A group of former King, Seriously, and Next Games developers have joined forces to establish new studio Cosmic Lounge.
Based in Helsinki and Stocklholm, Cosmic Lounge was quietly formed in 2022 after Seriously was shut down by parent company Playtika.
As reported by MobileGamer.biz, the nascent studio has already received pre-seed financing from Sisu Game Ventures and has now announced another €4 million funding round led by Transcend.
The studio is reportedly working on an unannounced puzzle title that will leverage “AI enhanced Puzzle Engine technology,” and is expanding as it works to build its debut project.
Cosmic Lounge CEO Tomi Huttula previously held senior roles at Nokia, Kabam, EA, and King, while COO Peter Tokoi most recently served as EVP of studio operations at Best Fiends maker Seriously.
Other former Seriously devs include design VP, Simo Rajamäki, who spent seven years at the now defunct studio, and CTO Tommi Kiviniemi, who helped co-found Seriously and also served as its CTO.
AI tech for prototyping
Offering some insight into how Cosmic Lounge’s AI tech actually works, Huttula suggested the tool has been used to create playable prototypes and will also help it test for product-market fit and marketability earlier on in the production process.
“Game teams find out quite late what the business potential of a new game could be. Our concept testing also covers testing playable prototypes, which we can create with our Puzzle Engine technology,” Huttula told MobileGamer.biz.
“Our designers, and actually anyone in our team, can rapidly create and experiment with new core game mechanics and visuals. Puzzle Engine is not just for prototyping but also for efficient game development and content deployment. The Puzzle Engine’s tools are designed to leverage AI in game development, for content creation or level testing.”