Mobile F2P developer Flaregames receives $7.9M in funding

Free-to-play mobile games studio Flaregames, set up by Gameforge founder Klaas Kersting, has raised 6 million euros ($7.9 million) in a round of funding, with the aim to launch five games by the end of the second fiscal quarter. Kersting founded Flaregames last year with former Ubisoft Blue Byte lead designer Andreas Suika, stating that the company would focus on mobile 'augmented reality'-centric games before switching to free-to-play mobile games. He had previously said during his time at Gameforge that free-to-play games will dominate the games industry, and is continuing this ethos at Flaregames. This new round of funding was led by Accel Partners, and will allow the 30-strong company to build up its upcoming releases. Kersting noted in the official announcement: "Our first focus is on getting fun, high-quality games to market, and reaching the mass-market as well as mid-core gamers with our line-up this year." "Our investors see the opportunity for mobile game companies to grow fast and the team's extensive knowledge of the free-to-play gaming market is an asset that will enable us to create new mobile games that are both fun and commercially successful."