Blade Games Raises $4M, Wants to Make Game Development Cheaper and Easier

Gregory T. Huang3/11/09Comments (1)Follow @gthuang

Bellevue, WA-based Blade Games World announced today it has raised $4 million in a first round of venture funding led by California Technology Ventures. Blade Games was formed last month in a merger between game-development toolmaker Digini, based in Issaquah, WA, and Shanghai, China-based Vyk Games.

Digini was known for creating Blade3D, a software tool for developing Windows and Xbox 360 video games, which it released last fall. The company had closed a financing deal with California Technology Ventures back in October, but the amount was not disclosed.

Blade Games is trying to make game development cheaper and easier for everyone from individuals to professional developer teams. Its subscription-based tools work with Microsoft’s XNA game development software, and let developers do the art, design, and programming for games through an intuitive user interface.

The new funds will presumably be used to expand the company’s product development for the global gaming market. “California Technology Ventures shares our vision to create a new breed of integrated game development solutions and market place for everyone from the hobbyist to the professional game developer,” said Tony Garcia, chief executive of Blade Games (and former CEO of Digini), in a statement. “Our teams, both here in Seattle and in China, have already begun to expand our offering.”

Gregory T. Huang is Xconomy's National IT Editor and the Editor of Xconomy Boston. You can e-mail him at gthuang@xconomy.com, call him at 617-252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at @gthuang.