Moon Beast Productions raises $4.5m to ‘revolutionise’ action RPGs

Independent game studio Moon Beast Productions has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. 

The studio will use the funds to expand its team and accelerate the development of its innovative action role-playing game (ARPG). 

Moon Beast said it wants to offer a fresh take on action RPGs by reimagining the genre’s evolution since Diablo II by breaking away from conventional designs. 

Its upcoming game will leverage advanced procedural generation and dynamic world technologies to create an open-ended experience for players. The studio plans to unveil more details about the project in early 2025.

Moon Beast was founded by industry veterans Phil Shenk, Peter Hu, and Erich Schaefer. The investment round is led by 1AM Gaming and supported by 1UP Ventures, The Mini Fund, Overwolf, Versus Ventures, and notable angel investors such as Gaingels, Cohh Carnage, and Mark Pincus.

A new direction 

“In today’s challenging funding environment, we’re incredibly fortunate to have investors who understand our vision,” said Moon Beast president and co-founder Peter Hu. “Our approach has always been about working smarter, not just harder. We’re building reusable, data-driven systems that allow us to iterate rapidly and create more with less.”

Moon Beast CEO and co-founder Phil Shenk added: “We’ve never been content to follow the crowd. Throughout our careers, we’ve always pushed to redefine genres. We were there at the start, helping to invent ARPGs with Diablo and Diablo II. In the years following, from Hellgate: London to Torchlight, and Marvel Heroes Online, we’ve consistently sought to expand what players expect from the genre.”

Co-founder and chief creative officer Erich Schaefer commented: “For the past 20 years, we’ve dreamed of ARPG gameplay in more open, dynamic worlds. We finally have the technological capabilities and decades of design experience to bring those visions to life. We’re going back to what made those early Diablo games feel so awesome but taking them in some cool, fresh directions.”