Softbank Ventures Korea will reportedly invest in US-based game studio Turbo. The amount and other details of the deal have yet to be confirmed.
“As an umbrella group, SoftBank is very thoughtful about investing,” said Turbo CEO Yohei Ishii. “That gave us a lot of confidence in partnering with them. They have a track record of supporting long-term plans.”
Turbo was founded in 2013 by former CCP Games executive Ishii and former editor-in-chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly James Mielke, among other industry veterans. According to Ishii, studio’s focus is “the core gamer community” and titles for multiple platforms, primarily mobile.
“We’re working with Turbo because they have the seasoned background and visionary ideas to reinvent how games are played,” said SoftBank Ventures Korea’s Daniel Kang in a statement. “Our meticulous investment choices have led to strong position in gaming and we hope to benefit from the expertise of other subsidiaries of SoftBank Group, such as Supercell and GungHo. We look forward to furthering this success when Turbo’s first game is released in late 2014.”
As reported earlier, SoftBank has a majority stake in Japanese mobile developer GungHo Entertainment and paid US$1.53 billion for a 51 per cent stake in hit Finnish studio Supercell last year.