Video games: the Serena fund invests in two French studios

After having invested more than 30 million euros last October in the French cloud gaming service Shadow, the Serena fund continues to bet on video games. He announced this Wednesday that he would participate in two seed fundraising events: one of 2 million euros for the Parisian studio Darewise, and another of 1.5 million euros for the Lyon studio 8SEC. " We want to be an actor who will support the French video game ecosystem ," explains Olivier Martret, investment director at Serena. The fund is already examining other files around e-sports, social tools for online games, or integrated advertising.

The two studios supported by Serena operate in separate spheres: ultra-mainstream mobile gaming and massively online gaming. Parisian Darewise has been working for two years on Life Beyond , " a social network in a virtual world, a kind of second existence that takes advantage of the cloud, " explains Benjamin Charbit, director of the studio. Coming from Ubisoft, where he worked on the online modes of Assassin's Creed games , he surrounded himself with a team of forty people from prestigious studios like Rockstar ( GTA ) or CD Projekt ( The Witcher ).

Build a metaverse

Darewise would like to make Life Beyond a “ metaverse ”, these virtual universes where they did more than play. Fortnite is approaching this vision: it is now possible to watch films or participate in concerts by real artists by connecting to this online world. " But before offering this entertainment, Fortnite must first have succeeded in creating a successful video game. It is also our vision. We are already going to build a fun online game. The additional services will come next, ”continues Benjamin Charbit. Among these, the possibility of earning money. Players can resell their characters, objects, or be paid to complete missions on behalf of other users. “ We are obviously entering a risk zone. But we are preparing partnerships with legitimate establishments to address the problems ”linked to these financial flows, such as money laundering, says Benjamin Charbit.

Life Beyond , which will be available on PC, consoles and mobile on a free-to-play model, has no official release date. The game is currently in closed alpha, that is to say tested in a non-final version by a limited number of users. “ We need funds to finance development. Playing video games is very expensive, "he continues. Darewise had so far been financed thanks to public aid (CNC, BPI, support from the Ile de France region ...). The company had also raised a million euros from business angels such as Cédric Sire, Thibault Elzière, Bertrand Diard, and Kima Ventures. Serena explains supporting this studio " because we are convinced that the social networks of tomorrow will come through video games. The barrier between virtual and real will be increasingly fine, ”says Olivier Martret.

Data-driven games

The Lyon studio 8SEC, created in 2015, is evolving in the world of ultra general public mobile games, known as “ hyper casual ”. Thought to occupy the moments of hollowness, they must be extremely quick to understand and take in hand, for parts of a few minutes. These free video games are financed through the display of advertisements. “ Originally, we were only involved in the creation of these games. For the past two years, we have also managed their publishing, distribution, monetization, and the acquisition of new players through advertising inserted in other games, ”explains Louis Giraud, director of 8SEC. The fundraising of 1.5 million euros will allow the studio to create ten new positions in order to reach 30 employees by the end of the year. “ Serena is one of the few funds that includes the hypercasual sector. Success is not a lottery, everything is guided by data, ”continues Louis Giraud.

8SEC thus publishes one or two prototypes every week, pushed into advertisements, and measures the public's appetite for its ideas before continuing or not developing them. This method allowed the studio to test and then refine the general culture game Trivia.io, downloaded 15 million times and remained for one month in the top 5 of the most popular games in the United States. The method also makes it possible to detect current trends, even the most improbable. " The pedicure games are currently working well ," smiles Louis Giraud. “ Ditto for games that allow you to paint pairs of sneakers. These are feeling games, which allow you to reproduce a satisfying everyday feeling. Another emerging trend is " action-oriented games, such as sniper or secret agent games." It's new in the hypercasual universe. "