Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
A couple of former major players at Riot Games that left the League of Legends developer have gone on to launch their own new studio in The Believer Company today. The studio launched with a secured $55 million USD in funding and is said to be putting that funding to work on an open-world multiplayer project set in a new IP. The new studio is also hiring to pursue its vision.
The Believer Company announced its launch with a press release and the opening of its website on March 7, 2023. The group is helmed by Michael Chow, who will act as its CEO. Chow was previously a Vice President at Riot Games, also serving as executive producer on League of Legends mobile spinoff, Wild Rift, before his exit. He is joined by Riot Games founding member and fellow former executive producer Steven Snow, who will take up Believer’s Chief Product Officer role. Further executive staff include Landon McDowell (Microsoft, Riot Games, Linden Lab), Jeremy Vanhoozer (Bungie, Electronic Arts), Tim Hsu (Twitter, Riot Games), Shankar Gupta-Harrison (Riot Games, Dentsu X), Grace Park (League of Legends: Wild Rift), and Jeff Jew (League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra).
The launch of The Believer Company comes with a round of successful funding. The $55 million that will fund the studio’s initial efforts came notably from Andreesen Horowitz (a16z), with additional seed funding provided by Bitkraft Ventures, 1Up Ventures, Don Thompson’s Cleveland Avenue, Michael D. Eisner’s Tornante Company, and even Riot Games itself, just to name a few.
“Players are the best audience to serve in the world. They’re noble, smart, discerning, and infinitely inventive,” said Chow on Believer’s launch. “We hold their investments of time, skill, and hard-earned money as sacred, and we will always put their needs first at every stage of Believer’s journey. We look forward to growing our team with people as passionate as we are and we are actively seeking like-minded talent to believe with us.”
With Believer’s launch, the company has also begun hiring for developer roles as it sets the foundation for its first project. As we await the details of Believer’s first game, stay tuned here at Shacknews.