Seriously, a Helsinki-based game and entertainment studio that has yet to release what they’re working on, sent us a different press release than most. In it, they describe that they’ve made a few more key hires, fleshing out their team to 12 people (and one intern) and buried in there they mention that they’ve raised €1.9 million from Sunstone Capital and Upfront Ventures, also adding Daher Capital as a new investor. Seriously’s total seed raise stands at €3.7 million before getting anything on the market.
Without knowing their idea or roadmap, all I can say is such is life these days if you’re basically an ex-Rovio team looking to build off of what made Angry Birds pop.
We spoke with Philip Hickey, who has just joined as Vice President, Marketing & Communications after leaving Rovio. He tells us he will be responsible for marketing Seriously’s properties, beginning with their first title later in the summer. Also hired recently was Petri Räsänen, a Games Artist from Rocketpack, which was acquired by Disney back in 2011.
Asking about the buried funding news, Hickey tells us that Seriously is first and foremost about creating a world class creative team which is why they’re “people first.” It was tough getting any more information about the company’s plans except that we’ll be hearing more later in the summer, and that Seriously is building a character and story driven game that they want to make accessabile and reach a wide audience.
I think the biggest hint for Seriously’s roadmap is to look at Andrew Stalbow, CEO of Seriousy Games, was EVP of Strategic Partnerships at Rovio – so basically the man who had his hands in all the Angry Birds [nouns] you see at the grocery store and toy aisle.
With someone constantly thinking about product placement now running a gaming company, you have to see they’re taking a page out of Rovio’s playbook to build a game tailored for product marketing from the get go. With €3.7 in the bank already, you have to wonder what’s cooking in their Helsinki office.
