Just months after securing $30 million in a funding round last January, game developer Kabam—“the Zynga of hardcore social games,” according to Mashable—has just raised a staggering $85 million.
While Zynga caters to casual users with games like Farmville, Kabam focuses on more hardcore gamers—its top titles include Dragons of Atlantis, Kingdoms of Camelot, and Glory of Rome. CEO Kevin Chou told Mashable that 82% of Kabam’s audience actively plays PC or console games and that 70% of its demographic is male. Chou said that he doesn’t think of Zynga and Kabam as rivals, since they target very different types of players.
Google Ventures and Pinnacle Ventures co-led the funding round, and were joined by Performance Equity and SK Telecom Ventures, as well as Canaan Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Intel Capital, who were involved in the last round. Chou said that the money will primarily be used for accelerating Kabam’s growth in Asia—where hardcore gaming is especially popular, as are virtual goods (just ask any Chinese prisoner)—as well as increasing the number of games Kabam brings to the market, launching games in other hardcore gaming verticals, and building infrastructure.
