Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the introduction of the first-ever truly 3-dimensional persistent playground, highly innovative co-op gameplay and an extensive prop interaction system all while taking place in a massive and highly-stylized urban center.As a result of this investment, Patrick Chung, NEA Principal, and Harry Weller, NEA Partner, will join the Realtime World board of directors. Ian Hetherington, founder of Psygnosis and former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, will remain Chairman.
Realtime Worlds was founded by CEO and Creative Director David Jones, who created the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings games franchises. These two franchises have reached combined global sales exceeding 70 million units, generating over $2.5 billion. The Company expects its first title, Crackdown, to be released in 2007. Realtime Worlds has established an agreement with Microsoft Game Studios to publish Crackdown for Xbox 360. All Points Bulletin, a massively multiplayer online game, will be published for the PC and for Xbox 360 by Korean online games giant Webzen.
“Extraordinary things are on the horizon for us as a result of our partnership with NEA,” said Realtime Worlds founder and CEO David Jones. “We are developing a global centre of excellence for some of the world’s best games developers that is really quite breathtaking. Together with NEA, we will use this investment to build on the quality of Crackdown and All Points Bulletin and to build new gaming experiences for game consoles, such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and PC online as well.”
New Enterprise Associates invested in Realtime Worlds to support the leading independent studio in a market that continues to expand exponentially. “NEA has spent three decades seeking out and backing the world's most visionary entrepreneurs,” said Patrick Chung. “We are honoured to have the opportunity to work with David Jones and his team as they create revolutionary new games. We’re convinced that they will continue to attract, develop and retain extraordinary talent by offering the opportunity to work alongside some of the most inventive minds in electronic entertainment."
“NEA is a thought leader in the global investment community,” added Ian Hetherington, Chairman of Realtime Worlds. “The quality of this commitment is a reflection of the technological and creative ability that exists at Realtime Worlds. We look forward to the opportunities that this relationship will mean to our growth.”
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