“Exxel’s investment in Destineer is part of a trend that is changing how videogames get made,” according to Peter Tamte, Destineer’s founder and president. “Recently, we saw many big publishers shift their development funding to low-risk sequels and me-too knockoffs. Now, we’re seeing private equity firms step in to provide creative companies with funding to build truly innovative games.”

Paul Rinde, Destineer’s CEO, adds, “The venture capitalists of the videogame industry have traditionally been the large publishers, because they’re the ones who have funded most game development until now. But, this new trend of private-equity firms investing in the games industry gives creative companies like Destineer much more flexibility to make games the established publishers are less likely to create.”

Exxel’s investment is the second equity investment Destineer has secured outside the games industry during the past year. In mid-2005, Destineer also secured an investment from In-Q-Tel, a private venture capital firm funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.