Business of Games: Everybody discusses layoffs. Here's this post about funding details from the last two weeks

19 biggest funding rounds, partnerships, and trends from the last 2 weeks #236

Hey Friends, Greetings from Bangalore 💗

Investment news update, from May 2nd and 3rd week:

1. Steel City Interactive raises £15m in funding

2. VaultN secures $1.6M in seed funding round

3. Sony forms new studio with ex-Deviation Games devs

4. Seeds Labs raises $12 million for Solana-based Bladerite

5. Param Labs raises $7M to fund gaming ecosystem development

6. ByteDance sells Red Alert Online dev C4 Games for $35.8 million

7. Yellow raises $5M from A16z for Gen AI-powered 3D modeling tool

8. Overwolf acquires NitroPay in 8-figure deal to boost ad tech offering

9. Gorilla Capital invests in Lola Panda educational apps developer BeiZ

10. Subscrible raises $300,000 to launch ad-free mobile games platform

11. Jamango raises $2.5M to launch browser-based game maker this year

12. Trophy Games snaps up 20 titles from Tivola Games in acquisition deal

13. Sharp Alpha closes $25M+ Fund II to back gaming, sports, and media startups

14. Iconic Arts raises $3.1M to create original properties for games and Hollywood

15. PlanetPlay parent Sphaira Innovation has acquired UK studio Playmob for an undisclosed sum.

16. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser’s new company, Absurd Ventures is creating an “open world action adventure”

17. Civilization,’ ‘XCOM’ and ‘The Sims’ Vets Launch Game Developer Midsummer Studios With Funding From Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions

18. Gaming content generation platform Stori has rebranded as Nucanon having raised $500,000 in what the startup says is another pre-seed raise.

19. Oisoi Studio, based in Ghent, Belgium, has announced the successful closure of a €450,000 funding round led by ForsVC and angel investors Thomas & Emmanuel Dewitte.

Top Trends:

1. EA is looking to introduce in-game ads

2. Roblox revenues increase to $801m in Q1

3. Grand Theft Auto 6 now expected out in fall 2025

4. Dubai launches new Gaming Visa as part of 2033 vision

5. Brazil passes new bill to bolster its video games industry

6. Netflix brings new "digital theme park" Nextworld to Roblox

7. PTW opens new motion capture studio in partnership with Imaginarium Studios

8. Microsoft shut down several Bethesda studios, including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks.

9. Microsoft’s Will Launch Its Xbox Mobile Gaming Store This July With Candy Crush and Minecraft

With Love, Cartic P
/ @iCartic