The Mage’s Tale Developer Secures $4.5 Million Investment, Reveals Work on Open World Survival RPG

inXile Entertainment, the developer behind the recent launch of fantasy role-playing game (RPG) The Mage’s Tale has just announced a combined investment of $4.5 million USD for equity and project investment from gumi VR Inc.

The studio is currently developing The Bard’s Tale IV and Wasteland 3 – neither of which are for virtual reality (VR). However inXile Entertainment will use the investment towards its next VR title, an unannounced open world survival RPG which the developer plans to bring to all platforms.

The Mages Tale screenshot 2

“Gumi shares my passion for creating deeper virtual reality games and I’m fortunate to have a partner to work with in this spectacular new medium. We’ve had incredible feedback from our first game, The Mage’s Tale, and we want to continue to build on our experience and reputation. I’ve always been fascinated by the social dynamics of the open world survival genre and experiencing that in virtual reality will create powerful and terrifying moments. We’ll also be bringing our storytelling and RPG experience to the table to help enrich the genre,” said Brian Fargo, CEO, inXile Entertainment in a statement.

In addition to the investment, gumi Inc. CEO Hironao Kunimitsu also joins inXile Entertainment’s board.

“Brian is a legend in the games industry, and inXile Entertainment has a track record for creating ground-breaking PC and console games that feel AAA in scope and size using their creativity, ingenuity, and ambition. Over the past year, they’ve brought in very talented and experienced members as they shift their strategy from single player to multiplayer online games as a service, and we look forward to seeing how they approach the space,” said Kunimitsu. “Since breaking into VR, we believe they’ve already delivered the best VR RPG game to date with The Mage’s Tale. We’re honored to become a strategic investor and partner with inXile, and delighted for the opportunity to work together on the next VR title with such a masterfully skilled team.”

The Mage’s Tale launched last month for Oculus Rift and Touch, with VRFocus giving it the full five stars, saying: “If you’ve been looking for a decent fantasy RPG then you can’t go too far wrong with this.”

For further inXile Entertainment updates, keep reading VRFocus.

‘Mage’s Tale’ Studio inXile Entertainment Raises $4.5M Investment, Open World VR RPG on Horizon

inXile Entertainment, the studio behind The Bard’s Tale franchise including VR dungeon crawler The Mage’s Tale (2017), today announced they’ve raised a combined investment of $4.5M intended for equity in the company and as funds to develop an unannounced open world survival RPG VR game.

Hironao Kunimitsu, image courtesy The Venture Reality Fund

Investment comes from Japanese firm gumi VR Inc., a subsidiary of video game publisher and developer gumi Inc. In addition to the investment, gumi Inc. CEO Hironao Kunimitsu also joins inXile Entertainment’s board.

gumi Inc. first expanded into VR and AR in early 2016 with the launch of Tokyo VR Startups (TVS), an incubation program focused on the Japanese VR market. The company later expanded their investment strategy to encompass US-based companies doing AR/VR with The Venture Reality Fund.

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“Gumi shares my passion for creating deeper virtual reality games and I’m fortunate to have a partner to work with in this spectacular new medium. We’ve had incredible feedback from our first game, The Mage’s Tale, and we want to continue to build on our experience and reputation. I’ve always been fascinated by the social dynamics of the open world survival genre and experiencing that in virtual reality will create powerful and terrifying moments. We’ll also be bringing our storytelling and RPG experience to the table to help enrich the genre,” said Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile Entertainment.

inXile is still playing it pretty close to the vest on their upcoming VR RPG, however they have said it will launch “on all platforms.”

image captured by Road to VR

“Since breaking into VR, we believe they’ve already delivered the best VR RPG game to date with The Mage’s Tale. We’re honored to become a strategic investor and partner with inXile, and delighted for the opportunity to work together on the next VR title with such a masterfully skilled team,” said Kunimitsu.

Following a successful Kickstarter to bring The Bard’s Tale IV to life, inXile has been busy developing several games including The Bard’s Tale IV, The Mage’s Tale and Wasteland 3. Before inXile, CEO Brian Fargo co-founded Interplay, known as the creator of the original Fallout series and as a publisher for the Baldur’s Gate and Descent series.

In The Mage’s Tale, you get to experience classic dungeon crawler staples like exploration, spell crafting, puzzles, and monster battles—and all of it in the immersive realm of VR using your own two hands with the help of Oculus Touch. In our review of The Mage’s Tale, we got a chance to step into a cohesive universe, that while a little rough around the edges, ultimately was a wonderful mix of charming throwback and modern, built-for-VR immersion.

The post ‘Mage’s Tale’ Studio inXile Entertainment Raises $4.5M Investment, Open World VR RPG on Horizon appeared first on Road to VR.