Bit Odd, a artistic studio in Finland led by former Supercell chief Lasse Louhento, has raised $18.2 million (€17 million) in funding to make cell video games.
Griffin Gaming Companions led the spherical, with participation from Makers Fund, Index Ventures and others. These are good buyers and that’s some huge cash for this point in time, contemplating gaming has had 33,000 layoffs within the final 2.5 years. However this is sensible as a result of Louhento was the sport lead on Conflict of Clans, a mighty cell sport that has generated $10 billion in revenues.
Griffin Gaming Companions mentioned it’s dedicated to empowering Bit Odd to ship fascinating experiences that resonate deeply with gamers worldwide. I used to be in a position to get a uncommon interview with Louhento.
The startup goals to reintroduce marvel and eccentricity into the gaming world, a high quality typically overshadowed by the finance-first focus of cell gaming. The group’s mission is to create video games that appeal to gamers by way of emotion and innovation slightly than simply conforming to conventional metrics.
“We started Bit Odd because we felt something was missing in gaming today,” mentioned Louhento. “The mobile gaming surge has been incredible, but it has also steered many studios toward finance-first thinking—over-relying on metrics and following the competition. Our approach is a bit different. We focus on designing games that stir the soul, embrace quirkiness, and tap into the emotional magic of gaming classics.”
“Launching something truly original in gaming takes guts, authenticity, and an unshakable passion for
the craft. In an era where data is often the core driver for design, Bit Odd is charting a different course — we’re excited to back Lasse and a team of next-gen talent” mentioned Pierre Planche, Companion at Griffin Gaming Companions.
Working inside a vibrant studio surroundings harking back to an atelier, Bit Odd is pioneering a brand new period in sport improvement. Drawing upon their in depth expertise and private journeys, the group is creating greater than only a sport — they’re designing an immersive expertise meant to encourage gamers in ways in which conventional approaches have ignored.
Griffin Gaming Companions is likely one of the world’s main enterprise capital corporations targeted on the worldwide gaming
market with over $1.3 billion in belongings beneath administration.
Bit Odd mentioned it’s devoted to delivering a unprecedented cell gaming expertise by prioritizing gameplay above all else.
A unusual firm
The corporate’s group consists of Louhento, former sport lead and artwork director at Supercell. Bit Odd stands by a dedication to creativity and quirkiness. The imaginative and prescient is easy: video games ought to be crafted from the bottom as much as improve participant enjoyment.
“Sailing with a small crew is never easy, and it’s taken us time to find our stride. But now we’ve cut through the waters, the current is pulling us forward, and our destination’s in sight,” mentioned Louhento, in a weblog publish. “I couldn’t be prouder of our team. We’ve got fire in our bellies, a mix of fresh recruits and seasoned experts with the scar tissue to prove it. But we all share the same desire: to make games that have the magic of the classics we grew up with.”
He mentioned the studio in Helsinki has the depth of a workshop, an atelier.
“No swings or personal baristas here. Only ‘overclocked’ computers, drawing tablets, markers – and of course our shrine stacked with the games and memorabilia of past masters, to remind us why we do this,” he mentioned. “We’re trying to make the best game imaginable. What does ‘the best’ mean, for us? It’s not
something you get from obsessing about metrics or overanalyzing market trends.”
He mentioned the sport is crafted with coronary heart and soul.
“One that will linger in the mind long after the screen goes dark and the last pixels fade away,” Louhento mentioned. “It’s one we can be proud of, as we sit in the old folks’ home. This game is more special to me than all the previous games I’ve worked on. A decade ago, I had surgery for a slow-growing brain cancer. It brought home to me what I should do with the rest of my life. I’m going to keep doing what I was already doing.”
The corporate beforehand raised a €5 million seed funding from Index Ventures.
Origins
Louhento, whoc grew up in Finland, recalled fondly that in his second-grade class, the ladies circulated a “friend book” across the class with the query, “What are you going to be when you grow up.” Louhento wrote that he needed to be a “computer game repairman.” It got here from the notion that pc video games didn’t at all times load correctly and appeared to want some sort of restore.
He didn’t know whether or not that job existed. However at an early age, he acquired his first pc, a Commodore 64. Again then, Finland solely had two TV channels. However the Commodore 64 revolutionized Louhento’s life. Among the many video games he performed was Hektik, a 1984 motion arcade sport by Mastertronic.
