GameGround Announces Funding, Public Beta For New Achievement App

GameGround announced today it has secured $5.3 million in Series B financing from a variety of venture capital partners to fund its newly launched cross-platform online achievement and game recommendation app. The New York-based company, founded by former executives from Blizzard, MTV Networks and 888.com, said it will use the investment to build new features into its GameGround service and associated app. That app, which is now available for free download on the official GameGround web site, provides new missions, rewards and high score incentives for players of Facebook and PC games, with support for Xbox 360 titles coming soon, according to the company. “Gamers want one-click access to their favorite games across platforms, as well as easy ways to find new challenges, leaderboards, and rewards," said GameGround chairman and former Blizzard vice president Itzik Ben-Bassat. The new round of funding for the company comes over a year after Sequoia Capital provided $4.1 million to help get the company off the ground. Sequoia Capital joined with Softbank Capital, Vodafone Ventures and Novel TMT Ventures to provide the new funding. "Softbank has made significant investments in gaming, and we believe that GameGround brings a new level of engagement and interaction to gamers across genres," said Softbank Managing Director and new GameGround Board of Directors member Ron Fisher. "We're thrilled to be part of executing GameGround's vision." Softbank recently joined with Zynga to create a mobile gaming venture in Japan and has invested heavily in social game maker RockYou.