Zakazane raises $1M for game studio packed with Eastern European veterans
Zakazane is a new Polish game studio full of game veterans, and it has raised a $1 million pre-seed investment.
The founders for Warsaw, Poland-based Zakazane came from bigger Eastern European game companies including CD Projekt Red (maker of Cyberpunk 2077), 11bit Studios (This War of Mine), and GOG.com.
The funding is enough to kickstart the development of the debut game, an immersive single-player Old West role-playing game that delves into the complexities of justice. The Games Fund led the investment in the startup.
The company actually started in 2022. Jan Bartkowicz, known for his work as a writer and creative director on acclaimed titles such as The Witcher 2, Shadow Warrior, and Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners, joined forces with Piotr Chomiak, a seasoned game animator with 23 years of experience. He had worked at studios including CD Projekt Red, Flying Wild Hog, and 11 bit Studios.
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Radosław Gwarek, former technical designer at 11 bit Studios, known for his contributions to This War of Mine and Frostpunk, completed the core founding team of Zakazane. The company was able to come up with a demo relatively quickly and it showed up at Gamescom 2022 with the demo. That helped it both with recruiting and fundraising, Bartkowicz said.
Since securing the initial pre-seed investment, Zakazane has expanded its team to 16 members, said Bartkowicz, in an interview with GamesBeat. Notable additions include Adam Kozłowski, the studio’s art director, who brings 20 years of experience working on projects such as The Witcher,
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