MY.GAMES Venture Capital (MGVC), the investment arm of international video games brand MY.GAMES, has announced a new partnership agreement with US-based studio Hypemasters. Under the new partnership, MGVC will provide marketing, HR, operations, and financial support to Hypemasters to drive the development of current and future titles.
Hypemasters has been developing mobile games in various genres. In 2019, the studio released its first project Hype City-Idle Tycoon, which was positively received by the audience and got high scores (4.6 in Google Play and 4.7 in the App Store). The company is currently actively working on expanding its portfolio: two new projects are under development for mobile devices - Town Rivals (the game is already available for open beta testing) and an unannounced RTS (real-time strategy) game.
“When we were looking for an investor partner for the studio, it wasn’t just about the finances. We wanted a partner with a proven games investment track record, who could help us achieve our goals,” said Boris Kalmykov, Hypemasters co-founder. “This is what we found in MGVC,” added Sergei Petrov, co-founder. “Their team has strong marketing expertise, which is very important to our growth plans, as well as many years of experience publishing games internationally.”
Before founding Hypemasters, Boris Kalmykov used to work in sales at Facebook and Unity, while Sergei Petrov was a co-founder of Last Level, the studio behind Modern Strike Online and World War Heroes. Hypemasters HQ is in the US, while the studio has offices in London and St. Petersburg. Other talent at the studio includes developers from major international studios, including Playrix, Wargaming, Nekki, and Creative Mobile.
“We are primarily interested in investing in people and talent, not just the end product,” said Ilya Karpinsky, head of MGVC and CSO at MY.GAMES. “We help studios grow by removing pressure points, whether that’s investment or marketing support or helping with the everyday operations of running a studio. MGVC has multiple cases in its portfolio when a team would contact us with nothing but an idea, and less than a year later that idea would become a hit game. We believe that with our help, as well as access to the larger MY.GAMES ecosystem, Hypemasters can shoot for the stars with Hype City and their new projects.”
Over the past three years, MGVC has evaluated more than 1,000 partnership applications and closed 30 deals, including consolidations for major studios like BIT.GAMES, SWAG MASHA, Panzerdog, BeIngame, and others.
Through the support of MGVC, these studios have seen significant boosts in revenue and became leading revenue-generating titles for MY.GAMES. Since Q3 2019, SWAG MASHA increased its revenue 1.7-fold, with Love Sick: Interactive Stories becoming a top-5 mobile title for MY.GAMES as of Q2 2020. BeIngame’s Zero City was also a top-5 mobile title in Q2 2020. Tacticool (Panzerdog) and Guild of Heroes (BIT.GAMES) are also among the most significant titles for MY.GAMES. In September 2020, MY.GAMES’ investment arm MRGV rebranded to become MY.GAMES Venture Capital (MGVC) as part of the company’s strategy on forming a single global brand. Hypemasters also has the financial backing of Aii Corporation, a Finnish investment fund.
