Vela Games, a Dublin-based studio with industry veterans from Blizzard, Epic, Riot Games, EA and Moon Studios, has today announced it’s secured $17.3m (£12.5m) Series A investment.
The funding comes from lead investor Novator, with additional investment from Ubisoft and London Venture Partners, to fuel development of its breakthrough Multiplayer Online Co-Operative (MOCO) title, an MMO/MOBA hybrid codenamed Project-V.
Founded in 2018 by Travis George, Brian Kaiser and Lisa Newon George, Vela Games previously raised $6.9m in funding rounds, to establish a team of over 25 developers and flesh out their design.
The news comes after Vela Games opened sign-ups for alpha testing of Project-V last December.
Vela launched its first public playtesting period earlier this year for Project-V, which has now entered its pre-alpha stage of development. Project-V will enter its secondary test phase later this year.
“Our sights are set high with the goal of introducing MOCO to the world and taking co-operative games to the next level. The response from playtesters so far has been incredibly positive and has only strengthened our commitment.”
Travis George, Vela Games
This new investment will allow the team to grow further, having added industry veterans from Blizzard, Epic, Riot Games and Moon Studios to its roster of talent in recent months. The studio will be immediately opening a new set of positions across disciplines, creating opportunities for those interested in playing a key role in bringing Project-Vto life.
Following this latest round of investment, Birgir Már Ragnarsson from Novator will join the board at Vela Games, bringing with him experience from across digital consumer, gaming and green energy sectors.
Vela Games co-founder Travis George added: “Our sights are set high with the goal of introducing MOCO to the world and taking co-operative games to the next level. The response from playtesters so far has been incredibly positive and has only strengthened our commitment to expand on our unique gameplay formula, where skillful teamplay and adapting to the unexpected are truly rewarded.
“We’re pleased that our investment partners share our passion and excitement for what we’re creating with Project-V. We have ambitious plans for the game and what it will become, and in the coming months we look forward to growing the Vela team and our player community.”
Players can sign up to Vela’s playtest community on the Vela.games website and Vela Games Discord, for a chance to experience the ‘MOCO’ game Project-V for themselves.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