“It was just like a gateway to this Narnia, this absolutely wondrous, wondrous world. And I’m still living in this weird fantasy bubble,” Louhento mentioned. “I thought games could be improved. I’m in that journey. I’m kind of still a computer games repairman. I’m still sold on this. I’ll do anything to do this.”
Louhento went to neighborhood school as a result of his grades weren’t that nice. He was distracted by gaming, and he didn’t end school. He beloved journey point-and-click video games from Sierra and others. He met a fellow who was making a sport and Louhento mentioned he would do something to make the sport with him. That was his first title, and he created artwork on an Amiga pc.
They needed to undergo an elaborate scanning course of to create pictures. In 1993, Louhento joined an organization known as Bloodhouse, then that mixed with Terramarque in 1995, a fusion of the 2 founders Ilari Kuittinen and Harri Tikkanen. It was known as Housemarque, and it’s nonetheless the oldest energetic developer of video games in Finland. One in every of its greatest hits, revealed in 2021, was Returnal.
Louhento bounced round and acquired a job in Dublin at a sport firm known as Funcom. He made video games there, like Velocity Punks, which debut on the PlayStation in 1999.
“That’s where I really learned my chops,” he mentioned.
With this route, Louhento didn’t observe the trail of many Finnish sport builders, who labored on cell video games within the dwelling nation of Nokia.
“I started as a hardcore gamer,” he mentioned. “Mobile games are this thing that the whole industry has evolved to. I worked on console games for many years.”
Then, he mentioned, “I met a girl.” Their relationship took him again to Finland for good. He labored at extra sport firms and wound up at Sulake, the maker of Habbo Resort. He labored there for seven years on video games like Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds. He left Sulake for Digital Chocolate, an early cell sport maker created in 2003 by Journey Hawkins.
He labored there for some time and met Ilkka Paananen and others who would develop into well-known later. In 2011, they approached him and recruited him to hitch Supercell, the place he grew to become a sport lead and artwork director on a sport known as Conflict of Clans. As sport lead, each new proposal for one thing went by way of Louhento. And it turned out to be a easy improvement course of.
The sport debuted in 2013 and went on to generate $10 billion in income and it led to Supercell being acquired by China’s Tencent. Louhento spent 6.5 years at Supercell and labored on Conflict Royale (2016) as properly.
After leaving Supercell, Louhento did extra startups and did consulting. Then he began Bit Odd in 2019.
Getting began and elevating cash
On the outset, there have been simply three individuals engaged on sport concepts and prototypes. They began out doing work for rent to pay the payments and usher in some cash for a few years. About 3.5 years in the past, they started specializing in their very own sport. They labored for a very long time and had been in a position to create a playable vertical slice of a sport. There are 17 of group members now. It’s a mixture of each sport veterans and youthful builders as a result of the group desires a mixture of expertise and views.
Annina Salvén, former CEO of Subsequent Video games, mentioned that Louhento’s group was good in that they didn’t exit to lift cash till that they had an pleasant vertical slice that was enjoyable to play.
“It’s rare to have a team that bootstraps themselves,” she mentioned. “That sets a tone for fiscal responsibility. And Lasse’s track record speaks for itself.”
Salvén joined as CFO of the corporate, and he or she had contacts with Peter Levin, managing director of Griffin Gaming Companions. At Subsequent Video games, there have been some tough instances, however Levin stayed levelheaded, Salvén mentioned.
“You will have bumpy times, and you want someone who can deal with those bumps,” she mentioned.
That’s how Griffin got here in as the most important investor.
Whereas Louhento has been making hardcore video games for a very long time, the method of constructing cool video games on cell at Supercell had an impression on him.
“The platform for me is a no brainer, as everybody has a mobile phone,” Louhento mentioned. “I’m a joystick gamer. I wish there were a joystick for mobile phones, but there isn’t. But I like a challenge, and it’s not impossible. So we started out working on the controls.”
He wouldn’t say extra in regards to the sport they’re engaged on, apart from it’s an action-oriented sport. Louhento is glad that the sport resonated with buyers. As for why the corporate raised $18.2 million, Louhento mentioned the corporate has a low improvement price range.
“We don’t have baristas,” he mentioned.
However he mentioned that right now’s video games want quite a lot of advertising price range to assist them catch on.
“You need capital for that stuff,” he mentioned.
The corporate will seemingly do a gentle launch for the sport early subsequent 12 months. However in improvement, something can occur. And Louhento encourages that. That’s why he known as the corporate Bit Odd.
“There’s a certain celebration of eccentricity, but I just love it,” he mentioned.
