🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

GreaterThan Group grows from founder Simon Zhu’s ties across the games business

• Simon Zhu spent 12 years at NetEase Games and said he led investments in or backed nearly 100 studios, including the teams behind Fall Guys and MARVEL SNAP 12.
• Leaders at Quantic Dream, a French video game developer, praised Zhu when he left and said his trust helped shape the company in recent years 2.
• GreaterThan Group took shape after NetEase cut funding for several Western partner studios, with Zhu aiming to back creators and teams he believed in 3.
• Founders hold stakes in their own studios plus shared equity in GTG, which ties creative goals to financial outcomes across the group 4.

GTG backs veteran teams that stay small and keep control

• GreaterThan Group says it offers full funding, hands-on support, plus autonomy to partner studios co-owned by GTG with each founding team 4.
• Arcanaut rejects generative AI tools as “creatively soulless,” said Casey Hudson. The studio also plans to avoid teams in the hundreds to keep costs lower 3.
• The model differs from Tencent, which backs partners while leaving creative control in place 5. Savvy Games Group, a Saudi-backed gaming investment company, has instead bought and run larger companies such as Scopely and ESL FaceIt Group 6.
• GreaterThan Group is based in the US 4. Its first partner studios are Arcanaut Studios in Canada, BulletFarm in the US, and MAGship in Japan 4.