Game studio formed by veteran Singapore developers raises angel funding

Photo credit: BattleBrew.

New game development studio BattleBrew has raised its first external funding. Announced today, the undisclosed amount comes from angel investor Harish Nim. Nim is CEO of Emerio, an IT services provider that’s a subsidiary of NTT Communications, part of Japanese telco NTT Group.

Singapore-based BattleBrew launched in February 2017. It is made up of local developer talent that cut its teeth at game companies like Ubisoft Singapore, Gumi, Gameloft, and Garena (now Sea).

CEO Shawn Toh has worked for Nubee and Gumi and has served as associate producer at the Game Lab of the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

The team is also supported by Elicia Lee who founded gaming convention GameStart Asia, and Ian Gregory Tan, creative director of Witching Hour Studios, which became a crowdfunding sensation with its RPG title Masquerada.

Let the games begin

Forming the studio with “trusted friends” felt like the natural thing to do, says Toh. “The industry is pretty close-knit, so once we had an idea for a game we really wanted to work on, it was an easy decision… We have a lot more ownership in what we make, especially for the guys or gals who came from triple-A studios,” he explains in a statement.

BattleBrew will use the funding to finish the game it’s currently building, a mobile strategy title under the working title Wyldeweavers. The investment will also “pave the way” for more fundraising, according to Toh.

The team moved into the Pixel Studios facility in April. Pixel Studios is a co-working and community-building space specifically focused on game development and media production, set up by the Infocomm and Media Development Authority of Singapore to be a launchpad for young studios and creators.

Other Pixel Studios occupants include Delta Duck Studios, which recently launched its first game, Monster Chronicles.

Singapore’s gaming scene is not huge but it is home to both young startup studios as well as established international gaming companies like Ubisoft. Last year, mobile games publisher King – creator of international hit Candy Crush – shut down its local studio in Singapore, Nonstop Games.