LightFury Games, a growing player in the gaming industry co-founded by former Unacademy chief marketing officer Karan Shroff, has opened its first studio in Bengaluru, India. Encouragingly, the company has also announced a significant expansion of its leadership team, further solidifying its goal of producing AAA titles of the highest caliber using top talent from the UK and India. AAA games are those that usually have large marketing and development budgets.
Shroff had joined forces with gaming industry veterans Anurag Banerjee and Tina Balachandran, a former executive at Tencent Games and Unacademy, to launch this new venture in January 2024. The startup is based in Bengaluru, with Shroff leading as CEO, Banerjee as group chief product and technology officer (CPTO), and Balachandran as chief people and operations officer.
The 60-seat India studio, located near Bengaluru International Airport, has the cutting-edge equipment and infrastructure required for developing world-class AAA games. The company received $8.5 million seed investment in April from Blume Ventures, Mixi, a Japanese mobile entertainment company, and Gemba Capital, a micro venture capital firm. Other investors included Cred founder Kunal Shah and Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal.
In addition to this news, LightFury Games has named veteran of the gaming industry Justin Farren as Chief Creative Officer for its India studio. Farren will be responsible for leading the design and creative direction of the games that are currently under development. As the new chief technology officer, Chong-U Lim will oversee the R&D and technological advancement of every game. As Vice President of Engineering, Daniel Hall will be in charge of gameplay engineering, emphasizing quality, performance, and finesse. Justin will be based in India, Chong-U will lead the UK Studio, and Daniel will work both in the UK and in India. The new studio features state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment necessary for creating AAA games of the highest caliber and is ideally situated close to Bengaluru International Airport.
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Veteran of the gaming industry Justin Farren joins LightFury Games with over 20 years of game development experience. Justin, who most recently held the positions of Executive Producer and Product Director at Wargaming, was previously the Producer and Creative Director for the critically acclaimed Ubisoft series Assassin’s Creed and Skull and Bones. He will now oversee LightFury’s India Studio.
Chong-U Lim, who has a strong background in AI, machine learning, and procedural content creation, is an addition to the leadership bench. His PhD in AI and computer science is from MIT in the United States. Having over 14 years of experience in technical engineering, he has held important positions such as Vice President of Engineering at Improbable, London, and Director of Engineering at Fuse Energy. With an emphasis on multiplayer games, he has held leadership positions at Playfish and Electronic Arts as the lead programmer.
Daniel Hall was the Head of Engineering at Improbable, UK, and has over 12 years of experience in the gaming industry. His work creating technological frameworks for multiplayer games in a variety of genres has been one of his career highlights, especially during his more than seven years at Improbable. There are exciting times ahead for the gaming industry in India with the addition of these elite visionaries from the global gaming ecosystem to LightFury Games.
According to Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports, and streaming throughout the continent, India is the games market in Asia that is expanding the fastest in terms of both revenue and players, Moneycontrol reports. Revenue from mobile PC and console games is expected to increase from $830 million in 2023 to $943 million in 2024, a 13.6 percent increase. The market is predicted to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1 percent, surpassing $1 billion in revenue in 2025 and reaching $1.4 billion in 2028.
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Karan Shroff, CEO & co-founder of LightFury Games said,
“The opening of our state-of-the-art studio in Bangalore marks our first step toward reinventing gaming experiences in India and developing world-class AAA titles from this region. The LightFury leadership team has built and shipped over 40 AAA titles across various genres. We will continue to strengthen our capabilities, as top-tier talent from around the globe joins our India studio.”
Anurag Banerjee, CPTO and co-founder of LightFury Games stated,
“We must shift from trend-followers to trend-setters, defining the future of video games from India. The Indian gaming industry holds immense potential, yet it hasn’t achieved its rightful prominence. LightFury Games is here to change that narrative. With our cutting-edge studio in Bangalore and a leadership team with a track record of excellence, we are set to revolutionize the industry. Our vision is to establish new benchmarks in quality and innovation, positioning India as a global leader in game development.”
Justin Farren added,
“I was impressed by the ambitious vision of Karan and the other co-founders at LightFury and am truly excited to take on this challenging role to successfully establish a world-class lead game development studio right here in India. At LightFury Games, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation to deliver unparalleled gaming experiences. Our goal is to build a powerhouse that produces groundbreaking AAA titles, setting new standards in the industry.”
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