Halo co-creator Alex Seropian has raised $5 million in funding from venture and growth equity firm Accel Partners for his mobile gaming firm Industrial Toys.
Seropian’s startup is currently hard at work on Midnight Star, a free-to-play shooter game designed for tablets.
Seropian believes that hardcore gamers will migrate to mobile games from their beloved consoles and PCs, increasing the demand for high-end gaming titles on portable devices.
Accel is no stranger to game investments. It previously invested in Rovio, maker of Angry Birds, and Supercell, creator of Clash of Clans.
The company is hedging its bets on Seropian, the founder of Bungie Studios – maker of the Halo games that have sold more than 50 million copies on the PC and consoles – and his co-founder Tim Harris, President of Los Angeles-based Industrial Toys.
Industrial Toys plans to launch its first game, Midnight Star, in beta testing this summer. The game will be preceded by the Midnight Rises graphic novel, which will set the backstory for the title.
The aim is to combine good storytelling and top notch game mechanics in a game that hardcore players will enjoy for hours and hours.
The game is being built on the Unreal Engine 3 game platform.
“Real gamers want to compete, explore, and become part of a community. We need a storyline we can sink our teeth into and quality that mirrors what we’d expect from a PC and the console ‘ but with gameplay design specific to next-gen devices,” added Tim Harris, President of Industrial Toys.
Asked how soon the company will be done with its game, Seropian said, “We’re real close. We should go worldwide this summer.”
It makes sense for startups to target the mobile game segment, which market researcher Gartner expects to double from $13.2 billion in 2013 to $22 billion in 2015.
Check out the teaser trailer for Midnight Star below:
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