US-based game developer Trion Worlds closed an $85m series D round on Thursday from investors including Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), the corporate venturing fund belonging to media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The round was led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’).
The news follows an announcement made in October by Trion Worlds chief executive Lars Buttler stating that Trion was planning a flotation at some point in the future. Trion Worlds has now raised $192m in four rounds since it was founded in 2006.
The last major funding raised by Trion was a $70m series C round, in 2008, which saw BDMI investing alongside corporate venturing units Time Warner Investments and Peacock Equity, and venture capital firms Doll Capital Management, Rustic Canyon Partners and Trinity Ventures.
Trion released its first game, a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) called Rift, in March, and pulled in more than $100m in revenue from its North American and European markets last year.
Trion is now looking to expand and has two games on the horizon for release: a multiplayer real-time strategy game called End of Nations, and Defiance, a multiplayer online shoot-em-up that will be tied-in with a television series, the first simultaneous release of its kind.
Additionally, Trion recently announced its intention to launch an online platform, currently going under the codename of Red Door, that will host games produced by third party developers, based on its own technology.
Lars Buttler said: "We are thrilled about entering this exciting period of growth and scale with our investors. Backing from a stalwart long-term investor such as Teachers’, which has the experience and structure to support our vision, and the expanded relationship with our current stakeholder and great supporter, BDMI, is a massive endorsement for Trion."