Telltale Games Secures $7M in Series C Funding From IDG Ventures, Granite Ventures & Private Investo
TelltaleGames
Former Telltale Staff
SAN RAFAEL, CA. June 7, 2011 – Telltale Games, a leading independent digital publisher of cinematic adventures and a pioneer of episodic content delivery, has closed a $7 million round of Series C funding with IDG Ventures, Granite Ventures and several of their original angel investors. The financing will be used to support new product launches and enhance the company’s multi-platform publishing infrastructure, with a focus on connected consumer technologies.
“In the last 12 months, Telltale Games has successfully expanded its product line with the inclusion of several high-profile licensed IPs and we have achieved the company goal of supporting every viable digital gaming platform by incorporating iOS devices and social games,” said Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games. “We now find ourselves extremely well positioned with the Jurassic Park and The Walking Dead franchises to reach a very large audience. This financing will allow us to aggressively launch these franchises worldwide on multiple platforms simultaneously.”
Adds Phil Sanderson, Managing Director of IDG Ventures, “Digital distribution is changing the intrinsic dynamic of how video game publishers do business with retailers and consumers. With its profitable content model and digital storefront, Telltale Games is ideally positioned at the forefront of this emerging and critical new platform.”Regarding the investment Chris Hollenbeck, Managing Director of Granite Ventures said, “This team rocks. All the big trends in the video game business are converging toward the vision Telltale has had from the start ... they are positioned to lead the next wave and we're proud to be a part of it.”
Telltale Games produces episodic, cinematic games focused on narrative and character. The games are published digitally via Telltale’s own retailing platform and on all major digital retailers on PC, console and handheld devices. Telltale launched Back To The Future: The Game digitally in December 2010 and it is on track to be the most successful title in the company’s seven year history with over 800,000 episodes sold to date. Upcoming episodic game series from Telltale in 2011-12 include Jurassic Park: The Game; The Walking Dead; a new game based on a Law & Order television franchise; a reboot of the classic gaming franchise King’s Quest; a game series based on DC Comic’s New York Times best-selling graphic novel series, Fables; and several game series yet to be announced.
Telltale Games is currently attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, June 7-9, Concourse Hall, Room #8205.
About Telltale, Inc.
Telltale is a leading independent digital publisher of cinematic adventures playable on every major gaming platform. Telltale is also the pioneer of episodic delivery of content developing games as series and successfully releasing on a schedule to create a longer consumer engagement for each release. Founded in 2004 by LucasArts veterans with decades of experience, Telltale has quickly become an industry leader, establishing the model for successful episodic game creation and digital publishing. Telltale has sold more than 5 million episodes since 2005. Telltale’s reputation for quality has been established across more than 35 published releases that have cumulatively earned an average Metacritic score above 80%. Telltale's titles have won numerous awards including, "Adventure Game of the Year" accolades from publications such as IGN, PC Gamer, GameSpy, and Adventure Gamers, and have been recognized by mainstream outlets ranging from USA Today, to The New York Times to Variety. Telltale currently develops and publishes episodic series on PlayStation 3 system, PC, Mac, Wii™, Xbox 360™ and iPad.
About IDG Ventures
IDG Ventures SF is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in New Media and IT companies in the US. The fund is part of IDG Ventures, a global network of technology venture funds with over $4 billion under management and 10 offices across Asia and North America. The fund works closely with International Data Group (IDG), the world's largest IT media company. By combining the IDG platform - an unparalleled combination of global publishing, market research (IDC), and conferences and exhibition resources - with years of hands-on experience in early-stage company building, IDG Ventures helps its portfolio companies understand their markets better and penetrate them faster than their competition. Leading technology companies that IDG has invested in include Netscape, Excite, Infoseek, Epiphany, F5 Networks, BabyCenter, Service Metrics, and Spinner.com in North America and Vinagames, Ctrip and Baidu in Asia.
About Granite Ventures
Granite Ventures has been helping early-stage technology companies build solid foundations for success since 1992. They focus their investments on two sectors where their partners have deep domain expertise, broad industry knowledge, and significant investment experience: Communications and Components and Software.
