He also thinks there are interesting companies doing intelligent non-player characters and creating visually stunning landscapes. “The piece that is blowing up most right now is generative visual AI,” he said. ![]() But the core will be game studios, platforms, and game tech. And he said the fund will focus on game technology, like the underlying tech stack, game engines, procedural creation, generative AI, new forms of 3D creation, cloud gaming, AR and VR, and more. He said the investments will focus on game studios and game platforms (whether they are social networks or consumer platforms). While gaming is hitting a trough like every other game business now, Baier-Lentz believes that focusing on the fundamentals of making fun games is how it will recover. And we can talk about whether blockchain is used or not as a means of value distribution or engaging the community.” “If you come to me with a Web3 game, or blockchain game, which is certainly included in our investment scope, I will first and foremost evaluate it as a game. “Any value in gaming, at least for game studios, stems from creating long-lasting, sustainable, retaining and engaging experiences,” Baier-Lentz said. The things to comeīaier-Lentz said Lightspeed’s game investments will focus on game studios with good game design, experienced teams, talented game designers, a clear understanding of the audience and a smart thesis. ![]() Interestingly, gaming partner James Gwertzman said yesterday he was leaving A16z, a prominent venture fund that raised $600 million to invest in gaming. A previous gaming partner was Amy Wu, who went on to head gaming at FTX. Lightspeed’s other gaming partners include Paul Murphy, for game studios and platforms, and Shan Shan, for growth gaming. Participation in ultra-distance races, including the 251-kilometer long, self-sufficient “Marathon des Like a video game, Moritz is in constant search for the next challenge. Together with the founders, he scaled the firm to become the most active gaming VC and lead investor of 2020, 20.Īt Bitkraft, he led many of the funds’ marquee deals including Inworld AI, Theorycraft Games, Horizon Blockchain Games (his only blockchain gaming investment), Raid Base, Lightforge Games and Tripp, among others. During his tenure, he advised many of the world’s leading gaming and technology companies across PC, console, and mobile platforms such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Activision, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two on over $300 billion in transaction volume across over 40 M&A, IPO, VC, and other strategic transactions - including Dell’s $67 billion acquisition of EMC and IBM’s $34 billion purchase of Red Hat.įor the last three years, Lightspeed interacted with Moritz in his role as partner and management team member at Bitkraft Ventures, Quinn said. 1 ranking among 13 million players in 2003, and - approximately two decades before non-fungible tokens (NFTs) entered the mainstream - trading the digital swords and armors that he earned in-game to afford his tuition at Stanford Business School.īaier-Lentz went on to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs, where he built and co-led theįirm’s global gaming practice. ![]() Growing up in rural Germany, he has been a lifelong gamer and spent the majority of his teenage years competitively playing Blizzard’s Diablo II, culminating in a global No. Background Lightspeed’s gaming-related investments.īaier-Lentz’s has a unique background at the intersection of gaming and finance, Quinn said. “What stood out in our conversations with many of the exceptional founders he’s previously partnered with-and who have been leading the creation of popular games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Apex, Overwatch, Valorant, StarCraft II and Warcraft III - is their appreciation for Moritz’s expertise, network, and relentless support in his role as investor, board member, and friend,” Quinn said. Nicole Quinn, general partner at Lightspeed, said in a post she has known Baier-Lentz since 2014, and most recently, worked together on our joint investment in Methodical Games. ![]() Lightspeed partners like Jeremy Liew have been investing for more than 15 years of investing in gaming, from early commitments and successes with Kongregate and Playdom, to more recent partnerships with game studios and adjacent platform and technology companies including Epic Games, Tripledot Studios, and Stability AI. The company will help the startups it funds with marketing, talent acquisition and other tasks. This is a firm effort with a core team and extended support members.” “It’s clearly a vote of confidence for the attractiveness of the gaming industry,” Baier-Lentz said. The move underscores a greater interest in game investing at a time when gaming is outgrowing other categories of entertainment and it is making its mark on culture (as evidenced by Sunday’s launch of The Last of Us television show on HBO).
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