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Red 5 Studios Grows
Red 5 Studios, an independent online game
development studio made up of key talent behind
Blizzard Entertainment's hit World of Warcraft,
announced today it has raised additional capital to
further its growth toward becoming the leading
studio for creative, original MMO games for the
global mass market. Benchmark Capital and Sierra
Ventures co-led the Series-A round raising $18.5
million in funding.
"Red 5 is a creative mecca for the world's best game
development talent to realize their own vision,"
said Mark Kern, president and CEO of Red 5 Studios.
"With the financial backing and operational advice
of Benchmark and Sierra, our uniquely talented team
will have the resources to create the most exciting
massively multiplayer titles for a worldwide
audience."
Benchmark Capital has invested in dozens of
successful consumer-technology companies, including
Second Life, mobile entertainment leader JAMDAT, and
eBay. Sierra focuses on investments across all areas
of the information technology sector, and works with
entrepreneurs and management teams to originate and
build new companies into large, profitable
businesses.
"Historically, the winners in the gaming space have
been publishers rather than independent studios.
However, World of Warcraft is no ordinary game title
and Red 5 is no ordinary team," said Bill Gurley,
general partner, Benchmark Capital. "With the track
record, talent and vision behind Red 5, it is
positioned to become a unique creative powerhouse in
the online games space."
"Sierra invests in world-changing ideas, and we
believe that MMOs are poised to become a dominant
form of entertainment on a global scale. Red 5
Studios' mission is aligned perfectly with our goals
of building the premiere independent development
studio in the online gaming market," said Jeff
Loomans, partner, Sierra Ventures. "Future MMOs need
to combine great gameplay and social networking -
giving players the ability to reach beyond borders
both virtually and globally, and Red 5 Studios is
designing the company and its games around this
premise from the beginning."
Red 5 Studios' first title is already under
development; a massively multiplayer online (MMO)
game financed and distributed globally by Webzen.
About Red 5 Studios
Founded in September 2005 by key members behind
Blizzard Entertainment's World of WarCraft,
including Team Lead Mark Kern, Art Director William
Petras, and co-founder of Blizzard Korea Taewon Yun,
Red 5 Studios is dedicated to bringing together
millions of gamers across the world by creating
immersive worlds, intriguing stories and compelling
characters.
About Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital, a leading international venture
capital firm, was founded in 1995 to help talented
entrepreneurs with original ideas build successful
technology companies. Benchmark's general partners
take a team-oriented, labor-intensive approach to
venture investing to deliver a superior level of
service to the firm's portfolio companies.
Benchmark's portfolio includes high-profile
start-ups like Infinera, MySQL, OpenTable, Tellme,
Zillow, Yelp, and Linden Lab's Second Life, and
franchise companies such as eBay, Juniper Networks
and Red Hat. Managing more than $3.5 billion in
committed venture capital, Benchmark has offices in
Silicon Valley, Europe and Israel. For more
information on Benchmark Capital, visit its website
at www.benchmark.com.
About Sierra Ventures
Sierra Ventures, founded in 1982, is a privately
held venture capital firm focused on investments
across all areas of the Information Technology
sector from semiconductors to enterprise software.
Sierra Ventures has managed eight venture capital
partnerships and currently has more than $1 billion
of capital under management. Some of the firm's
investments include Combinet (acquired by Cisco),
StrataCom (acquired by Cisco), ConvergeNet (acquired
by Dell), Quinta (acquired by Seagate), Intuit
(INTU), OnLink (acquired by Siebel), Healtheon
(merged with WebMD), AmeriGroup (AGP), Micromuse
(MUSE), Active Software (acquired by WebMethods),
Centex (acquired by WorldCom), and Interact Commerce
(acquired by Sage).!
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