Granite has managed over $1 billion in venture capital and has invested in more than 90 private companies. They partner with promising and successful entrepreneurs to create businesses that have a competitive edge and help them achieve category leadership.
“In the last 12 months, Telltale Games has successfully expanded its product line with the inclusion of several high-profile licensed IPs and we have achieved the company goal of supporting every viable digital gaming platform by incorporating iOS devices and social games,” said Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games. “We now find ourselves extremely well positioned with the Jurassic Park and The Walking Dead franchises to reach a very large audience. This financing will allow us to aggressively launch these franchises worldwide on multiple platforms simultaneously.”
Adds Phil Sanderson, Managing Director of IDG Ventures, “Digital distribution is changing the intrinsic dynamic of how video game publishers do business with retailers and consumers. With its profitable content model and digital storefront, Telltale Games is ideally positioned at the forefront of this emerging and critical new platform.”Regarding the investment Chris Hollenbeck, Managing Director of Granite Ventures said, “This team rocks. All the big trends in the video game business are converging toward the vision Telltale has had from the start ... they are positioned to lead the next wave and we're proud to be a part of it.”
Telltale Games produces episodic, cinematic games focused on narrative and character. The games are published digitally via Telltale’s own retailing platform and on all major digital retailers on PC, console and handheld devices. Telltale launched Back To The Future: The Game digitally in December 2010 and it is on track to be the most successful title in the company’s seven year history with over 800,000 episodes sold to date. Upcoming episodic game series from Telltale in 2011-12 include Jurassic Park: The Game; The Walking Dead; a new game based on a Law & Order television franchise; a reboot of the classic gaming franchise King’s Quest; a game series based on DC Comic’s New York Times best-selling graphic novel series, Fables; and several game series yet to be announced.
Telltale Games is currently attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, June 7-9, Concourse Hall, Room #8205.
About Telltale, Inc.
Telltale is a leading independent digital publisher of cinematic adventures playable on every major gaming platform. Telltale is also the pioneer of episodic delivery of content developing games as series and successfully releasing on a schedule to create a longer consumer engagement for each release. Founded in 2004 by LucasArts veterans with decades of experience, Telltale has quickly become an industry leader, establishing the model for successful episodic game creation and digital publishing. Telltale has sold more than 5 million episodes since 2005. Telltale’s reputation for quality has been established across more than 35 published releases that have cumulatively earned an average Metacritic score above 80%. Telltale's titles have won numerous awards including, "Adventure Game of the Year" accolades from publications such as IGN, PC Gamer, GameSpy, and Adventure Gamers, and have been recognized by mainstream outlets ranging from USA Today, to The New York Times to Variety. Telltale currently develops and publishes episodic series on PlayStation 3 system, PC, Mac, Wii™, Xbox 360™ and iPad.
About IDG Ventures
IDG Ventures SF is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in New Media and IT companies in the US. The fund is part of IDG Ventures, a global network of technology venture funds with over $4 billion under management and 10 offices across Asia and North America. The fund works closely with International Data Group (IDG), the world's largest IT media company. By combining the IDG platform - an unparalleled combination of global publishing, market research (IDC), and conferences and exhibition resources - with years of hands-on experience in early-stage company building, IDG Ventures helps its portfolio companies understand their markets better and penetrate them faster than their competition. Leading technology companies that IDG has invested in include Netscape, Excite, Infoseek, Epiphany, F5 Networks, BabyCenter, Service Metrics, and Spinner.com in North America and Vinagames, Ctrip and Baidu in Asia.
About Granite Ventures
Granite Ventures has been helping early-stage technology companies build solid foundations for success since 1992. They focus their investments on two sectors where their partners have deep domain expertise, broad industry knowledge, and significant investment experience: Communications and Components and Software.
Granite has managed over $1 billion in venture capital and has invested in more than 90 private companies. They partner with promising and successful entrepreneurs to create businesses that have a competitive edge and help them achieve category leadership.
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