Square Enix has led an undisclosed investment round into Danish studio BetaDwarf to finance the development of top-down action-RPG, Vaultbreakers.
BetaDwarf shared the news statement and described the move as a “major investment.” Square Enix will become a minority stakeholder in BetaDwarf as a result of the deal.
“The investment marks a major milestone for BetaDwarf, the team behind Forced and Minion Masters, and signifies growing publisher interest in high-concept multiplayer games built around cooperation, skill, and dynamic gameplay,” reads a press release.
BetaDwarf is based in Copenhagen and previously raised $6.6 million in 2019 to develop social experiences that spark friendship (thanks GamesIndustry).
The studio explained its previous release, Minion Masters, reached “millions of players.” Its debut title, Forced, has sold over 500,000 titles since launching in 2013.
Square Enix’s interest in BetaDwarf
Square Enix general manager of business development, Hideaki Uehara, said the company decided to invest in the team after paying a visit to the studio.
The cash injection will enable BetaDwarf to enhance its production capabilities and deepen its approach to community driven development.
“Being accompanied by Square Enix on our journey is an amazing access to a combination of knowledge, talent, and resources.”, said Steffen Kabbelgaard, CEO and game director at the studio.
“We are already very far with our dream game Vaultbreakers: we have a huge amazing community, and we have already run 15+ tests with more than 50,000 players who constantly enable us to refine. So getting this additional support feels amazing when we are far into production already.”
