Bitmagic has raised $4 million to advance its plan to use generative AI to enable consumers to build 3D games based on text prompts.
The Helsinki, Finland company also announced the immediate public availability of the Bitmagic platform on Steam Playtest. This milestone underscores Bitmagic’s mission to democratize game development through its innovative text-to-game platform, enabling anyone to create fully playable multiplayer games within seconds simply by typing their desired game scenario.
Korea Investment Partners (KIP), the biggest venture capital investor in South Korea, led the round. Other participants in the funding included Supercell, Sisu Game Ventures, and a group of notable angel investors, including Zak Phelps, former senior director of product design on Fortnite Creative, and Maarten De Koning, partner at DDM (Digital Development Management).
“We are thrilled to have the support of such esteemed investors and the expertise of industry leaders like Zak Phelps and Maarten De Koning,” said Jani Penttinen, CEO of Bitmagic, in a statement. “This investment will propel our efforts to make game creation accessible to everyone, unleashing a new wave of creativity in the gaming industry.
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Phelps is joining Bitmagic as an adviser while Koning is joining the board.
Michael Lee, executive director at Korea Investment Partners, said in a statement, “We are incredibly excited to support Bitmagic. Their innovative approach and advanced use of generative AI techniques position them as a true game changer in the industry. After evaluating competitors globally, we found Bitmagic to be significantly ahead of the curve, and we believe they have the potential to redefine the future of game development and user-generated content creation.
Bitmagic’s platform leverages generative AI to transform textual descriptions into fully interactive, multiplayer 3D games. This technology eliminates the traditional barriers to game development, empowering users of all skill levels to bring their game ideas to life with unprecedented ease.
In conjunction with the funding announcement, Bitmagic revealed that its platform is now publicly available for free via Steam Playtest. This launch invites gamers and developers alike to explore and create with Bitmagic’s revolutionary technology.
“We believe that by providing free access to our platform, we can inspire a diverse community of creators and showcase the limitless potential of generative AI in game development. This is an early version and we are still just scratching the surface of what will eventually be possible, but already now you can use Bitmagic to create games only professional game developers could have developed,” said Penttinen.
Penttinen and Chairman Samuli Syvähuoko are among the original “founders” of the game industry of Finland in the early 90s. COO Markus Kiukkonen, former head of EA Finland, brings significant operational and scaling expertise to the team; Markus Hjort, Tech Lead, has over two decades of expertise specializing in building super-scalable software platforms; and Jouni Mannonen, AI Specialist, co-founded Hybrid Graphics, known today as Helsinki office of Nvidia, the market leader in advanced processing solutions for computer graphics and AI.
In an email to GamesBeat, Penttinen said the company has 10 people now with three new openings for highly skilled coders. He said the firm should be 15 people in the fall and will stay at that for a while.
“My current thinking is that we will allow you to create anything you want, but we will control what you can share with others,” Penttinen said. “The games created with Bitmagic cannot be exported out of the system, they can only be played through our cloud-based service, so we have full control of distribution. If you want to create a game about your favorite movie, for your enjoyment, you should be able to do that.”
He added, “We will run an AI-based IP detection through your game assets when you want to share it, and we’ll prevent sharing it if it contains unlicensed content. You will have an option to replace the infringing content with something original instead. And then, over time, we’ll work with IP owners to set up licensing deals that will allow you to share licensed content in a manner that ensures the IP owner gets compensated.”
And he said, “I think if you look a couple of years down the road, you’ll see that IP owners will want fans to easily create “fan fiction,” like new games based on their IP, if it opens up new revenue streams. Disney is paving the way with the deal they made with Epic, and it’s only the beginning.”
