Oakland based game developer Wavedash Games has announced that it has raised $6 million (£4.6m) in Series A funding, led by March Capital Partners.
Wavedash was founded by game developers from the likes of Riot Games, EA and Blizzard meaning it has some pedigree. The financing will be used to fund the completion of its new platform fighter game and grow the team.
Additional funding was provided by Lowercase Capital, Advancit Capital, CourtsideVC, Machine Shop Ventures, Luma Labs, and Cherrytree VC.
Wavedash also has some of the community leaders from other Platform Fighters such as Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. Both interestingly and oddly, Linkin Park DJ and Programmer Joe Hahn has also joined in an advisory capacity to ‘offer insight into creative development, marketing, and community building’.
Platform Fighters are fighting games where victory is achieved by knocking the opponent off of the stage rather than by depleting health bars such as in Street Fighter or Tekken.
“The Platform Fighter community is one of the most vibrant in gaming,” said Matt Fairchild, Wavedash’s CEO and Co-Founder. “But it has yet to reach its full potential. We’re following the trail blazed by Riot Games and Valve by bringing community passion together with world class developer talent.”
The platform fighter genre is spectator-friendly and by its simplistic nature it’s very accessible too. Wavedash is aiming to help grow the genre and scene in order for it to complete as a global and ‘premier’ esports genre.
The developer’s as-yet-untitled game will be free to play, and in doing so go down the route and business model of the likes of tier one titles League and Dota 2.
Gregory Milken, Partner and Co-Founder, March Capital Partners commented: “Despite massive growth in esports as a whole in recent years, the market has yet to really effectively tackle Platform Fighters. The passion of Jason, Matt, and their team really shines through, and we look forward to working with them on the development of Wavedash.”
Wavedash plans to reveal gameplay for the first time this summer; and fans can stay updated via the company Twitter account.
Esports Insider says: The FGC community needs some investment and a new title from a developer with a team of experienced heads on board could be just the ticket. We’ll hold off on commenting further until we see hear some more details and see what they come up with, but $6m in funding isn’t a bad start.