By Rachel Kaser
Captain.tv today revealed its new name. It also revealed it raised $10 million from investors, which it plans to use to create more games specifically for streamers.
Captain.tv is the new identity of Stream Captain, the developers of Stream Raiders. Captain designed Stream Raiders for content creators who livestream. Streamers can play the game by itself or in the background of another game. The point of it is to engage an audience to play along with a content creator.
The developer is currently developing new games for streaming platforms, as well as new sources of revenue for content creators. The first of the two games in development is Stream Pirates, a shared world treasure hunt. The second is Chat Plays Chess, in which stream viewers can play a game of chess against the streamer. Viewers can vote on what moves to make during their turn.
The company raised $10 million from its Series A round from investors that include Makers Fund, Galaxy Digital, and Betaworks among others. Captain.tv CEO Bradley Ross says of the fundraising process, “I think there’s a lot of excitement around games in general. I think there’s a lot of interest in the space in general.” Captain.tv raised this amount across two rounds of funding.
Ross told GamesBeat that the main reason investors are likely attracted to Captain.tv is that they’re constantly looking for areas where games are expanding. Captain.tv focuses on streamers, which he says are “such a central part of the gaming ecosystem.” Ross points out games made specifically for those creators is a relative rarity in the industry.
Content creators offer access to large audiences, and they usually make an impact on those audiences. At the moment, over 25,000 streamers play Stream Raiders, Ross says. Captain has paid over $1 million in revenue to those streamers. Soon, viewers will be able to purchase items to help streamers who are playing Captain.tv games. This will give the streamer a new source of revenue.
Captain is also working on a new app called Captain Hub. The Hub will help streamers manage any Captain-created games and set them up to stream. They will also be able to manage their communities through the Hub.
Source: VentureBeat
