Stockholm-based virtual reality (VR) game developer and publisher Fast Travel Games announced on Tuesday that it has raised €3.7M in a round of funding led by Handelsbanken Fonder, with existing investors Industrifonden, Brightly Ventures, Creades, and Inbox Capital also participating.
The new investment will support Fast Travel Games’ development of new IP for VR platforms and its publishing initiatives. The studio is working on Mannequin, its first original IP in four years, its first-ever multiplayer game, and an unannounced title.
Fast Travel Games is a VR-exclusive games publisher and developer led by industry-leading veterans. The studio released several highly-rated VR titles, such as Apex Construct, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife, and more..
“The VR games market continues to grow at a steady pace, and with the introduction of the PSVR2 and the Quest 3 this year and the Apple Vision Pro around the corner, we’re confident this growth will continue,” says Oskar Burman, CEO and co-founder of Fast Travel Games.
“We now have twelve games on the market, and we’re just about to launch our most ambitious game yet – Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice. We also saw our revenues grow 70 per cent last year to 5M+ USD, and our strong growth continues this year. With this new investment, we’re in a solid position to capitalise on this new exciting gaming frontier,” adds Burman.
Potentials in the VR market
The gaming market’s global virtual reality (VR) is expected to grow from €7.47B billion in 2021 to €50.42B in 2028, at a CAGR of 31.4 per cent. Fortune Business Insights reports that this growth is driven by gamers’ rising adoption of advanced VR hardware and accessories.
One of the newest VR hardware and accessories was the Apple Vision Pro, announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2023. The device lets users switch between augmented reality (AR) and VR experiences with a simple dial turn.
The significant market potential also drives more start-up companies entering the market to create innovative software and content offerings. Technology developments in 5G, gaming content and cloud-based gaming are also the main drives for the growth.
“The VR space continues to see impressive growth, and Fast Travel Games is well positioned to lead that charge in the coming year and beyond,” says Christian Brunlid, investment manager at Handelsbanken Fonder.
“Their commitment to fantastic VR gaming experiences has already earned them impressive success and a strong reputation in their field. Handelsbanken Fonder is excited to help move them into the next phase of their journey as this rapidly evolving industry progresses,” adds Brunlid.
The latest partnership with Moonhood
On the publishing side, Fast Travel Games recently announced a partnership with MoonHood, a new studio from the creators of games like Lost in Random, to develop a dark and thrilling new adventure.
Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, MoonHood aims to “immerse players in strange worlds handcrafted in actual clay, cardboard, and what have you,” according to the studio’s website.
MoonHood has hired a team of sculptors and miniature painters to create physical objects for the game, which is currently unnamed. The sculptures will be 3D scanned and animated in Blender and other engines. The game is slated for release on consoles, PC, and VR headsets, but the exact platforms have yet to be announced.
In a partnership announcement video, MoonHood revealed that the studio works with a second unnamed partner. The studio’s website says the project is funded by “one of the biggest platforms.”
Fast Travel’s head of Publishing, Patrick Liu, says, “By partnering with the talented creatives at MoonHood, we can continue to work toward [our] goal by creating a surreal game not yet seen on any platform.”
“MoonHood’s team of veteran storytellers and artists have captured fantastical ideas from the imagination and brought them stunningly to life with real clay sculptures, making it a must-play game,” he adds.
The Fast Travel team plans to publish Project Demigod, one of VR’s first full-fledged superhero sandboxes, next year.
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