Creating Rich Social MULTIPLAYER AND MMO GAMES
with True Cross-Platform Gameplay
Social connections between players and true cross-platform gameplay are cornerstones of all of our games.
We want to create games with content and features that last for decades; engaging in player-driven economies and highly social experiences.
We're a team of veteran game developers (and gamers) with numerous titles across multiple companies under our belts, including years of experience in the development and management of Social MMOs.
Our investors at Play Ventures are leaders in early stage investment into the most promising game studios and games services startups across the globe. The founding team is made up of accomplished entrepreneurs who we are proud to work with in achieving our mission.
the team
KIM SOARES, CEO
An industry veteran of 20+ years, Kim is a designer by heart and has his focus in creative leadership, team building and business development. He’s very well connected and a regular speaker at industry events. He was also a founder of Nitro Games and Kukouri Mobile Entertainment.
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MIKKO KÄHÄRÄ, PRESIDENT
With over 20 years of experience in marketing, product management and mobile game development, Mikko is focusing in strategy, marketing and administration. Previously, Mikko held C-level positions at Kukouri Mobile Entertainement, Virtually Live and Nitro Games.
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Heikki Suvanto, Head of Product
Ex-Senior Producer at Paradox Interactive where he lead a major strategic shift to cross-platform games development. 16 years of experience in leading game productions at several game studios including Paradox.
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Marco Sandrini, CTO
Former CTO at a publicly listed game developer /publisher, Kuuhubb. 20+ years of games and ICT development. Varied tech & infrastructure development background with years of leadership experience.
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Lasse Lehmusvaara, Art Director
13 years of experience in games art direction. Skilled all-round artist, experience in managing demanding art outsourcing projects.
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Niko Pesonen, Lead Artist
20+ years of experience in game art and design at several companies. Highly skilled in 3D and 2D art and animations and game design.
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Mikko Korpinen, Senior Programmer
10 years as a games programmer. Strong holistic experience in large games projects for mobile and PC. Specialises in in-game mechanics, UI and feature.
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Teemu Turkia, Senior Backend Programmer
6 years as a games programmer. Focus in cross-platform backend and server architectures, especially in the AWS ecosystem.
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Markus Hepo-oja, Senior Game Programmer
18 years experience in the games industry. Specialises in UI, game features and tools. Previously held positions at Rovio and Zynga.
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Jari Ravantti, Senior Dev Ops Manager
Game programmer with years of experience in games and most recently, banking sector validation infrastructure and devops.
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Sophie Riordan, Marketing & Communications
3+ years in games PR & marketing, recent graduate with an MSc in Marketing from King’s College London. Experienced in brand management and social media marketing.
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Juhana Sarkki, 3D Artist
3D Artist and Game Designer with a background in cinematic arts. Experienced in full game art production pipeline from concept design to implementation.
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Henni Makkonen, Game Designer
7 years of experience in the games industry. Versatile background with specialist knowledge in game design, quality assurance and community management.
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Mimosa Lehtinen, Concept Artist
Experienced Concept Artist, specialising in character and outfit design. Experience in concepting outfits, characters and building blocks.
LinkedinAdvisors
Harri Manninen, Founding Partner, Play Ventures
Harri has over 18 years experience in gaming and previously co-founded Rocket Pack, which was acquired by Disney in 2011. He is also the co-founder of Matchmade (Shark Punch), the leading influencer marketing platform for games. He also has an angel investment portfolio that includes the likes of Matchmade, Vizor Bloom, FitXR and Transfluent.
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Joakim Achrén, Venture Partner, Play Ventures
Joakim holds 15 years of experience from two venture-backed gaming startups, including Next Games, the company behind The Walking Dead: No Man's Land and The Walking Dead: Our World. He also runs Elite Game Developers, a company that helps entrepeneurs to kickstart their first games company.
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Anton Backman, Principal, Play Ventures
Anton is a guru of all things blockchain. He works in deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio support for the partners at Play Ventures. He has co-managed investor operations at Slush and co-founded Wave Ventures, the Nordics' first student-run venture capital fund.
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