Shanti Bergel is the managing director of Transcend Fund – a fund that invests in games – has comments related to the game market.
“Our fund’s performance is a prime example,” said Shanti Bergel. It did very well. We’ve done the above 5% on funds starting in 2020.”
Krause has invested in streaming platforms at FunPlus, and he focuses on strategic investments like helping build studios and licensing intellectual property. “I am more interested in getting into this kind of business,” says Krause. I love helping and following and supporting portfolio companies. The advantage of this fund is that all partners have experience in running game companies and building games.”
It’s not just about outsourcing or finding low-cost locations, Bergel says. Places like India, Southeast Asia and Latin America have become real talent bases and real markets in its own right.
“The regional shift in the gaming industry is interesting,” says Bergel. Krause says that Southeast Asia is certainly exciting. Places like Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are all seriously competing with each other to dive into the trend of game development. “There is certainly a lot of innovation going on in the regions and we have to learn how to prioritize,” says Krause.
On a macro level, Bergel said, the current trend is for companies to cut staff instead of going after more 3A game developers. Some game engineers are still mainly focused on the vibrant game market.
For hot regions like Turkey and Finland, Bergel attributes an appreciation to good local talent. Metaverse has recently become a story, an existing dynamic of the gaming industry with a longer term vision like interoperability. However, the investment thesis of the Transcend fund is driven by what gamers care about and spend a lot of time experiencing.
Transcend works with entrepreneurs intent on creating something different and important for global gamers. “So while we welcome big visions and ambitions, we always keep an eye on how it works in the context of growth in places like Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia.