Griffin Gaming Partners launches $100M fund to help indie devs

Venture capital agency Griffin Gaming Partners has launched a brand new $100 million fund to finance “world-class indie games.” 

The Special Opportunities Fund will present financing in change for a share of a title’s income. Griffin stated it’s eschewing equity-based investments to “offer a better way of getting capital into the hands of indie studios.” 

“In recent years, the success of indie developers in achieving breakout hits with comparatively modest budgets has made clear both the need for and the opportunity in fair funding solutions for small studios,” reads a press release.

“By combining industry-leading expertise and $100 million in funding, the Special Opportunities Fund aims to make substantial changes in the opportunities available to developers.”

Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender will function managing director of the fund, which has already invested in 15 titles—together with 9 introduced tasks corresponding to Darkwood 2, Hellforged, Vaunted, and Menace.

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That roster of financed tasks included quite a few self-published titles and others which have already signed with a writer. Several are being printed by Hooded Horse.

Griffin managing director and co-founder Nick Tuosto stated unbiased video video games symbolize “one of the fastest growing segments of the interactive entertainment market” and defined it is vital that builders have entry to a “flexible, transparent financing solution.”

“We’re excited to support their ambitions through the dedicated Special Opportunities Fund,” added Tuosto. “Griffin has been honing its strategy since its formation, and we are proud to bring this new initiative to market with an investment team we believe is uniquely positioned to help exceptional developers realize their full potential.”

Game Developer has reached out to Griffin for extra data on its contract phrases.

Hooded Horse boss Tim Bender beforehand claimed that publishers ought to ditch “fundamentally stupid” recoup clauses to raised help their improvement companions. 

“If we went by what I thought was fair, it would eliminate too many good publishers. Because I believe, fundamentally, that one horrible thing that exists within the industry is the use of recoup terms in contracts between publishers and developers,” he advised Game Developer in 2024. “These are just any term that allows the publisher to recover the vast majority, or all, of the sales before the developer gets anything.”