Welevel Secures $5.7 Million in Seed Funding Boost for Indie Game Development
By Independent studio Welevel has recently secured $5.7 million in a seed funding round. The German studio intends to utilize these funds for expanding its team and advancing AI tools designed to “enhance game development and provide dynamic, customized gameplay.”
According to the press release, these tools “innovate in world-building, NPC behavior, and quest creation, using advanced algorithms that tailor interactions to each player. This method enables adaptive storytelling, where player decisions influence the world in unforeseen ways, ensuring a truly dynamic experience.”
Investment firm Bitkraft, known for previously backing Sprocket Games and Lightforge Games (among other initiatives), led the majority of Welevel’s funding.
Welevel’s first game is a triple-A survival title. Founder and CEO Christian Heimerl believes that his prior AI skills from different companies have empowered him to explore “the potential it offers to enable small, dedicated teams to develop games. Over the past four years, our team has crafted tools and an AI platform that not only allows us to compete with triple-A studios, but also surpass them with a vibrant, living world.”
In addition to its unannounced game, the studio aims to diversify into “broad user-generated content and has ambitions to venture into other genres and settings.”
GenAI-ai-ai
The development of AI tools is upon us, and developers of all sizes are making efforts to get involved.
In the triple-A space, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and EA have utilized generative AI or created their own tools to assist in development. Ubisoft has its own Ghostwriter tool, while EA used genAI to aid in crafting the athlete likenesses for EA Sports College Football 25.
More recently, Microsoft introduced Muse, its latest AI model which it claimed would assist in “creating game visuals, controller actions, or both.” Xbox chief Phil Spencer emphasized its potential for aiding in game preservation and “effectively supporting human creators.”
Earlier this week, Xbox subsidiary Activision Blizzard was reportedly found using the technology to market non-existent Guitar Hero and Crash Bandicoot games to gauge if players would be interested in spin-offs from these franchises.
Outside the major players, smaller teams like Echo Chunk and Jam & Tea have implemented genAI to develop puzzle games and multiplayer RPGs. Like Welevel, both studios share the belief in the technology’s capability to reduce development workload and “transform games.”
About the Author
Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A native of Kansas City, MO, Justin Carter has contributed to a variety of platforms including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to writing for Game Developer, his articles can also be found at io9 on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him how much gum he’s chewed, as the answer may be more than he’s willing to disclose.