Internet group Tencent has led a $25m funding round for UK-based 3D game producer Lockwood Publishing that included Novator Partners and private investors David Helgason and Hilmar Pétursson, VentureBeat reported on Wednesday.
Founded in 2009, Lockwood is a game developer focused on virtual life-simulations that offer open-ended play based on emulating everyday activities.
The company’s most popular title, Avakin Life, is a mobile social simulator with about 200 million registered users who can build personalised avatars, accessorised with digital apparel from brands such as Nike and Timberland that is bought through the app.
Avakin Life was launched in 2013 and is available on iOS and Android, but Lockwood had initially concentrated on developing games for PlayStation Home, the 3D social gaming platform Sony launched in 2008 for its PlayStation 3 console.
Lockwood employs more than 200 people across four offices in the UK, Lithuania and Portugal. The funding will sustain it as it considers potential expansions to Avakin Life ,such as enabling user-generated content and interconnected social environments.
The latest funding comes after Lockwood closed a round of undisclosed size in August 2019 that featured Novator Partners, Pétursson and Helgason. It does not appear to have previously disclosed funding.