Seattle startup AccelByte raises $10M to help developers build multiplayer online games

(AccelByte image)

Seattle-based startup AccelByte has raised $ 10 million.

AccelByte was founded in 2016 and is a provider of backend tools for “live service” video games. Its platform offers a developer a pre-built set of tools to manage the requirements behind the scenes of a multiplayer online game.

The Series A round was led by New York VC firm Galaxy Interactive, with additional funding from Hangzhou-based NetEase, which publishes many mobile games for the Chinese market; the South Korean company KRAFTON, publisher / developer of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds; and Dreamhaven, founded in Irvine, California late last year by outgoing Blizzard CEO / co-founder Mike Morhaime.

AccelByte’s current development partners include Deep Silver Volition, Bandai Namco, Gearbox, Remedy, Versus Evil and Seattle’s Stray Bombay, who plan to launch their debut title The Anacrusis this year.

“AccelByte is focused on helping studios by providing a proven, efficient, and accessible online backend tech platform and tools at scale so developers can do what they do best: make great games,” Junaili said Lie, CEO of AccelByte and co-founder of the company said in a statement. Lie was previously Director of Online Technology at Epic Games; technical director for online games at LucasArts; and Senior Technical Architect at Electronic Arts.

AccelByte’s entire suite of tools is intended to provide game developers planning to run Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) with the necessary programs and a scalable architecture – versions that make their money with in-app purchases or earn subscription fees and not with a one-time upfront purchase price.

Useful examples of GaaS include Riots League of Legends, Psyonix’s Rocket League, and Valve Software’s Dota 2, all three of which are among the consistently most profitable success stories in modern industry. A “live service” game is typically intended to run for years, if not indefinitely, with consistent updates that add more content and options.

The main focus of AccelByte is to give a company the ability to use their platform for behind-the-scenes work, which in theory gives developers the opportunity to work on different facets of the actual game.

It’s not an uncommon pitch in game development – an entire company exists to sell time-consuming game developers enough realistic virtual trees, let alone a usable plug-and-play backend – but more and more studios want to break off their own piece, GaaS, there is one natural argument for leaving much of a game’s multiplayer math to another company.

AccelByte intends to use the Series A money to “expand its strategic partnerships,” according to a press release released prior to the announcement. It was reportedly profitable before, but the additional funding will allow it to accelerate its existing business plan.