Mobile developer Netspeak Games has raised $12 million to expand its team and fund its first game, Sunshine Days. The game is meant to be indicative of Netspeak’s overall goal of creating games centered on collaboration and support.
Netspeak’s current round of funding comes from Lakestar and Project A, with fellow participants including game developer Catherine Chew of Sifu publisher Kepler Interactive. Last year, Kepler raised $120 million, which has been used to bring more studios into its fold.
Sunshine Days is a cross-platform game for iOS and Android where players will have activities to master and interact with other players. If you’ve played Nintendo’s Animal Crossing, it won’t be hard to see that in the game’s art style. The game has been in Early Access since 2021.
The UK-based Netspeak was founded in 2019, and its staff has previously worked at big name companies such as Sony, Rockstar, and Sega Europe. CEO Callum Brighting said Netspeak intends to learn from those bigger studios to ensure it can have a healthy work culture, which will then bleed into its games.
“At Netspeak we strive to get past our industry’s obsession with the latest trend or newest technology and make games which truly express the potential of our medium,” said Brighting. “By being supportive, kind & continuing to prioritize our studio culture above everything else, we are now a world-class team backed by industry leading investors.”
Multiple independent studios have openly discussed making health and positive collaboration as part of their overall mission statement. Last week, the newly formed Sprocket Games announced that it would feature top healthcare coverage for trans and non-binary employees.
Similarly, Jeff Gardiner, founder of new studio Something Wicked Games and formed producer on Fallout 76, talked about ensuring that his studio would have a positive workplace culture.
“You have to find solutions to problems that have emerged in every walk of this industry,” said Gardiner. “Happy people do great work, and I don’t know how you’d ever make a successful game by making your people miserable.”
