Red Rover Interactive, a brand-new studio founded by industry veterans from Funcom, Lockwood, and Bohemia, has announced its ambitious plans to revolutionize the survival genre and create captivating multiplayer experiences.
The studio, with bases in Oslo, Norway, and Newcastle, England, is backed by a wealth of experience. Its founders have worked on renowned series such as Conan Exiles, Dune Awakening, DayZ, Avakin Life, Crysis 2, Ryse, and Ghost Recon, among others.
Red Rover Interactive’s mission is to leverage its collective experience with successful multiplayer-focused IP to take the survival genre in a new direction, with a focus on player agency and drama. The long-term goal, in the developer’s own words, is to “create the most novel and engaging multiplayer experiences on the market.”
Fred Richardson, CEO of Red Rover Interactive, believes in the power of multiplayer interactions. He states:
This is something most persistent online games don’t leverage, often being built as single-player experiences that support many players. We plan to lean into this, starting with the survival genre which we are intimately familiar with, taking it in a genuinely new direction.
The leadership team at Red Rover Interactive includes:
- CEO Fred Richardson (Funcom, Ubisoft Reflections)
- COO Joe Stevens (Lockwood Publishing, Ubisoft Reflections)
- Design Director Marek Zilavy (Bohemia Interactive, Funcom)
- Technical Director Daniel Ratzer (Funcom)
- Art Director Sebastian Zimmermann (Nordeus, Jagex, Crytek)
The studio is committed to cultivating mid-sized, close-knit, co-located teams. The foundational team of 17 members, most of whom have collaborated previously, will leverage their significant shared experience. From a creative standpoint, the studio aims to produce titles designed for infinite engagement, perfectly suited to the age of content creation.
Red Rover Interactive has already secured significant seed investment from Behold Ventures and The Games Fund, as well as other participating investors such as Lifelike Capital, GEM capital, Acequia Capital, and a suite of angel investors, totaling just under $5 million. The studio is now looking to expand its team with developers ready to shape genre-defining projects in Oslo or Newcastle.
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