The diverse team at Sprocket Games hopes to set a new standard for inclusion.
Another study enters the scene courtesy of the backing of BITKRAFT Ventures. Following in the footsteps of Lost Lake, Lightforge and Gardens, Sprocket Games, a game studio that promotes a progressive approach to its developers, today announced a $5 million seed round with participation from 1Up Ventures, Gaingels and Substrate.
The team, which includes veterans of multi-billion dollar franchises, including League of Legends, valorantY eve onlinewill use the capital to recruit and build its core team to develop the studio’s first game: a cross-platform social adventure that leverages its four-member board’s understanding of online multiplayer gaming.
Sprocket Games was founded by Google and Riot Games Senior Software Engineer Josiah Kiehl. League of Legends design director Jo Graylock, eve online top dog Nicolas Tittley, and League main technical designer of the game Reina Sweet. Together, the quartet hopes to create a studio that encourages employees to “bring themselves whole to work” and now wants to hire developers who value diversity and equal opportunity.
Sprocket already has several developers from underrepresented groups, which he believes will help him prioritize new and different perspectives across the organization with each and every hire. It proudly promotes access to the best healthcare for all employees, including transgender and non-binary staff, as well as a deeply embedded mentoring-centric system that focuses on bringing out the full potential of each team member.
CEO Kiehl said that Sprocket Games was created to set a new standard for how game developers are cared for and empowered, both culturally and technologically, and that each member of the team will have creative space to take risks and innovate, allowing them to the opportunity to add new dimensions to the games they create.
He continued: “Many top-tier game developers in the industry are under-supported, marginalized and under-appreciated. Sprocket will give developers opportunities they didn’t have in previous studios, creating a better, more secure environment that serves as a stable platform for moonshot after moonshot.”
Jasper Brand, director of BITKRAFT, said he strongly believed that fun and engaging adventures with friends make gaming more important, and that the partnership between Kiehl, Graylock, Tittley and Sweet impacted his organization as “an amazing leadership team.” since the first day. ”
He said: “[N]They not only have a captivating vision of what those shared adventures could look like, but also an exceptional track record in game design and the infrastructure to bring their ideas to life.
“All of this comes with an exceptional reputation for inspiring gamers and developers, and a passion for building a truly inclusive studio.”
