Former Nintendo and Sega staff have formed a new publishing and investment firm, First Break Labs, which aims to help indies get their first break in the industry.
The company will provide funding and marketing support to the studios its signs with, drawing on its team's experience working on a range of titles over more than 20 years, including a mix of indie titles and AAA blockbusters.
Chief publishing officer Alfonso Cubias previously spent more than five years as head of product marketing at Sega, and has held senior marketing roles at Digital Extremes and SmileGate.
His co-founder and head of marketing Derek Seklecki also spent nearly five years in marketing positions at Sega, as well as four and a half years as a bilingual product specialist at Nintendo.
Alongside the company announcement today, First Break Labs has revealed the first four titles it has signed.
These include Moving Pieces Interactive's bullet hell roguelike Entropy Survivors, Lavabird's turn-based strategy game Warside, Fermenter Games' gravity-centric side-scrolling shooter Baseless, and Underwater Fire's third-person adventure game Particle Hearts.
"We are thrilled to come charging out of the gate with a collective of incredibly talented developers who are hard at work creating the next generation of gaming excellence," said Seklecki. "We can't wait for the world to get to play their future classics, and we'll have even more brilliant titles to announce in the months ahead, so stay tuned."
Cubias added: "Our mission at First Break Labs is to empower indie developers. Some of the most innovative and creative ideas in gaming originate from independent studios. Our goal is to provide them with the resources and support they need to bring their creative visions to life and reach a global audience."
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