Nordisk Film takes $5m ownership stake in Heroes & Generals studio
Danish developer Reto-Moto will use funds to "prepare for scale" as it ramps up work on free-to-play WW2 shooter
Reto-Moto has secured a $5m investment by allowing Nordic entertainment firm Nordisk Film to take a minority ownership share in the company.
The Denmark-based studio was formed in 2008 by the founder of Hitman developer IO Interactive and is best known for free-to-play MMOFPS Heroes & Generals, which currently has a userbase of 12m registered players.
The partnership with Nordisk will enable the firm to grow the game further and support even more players.
"This new investment will allow us to prepare for scale," CEO Jean-Marc Broyer tells GamesIndustry.biz. "Our toolchain has been taking a back seat as the team was busy getting the latest updates in front of the players. We will now be able to focus on pipeline upgrades in order to prepare for scale and serve our players better.
"We will also continue to put our players first. I have encouraged the team since I joined to reach out more to the players and listen, provide constructive feedback, be inclusive of the players in our decision making process. We will intensify this effort in order to stay relevant to our players and provide them the best service possible."
While predominantly a movie company, producing films and operating the largest cinema chains in Norway and Denmark, Nordisk Film does also have strong ties to the games industry. It already distributes PlayStation products across the Nordic and Baltic territories, and has previously made equity investments in multiple Nordic games studios, including Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios.
As part of this new partnership, Nordisk Film's MD Mikkel Weider and senior partner Martin Walfisz will join the board of Reto-Moto, which Broyer tells us will "give them a good opportunity to be involved in the long-term strategy for the company."