New studio Blue Scarab raises $7m in funding round
Developer will use funds raised to support its debut MMORPG title
New Sweden-based studio Blue Scarab Entertainment has raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by NetEase and Behold Ventures.
The investment also included participation from Jonas Antonsson (Raw Fury co-founder), Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson (Betware co-founder), and Stefan Lindeberg (Creandum co-founder).
Led by industry veterans CEO Colin Cragg and CTO Enno Rehling, the studio will use the funds raised to develop its debut MMORPG title.
Former DICE creative director Craig Morrison will serve as studio director, with Guillaume Lhoyer as principal designer and Ashley Nicollette as community and marketing director.
Both Lhoyer and Nicollete previously worked for Arrowhead Game Studios on Helldivers 2.
"As the games industry has expanded, we have welcomed many new audiences," said Morrison. "We believe there is a space for fusing and evolving previous gaming and media experiences into something new and fresh for this expanded community."
He continued: "Our goal is to bring all the expertise that our team has accumulated to forge new experiences for a wider audience than ever before. We want to try and defy genre expectations, while still leveraging all the skills and experience of the team we have assembled."