Moon Beast Productions has recently raised $4.5 million in seed funding to kick off an ambitious project. This funding round was spearheaded by 1AM Gaming, with notable contributions from 1UP Ventures, The Mini Fund, Overwolf, Versus Ventures, as well as several angel investors.
The studio plans to channel these funds into crafting an action RPG that boldly challenges traditional design norms. Moon Beast came onto the scene in March 2022, founded by two seasoned veterans from the Diablo 2 team, Peter Hu and Phil Shenk. Adding substantial clout to the project, Diablo 2 co-creator Erich Schaefer joined the team a year later as the chief creative officer.
“In this tough funding climate, having investors who grasp our vision is something we’re truly grateful for,” shared Peter Hu, president and co-founder of Moon Beast.
“Our strategy revolves around working smarter, not merely harder,” he explained. “We’re building adaptable, data-driven systems that allow us to iterate quickly and produce more with fewer resources.”
Phil Shenk chimed in, saying, “We’ve never been ones to just go with the flow. Across our careers, we’ve aimed to reshape genres. We were there at the inception, helping forge the ARPG path with Diablo and Diablo 2. Since then, whether it’s Hellgate: London, Torchlight, or Marvel Heroes Online, we’ve always strived to broaden the horizons of what players anticipate from the genre.”
