Wolf Games, an Alhambra-based game developer, secured $9 million in series A funding and in conjunction announced that it has formed a partnership with NBCUniversal to create games with a cinematic edge.
Main Street Advisors, the Santa Monica investment firm whose clients include Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and former California governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, led the funding round. Other high-profile entertainment executives included in this round were Jimmy Iovine and Maverick Carter, who is also James’ business partner and manager. Another key investor was Dick Wolf, creator of the “Law & Order” franchise that has aired on NBC since 1990.
The game developer was co-founded by Elliot Wolf, son of the Law & Order creator, who serves as chief creative officer. Elliot also co-created the police drama “On Call,” which streams on Amazon Prime Video. Elliot said that his background with the procedural cop show structure would be a starting point to develop a more expansive platform for Wolf Games.
“We start with the crime genre because that’s what I know best as a creative,” he said. “But the tools we use allow us to build stories in any genre. We see a huge opportunity in romance and action and adventure.”
He also noted that Wolf Games would release games with its original intellectual property, as well as games developed with NBCUniversal.
Lindsay Vogelman, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and partner marketing at NBCUniversal, said Wolf Games’ technology would help the media company experiment with storytelling formats.
“Wolf Games is combining human creativity with cutting-edge AI technology to create unique gaming experiences,” Vogelman said in a statement. “We look forward to exploring how this technology can be used to build out experiences for fans of our beloved IP.”
The company’s debut title will be “Clue Hunter,” a noir crime game that will be set in the larger yet released game “Public Eye.” In Clue Hunter, gamers take on the roles of an investigator solving murder mysteries in a dystopian setting. Gamers will gather clues and interview suspects, utilizing the game’s AI assistant to gather hints to solve crimes. The games’ play will be freshened daily with new storylines.
Wolf Games also uses its proprietary artificial intelligence to develop games which do not employ the likenesses or voices of human actors, according to a company statement. Players can customize characters and storylines through text prompts in the game engine, Wolf said.
Proceeds from the recent series A round of funding will go toward investment in technology and hiring more staff and programmers, said Andrew Adashek, a co-founder and chief executive officer. He anticipates that the company will at least double its staff headcount in the near future.
“These are net new jobs,” Adashek said. “It will help us leverage the positions we have now.”
Co-founder Noah Rosenberg will serve as the company’s chief technology officer.
The company operates on a revenue model called “freemium with in-app purchases.” Gamers will be able to download games for free. But if they want to purchase premium items or extra content, they’ll have to purchase items through the game – a payment process that’s generally known as “microtransactions” in the gaming world.
This model encourages a wide audience to try the app, Wolf said.
“We really want this to be a daily experience that people lean into,” he said.