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Mobile game developer Made on Earth Games has raised $3.25 million in seed funding to launch the 4X strategy game, Everbright.
Currently in closed beta, Everbright aims to revolutionize the 4X strategy genre by offering accessibility and engagement to a diverse audience.
The firm said Everbright stands out with its fresh take on the 4X strategy genre, providing an intuitive user interface, a compelling storyline, and a unique art style. The game offers strategically detailed battles set in a well-developed world. Notably, Everbright promotes diversity and acceptance through its unique approach to characters, targeting a broad audience where every player feels valued and represented.
Gem Capital led the round, with participation from The Games Fund, Raga Partners, and Heracles Capital.
The founders of Made on Earth Games, Yuriy Krasilnikov and Alexey Ilin, bring a wealth of experience to the table. Krasilnikov, former vice president of Belka Games, played a pivotal role in the company’s growth and brand development, as well as establishing key partnerships with industry giants such as Apple, Google, and Amazon. Ilin has a successful track record in game development, having launched critically acclaimed titles recognized as products of the year by Apple and Google.
Headquartered in Camden, Delaware, Made on Earth Games operates with development offices in Paphos, Cyprus, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The multinational team comprises professionals with extensive experience in renowned companies such as Belka Games, Riot Games, Glu Mobile, Playrix, Plarium, and Scopely. Their collective involvement in notable projects like Wild Rift, Vikings, American Dad, and Last Day on Earth ensures a high level of expertise and creativity, the firm said.
“Everbright aims to make the 4X strategy genre accessible and understandable to a broader audience,” said Krasilnikov, CEO of Made on Earth Games, in a statement. “We believe that the 4X genre has inherent appeal but can be challenging to grasp. With our ‘Layered Cake’ design principles, we aim to create gameplay that is both accessible and deep, catering to different levels of player engagement.”
Sebastian Schigel, former CMO and co-founder of Huuuge Games, serves as an advisor, guiding the marketing strategies of the Made on Earth Games team.
“Yuriy Krasilnikov and Alexey Ilin are experienced veterans in the gaming industry, with a strong track record at Belka Games that attracted over one million daily players,” said Kirill Gurskiy, Gem Capital’s managing director, said in a statement. “For Everbright, their approach is to focus on building a strong intellectual property that extends far beyond games. They also aim to modernize the 4X genre for both hardcore and mid-core mobile audiences. Gem believes in their expertise and vision and sees strong potential in shaking up the multi-billion 4X market.”
As Made on Earth Games prepares for the launch of Everbright, gaming enthusiasts can anticipate a game that pushes the boundaries of the 4X strategy genre while ensuring accessibility and engagement for a wide range of players, the company said.
Origins
Krasilnikov was born in Uzbekistan in Tashkent and grew up there. He worked in telecommunications and then started making mobile games a decade ago. His company was the lone one based in Tashkent that made games. For years, he worked for Belka Games and it grew from around 50 people to 450 in six offices.
Then, after 4.5 years of building games, he and Ilin made their way to Cyprus and decided to focus on making their own 4X strategy games, which reach a broad audience on mobile devices. They’re targeting the mid-core market, where hardcore players play for short times on mobile devices.
“We are fans of this genre,” Krasilnikov said. “We found our mission of making the 4X strategy genre accessible and understandable to broader audiences on mobile devices.”
They started their company and in 2022 they raised a pre-seed round from The Games Fund. The team has people from nine countries. The game is in open beta in some countries, and it will go into soft launch soon. They’re expanding their team. Now they have 16 people. About half are women.
Ilin said he has always been a fan of strategy games like Blizzard’s Warcraft games. He worked on numerous games with bigger companies it the greater Russian region.
“I really wanted to create teams and my passion is about strategy games,” he said.
They company is focusing on creating good characters and its own original intellectual property with a unique art style. The company is integrating AI into its art style, and it hopes it will make the company more efficient and more creative.
Krasilnikov said, “We have people around the world and we are not limiting our team to Cyprus.We want the team to be as diverse as possible.”
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