Gazillion Entertainment, a developer of massively multiplayer online games formerly known as NR2B Research backed by publisher Hearst, has gained $60m in its latest round.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek led the round and the company said its other investors included Hearst, venture capital (VC) firms Oak Investments, Revolution Ventures (where Gazillion’s chief executive and founder, Robert Hutter, is still a partner), Pelion Venture Partners (renamed after the merger of Utah Ventures and Novell Ventures), and the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi Media Company formed in 2007 out of the assets of Emirates Media.
The latest round came as Gazillion has developed products for two of the largest character companies, Lego and Marvel.
Last month, Gazillion’s NetDevil studio released Lego Universe, and in the first quarter of next year, Gazillion said it would launch Super Hero Squad Online, the first game to be published under the company’s 10-year exclusive worldwide license agreement with Marvel Entertainment.
Gazillion had previously raised $25m in October 2008, according to a regulatory filing that said Hearst’s Scott English was a director, while news reports said its previous investors also included media investment bank Allen & Company and early stage VC Founder’s Fund.