Founded by Jon Middleton and Pete Wanat, Nifty Games is a new video game publisher aiming to build the best head to head quick-play sports games on mobile devices and digital platforms. Nifty Games has raised $3 million in a seed round of funding. Investors in this round include esports/video game investment company aXiomatic Gaming and March Capital Partners and Defy.vc, according to VentureBeat.
Middleton held leadership roles at Madefire, Pulse Entertainment, and Mad Catz Interactive. And he used to be the founder and CEO of Boom In-Game Music (acquired by LiveGamer in 2008). And before that, he was the co-founder of Massive In-Game Advertising (acquired by Microsoft in 2006). Before launching Massive In-Game Advertising, Middleton was CEO of Eight Cylinders (acquired by On2.com in 2000).
And Wanat was a former vice president of production at Universal Games. While working there, he oversaw the development of Despicable Me: Minion Rush and top ten grossing games for brand franchise like Jurassic Park. Plus Wanat has been working on games for 20 years including NBA Jam, NFL Quarterback Club, and All-Star Baseball.
“We’ve built Nifty Games to create innovative sports games for today’s sports fans. The talent and experience on the team is second to none, and we believe our unique product direction and focus on quality will deliver a step change in mobile gaming to sports fans worldwide. It’s a great vote of confidence to have the support of such highly regarded investors in our initial equity financing. With investment from team owners from all five major North American pro sports leagues, as well as successful game industry leaders and institutional tech investors, we’re off to a great start,” said Nifty Games founder and CEO Jon Middleton.
aXiomatic co-founder and CEO Bruce Stein said that the strategic partnership with Nifty Games will combine the team’s experience in gaming with his company’s expertise esports and entertainment.
Currently, Nifty Games is working on two game titles. And the company plans to distribute its games on mobile devices, Steam on the PC, and digital consoles.
And March Capital Partners Managing Director Gregory Milken said that he is thrilled about investing in Nifty Games as they are aiming to capture the attention of “traditional sports fans who have become disengaged and frustrated with the current state of sports simulations in video games,”
