gaming fund, Series also attracted BITKRAFT, founded by eSports trailblazer Jens Hilgers, and F4 Fund, led by seasoned game makers David Kaye and Joakim Achrén who have successfully built and sold multiple studios.
According to Series, the company has expanded from 17 employees at the beginning of 2024 to over 100 today, drawing talent from respected companies such as Zynga, Machine Zone, Google, and Snap.
While Haritatos did share a statement praising his investors: “We are thrilled that we raised a very successful $28 million Series A during a tough year for funding.” Pitchbook estimates that this Series A round equates to about 15% of the company, potentially valuing Series at $190 million post-money, though the company has not publicly commented on that figure.
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