Global mobile games publisher invests in young Singaporean studio

The XII Braves co-founders Jonathan Leong (left) and Chris Ng (right) with FunPlus CEO Andy Zhong at the deal signing event in Singapore. Photo credit: FunPlus/XII Braves.

Beijing-headquartered mobile social gaming company FunPlus has made a “multi-million dollar” investment in Singaporean mobile game developer XII Braves, it announced during a partnership signing event in Singapore yesterday. The investment amount is undisclosed.

XII Braves is staffed with devs who have previously worked for Nexon Korea, Gumi Asia, Gameloft, and more.

As part of the deal, FunPlus will be the global publisher of XII Braves’ latest game, Valiant Force, which is expected to soft-launch in July. The game is an online strategy RPG for mobile devices.

XII Braves (read: 12 braves, inspired by the studio’s 12 initial employees) was founded in 2014 in Singapore by Chris Ng and Jonathan Leong, CEO and COO respectively, who wanted to show that great mobile games can come from the Lion City. The studio is staffed with devs who have previously worked for Nexon Korea, Gumi Asia, Gameloft, and more.

FunPlus will publish the game under its Publishing Plus program, which the company calls a “simple, transparent alternative to ‘traditional’ publishing.” The program, which includes a global investment fund worth US$50 million, started in 2015 and offers developers financial and operational support throughout the development and release process.

FunPlus CEO Andy Zhong said during the event that there are two issues with the current game publishing model. One is that it’s hard for development studios to raise funding since they can’t show investors growth charts like other startups. That means it’s much more of a risk for an investor. The other is that a lot of publishers’ goals don’t align with developers – they’re much more interested in a revenue stream rather than the quality of a final product.

Valiant Force in action.

Publishing Plus includes financial support for the developer from concept to launch. That includes 100 percent of the funds available upfront, a 50/50 split of the net revenue, global marketing and operations for iOS and Android, and guaranteeing continued ownership of the game IP by the developer.

FunPlus has offices in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada, and the US. It employs over 400 people. Some of its most prominent games include Facebook game Family Farm and iOS and Android game Dot Arena.

The mobile games market in Southeast Asia is growing more attractive all the time. Market research firm Frost & Sullivan estimates that mobile gaming revenues will surpass US$7 billion by 2019. To get a piece of that market, game publishing companies are looking for more flexible solutions for working with development studios. For example, Singapore-based GoGame, which received investment from games stalwart Sega late last year, has adopted what it calls a “freemium” games publishing model that lets developers tailor the support they receive from the publisher.