MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Portuguese developer Doppio has secured €1 million in seed funding with investments from notable investors such as Amazon Alexa Fund and Google Assistant Investment Program. Specialising in “conversational” games that use voice controls as a gameplay mechanic, the studio hopes the seed funding will enable it “to develop future titles, expand its team and continue to support its initial title, The Vortex”, a sci-fi narrative adventure which is out now for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
The funding round also included investments from “leading gaming and tech investors” Andy Chung and Philipp Moehring from AngelList and BreakawayGrowth Fund, plus Portuguese investors Portugal Ventures, Busy Angels, and Sisu Game Ventures. Six leading gaming angel investors have also provided funding, with Lasse Seppänen (Supercell), Alexis Bonte (Stillfront & Atomico) and David Helgason (Unity) “putting their support behind Doppio and the rapidly growing demand for voice-enabled devices”.
“This investment is a vote of confidence in the huge potential of conversational gaming. There are already millions of voice-enabled devices out there, but few games have taken advantage of the unique opportunities created by voice technology,” said Jeferson Valadares, CEO of Doppio Games. “At Doppio, we take a different approach. By bringing together fantastic writers, creating compelling worlds and building a conversational gaming environment with the support of AI, we believe that we can create captivating, popular gaming experiences that simply can’t be achieved elsewhere.
“We’re delighted to have received widespread support for our vision and look forward to working hard to achieve it in the coming year.”
“Gaming has emerged as one of the most exciting use cases for voice technology, and Doppio was among the first to recognize its potential. They’ve built a compelling game that takes advantage of the unique properties of the medium, and which customers love,” added Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund. “Doppio adopted tools like the Alexa Presentation Language to build an immersive, interactive gaming experience; incorporated in-skill purchasing to deepen engagement and generate revenue; and was an early beta participant for Skill Flow Builder, which enables game developers to build interactive game skills faster.
“Doppio is well positioned to capitalize on the continued growth of voice-first gaming, and we’re thrilled to support them as they scale their business and deliver new experiences for customers.”
