Helsinki-based developer Metacore has raised €25 million ($29.6 million) from Finnish behemoth Supercell.
The funding comes in the form of €15 million ($17.8 million) of investment and a €10 million ($11.8 million) credit line from Supercell. It will be used to grow its new game, Merge Mansion, and expand the team.
Metacore is perhaps best known as Everywear Games, an early adopter of games on the Apple Watch which has now pivoted and rebranded to focus on mobile games. It says that the name “Metacore” is due to the developer’s focus on metagame over everything else.
Meta-focus
“Most companies will start with the core loop or gameplay mechanic. Our approach is to lead with the metagame – the core elements and experiences of a game that make a player jump back in over and over again,” said Metacore CEO and co-founder Mika Tammenkosk.
“This was a key factor in how we designed Merge Mansion, and will continue to define our approach to game development.”
“These metrics are very impressive, the kind we see when we have a hit game on our hands,” added Supercell developer relations lead Jaakko Harlas, referring to Merge Mansion’s 24 per cent day-30 retention rate.
“We’ve supported Metacore since the beginning, and see a resemblance to the early days of Supercell. Metacore’s teams have complete independence in their production, and Merge Mansion’s strong metrics are testament to the great potential of the development strategy that they have chosen. We’re very excited to see them launch their first game.”
Supercell has indeed supported Metacore before its big rebrand, investing $5.6 million back in November 2018, the same time as the developer appeared to be moving away from smartwatch gaming. Its watch-based RPG Runeblade racked up a 25 per cent day-30 retention rate at its peak in 2015.
