Gaming industry veteran Chris Heatherly has successfully raised $3 million in funding for his new venture, a casual party game studio called Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.
Shima Capital led the funding round with participation from Sfermion, GSR Markets, Arca, Lyrik Ventures, Flying Falcon, Press Start Capital, and 32-Bit Ventures. The studio’s newest game is titled The Mystery Society, which has also received backing from grants provided by Polygon Labs and will utilize the Polygon blockchain.
In an interview with VentureBeat, Heatherly, who previously led NBCUniversal’s gaming division and served as the general manager of Club Penguin during Disney’s internal game development era, described The Mystery Society as a social deduction party game like Among Us meets Clue.
Since NBCUniversal closed its game publishing business in 2019, Heatherly has been exploring game startups and Web3 games. He took charge of Funko Pop! Blitz, commissioned by NBCUniversal, and oversaw the game’s launch with N3twork.
Merging Web3 with the party game genre
Heatherly stated, “The dynamics of the party game genre are perfect for introducing millions of potential players to web3 through a combination of really fun, accessible social gameplay combined with the vibrant collecting and trading that web3 enables.” The Mystery Society is currently undergoing a beta test, with Heatherly aiming to attract Web3 enthusiasts to the game. The main goal is to broaden the reach of Web3 to casual audiences and facilitate its adoption among more mainstream players.
Heatherly, the former general manager of the pioneering virtual world Club Penguin, has been joined by former Club Penguin coworkers leveraging their collective expertise in live social games. Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow has also partnered with Beamable for development, integrating Web3 functions like custodial wallets and minting capabilities into their live-operated games platform.
Players can visit the official website to access The Mystery Society beta. Participants in the beta will receive a limited edition NFT that will enable them to unlock exclusive rewards in upcoming in-game events. The game will initially launch in browsers on Mac and PC, with plans to expand to iOS and Android devices.
