Once a sector reserved for those playing quietly at home, the video game sector is now larger than the music and film industries combined! In fact, according to Equity.org, the UK games sector is the largest in Europe, currently valued at over £7 billion.
From console games to e-sports and VR, VC firms are increasingly seeing gaming as not just a fun activity, but as a valuable investment.
Why Is Gaming Attractive To European VCs?
Aside from its increasing popularity, gaming has become attractive to European VCs for a number of reasons, including:
Europe’s gaming houses: Europe is home to some impressive gaming houses, both from a talent and revenue perspective. Some examples include Embracer Group (Sweden), Ubisoft (France), CD Projekt Red (Poland), Keywords Studios (Ireland) and Gameloft SE (France). This makes it a great market for investment and development.
Strong tech talent: Europe has some of the best tech talent in the world, with developers of Minecraft, The Witcher and Assassin’s Creed all within its borders.
Lower costs than the US: Europe has relatively lower operating costs than markets like the US, meaning startups are able to grow and become profit-generating much faster. This makes them attractive to VCs who look to maximise their ROI.
Growing demand: After the US and some markets in Asia, European demand for gaming is growing. According to Statista, the number of gamers in Europe is expected to total 301.85m by 2030.
The expansion of gaming as a sector: Beyond just games, gaming has evolved to include a lot more subsectors, making it more versatile. These include e-sports, VR, AR, metaverse and Web3 amongst others.
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Which European VCs Invest in Gaming?
For gaming startups looking figure out who some of Europe’s top gaming VCs are, look no further…
London Venture Partners
LVP is a gaming-focused venture capital fund investing exclusively across the games ecosystem. They make investments in areas like interactive entertainment, studios, content, technology, platforms and services.
As gaming investors who look for great ideas at all stages: angel, pre-seed, seed and growth, they pride themselves on bringing in-depth industry knowledge to the companies they work with.
Fors VC
Fors VC, based in Belgium, is a venture capital fund focused on the gaming industry.
The company is looking to invest in exceptional teams building games, technology, and services. To date, fors have backed some big names in gaming, including HeroZone, aicanix and Deloryan.
Game Seer
Game Seer describe themselves as a ‘group of friends and investors united by our love for video games who created a fully boutique venture fund exclusively for indie PC & Consoles licenses’.
With 15 years in the industry, Game Seer co-invests with established publishers to give their partners the best chance possible.
Sisu Ventures
Sisu Game Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund focused 100% on games. Set up in Finland in 2014, the company set out to support the most promising founders in the industry. Sisu has deep roots in the Nordic region, but invests in global businesses.
Interestingly, Sisu likes to invest very early, preferably the first money in, pre-revenue and often, pre-product.
Play VC
Play VC invests early into the most promising game studios, consumer apps and related services startups from across the globe. Founded by successful gaming entrepreneurs, the company is involved in every stage, from recruitment, to design, fundraising and more.
Play VC has headquarters in both Helsinki and Singapore.
Behold Ventures
Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Behold Ventures is a venture capital fund focused on empowering the next generation of game entrepreneurs.
With a belief that video games truly are the medium of our century, Behold Ventures looks to back founders and teams that are changing the way that we play.
We Play Ventures
We Play Ventures is a Gaming VC investing in Europe, Central Asia and Türkiye. With strategic capital, vast network, and industry expertise, the company looks to back pre-seed stage gaming studios building the next big thing.
Through their acceleration programme, We Play Ventures have helped grow gaming companies all over the world.
