Elodie Games, a new game studio from Venice, California is getting $5 million in funding to build crossplay co-op games.
The founders Christina Norman and David Banks, are former Riot game developers, both had worked on the League of Legends franchise and other big projects.
They’ve got some backers in Andreessen Horowitz (a16z, a fund that Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz started) and 1Up Ventures (which former Microsoft games chief Ed Fries started). While there are over 20 investment companies carrying out game and esports deals currently, it shows its time for starting game studios and raising money for them.
Christina Norman and David Banks are focused on making games that are intrinsically social and connect gamers through deep cooperative gameplay, engaging content, and uncompromised crossplay, or the capability to play the same game on any platform. Specifically, the team wants to create a co-op game where players fight against the environment, or PvE.
At Riot Games in Los Angeles, Christina Norman and David Banks helped build League of Legends into a global giant. Banks was one of the first 20 or so employees, working as an engineer. Riot Games now has more than 2,500 employees.
During their time at Riot, they were touched by communications from players who felt that social games helped them form the deepest relationships in their lives. But there are a lot of barriers to playing with friends, such as challenges related to platform types, skill, location, and timing. Christina Norman and David Banks created Elodie Games to tackle those challenges.
The company has five people now and it is hiring. Christina Norman said the goal is to build a “gratifying, healthy workplace” that attracts veteran talent and creates an inclusive environment where people can live up to their full potential.
“They are very interested in games. They are hardcore gamers and fully understood our thesis and audience we are targeting. It was an easy conversation. Andreessen Horowitz brings a large operating platform and support that others can’t bring. Ed has a long history of investing in games and creating an interesting community around his fund. He is a giant of gaming industry.”
David Banks, Elodie Games owner
“I want to apply all of the lessons I’ve learned at Riot and BioWare about creating co-op PvE games.
Banks has extensive startup and game development experience, previously serving as the vice president of product on League of Legends. He was executive producer on League of Legends, and worked on a game known as Project A during preproduction.
They want to create games that are “endlessly engaging, with trusted relationships with players, provides them with thousands of hours of gameplay, and it’s loved everywhere, meaning global”
The company wants to experiment with gameplay mechanics and move fast. Christina Norman said the company isn’t talking about the genre of game yet. She said the company will take risks, and recruit talent in Los Angeles, which Christina Norman said is “one of the top cities in the world for game development.”
Elodie is a brand-new games studio located in Venice California. Over the next few weeks we’ll be updating our site with more information on our studio, our culture, and open positions.
Christina Norman (Co-founder) has 15 years of game design and leadership experience working on games like Mass Effect 1–3, League of Legends, and most recently served as the Founder and Design Director of League of Legends: Wild Rift.
David Banks (Co-founder) has extensive startup and game development experience, previously serving as executive producer of League of Legends at Riot Games.
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