RebelPlay seeks £1m investment

LIVERPOOL video games publisher RebelPlay is seeking investment of £1m to help it establish a new publishing platform for games developers.

It has appointed IBIS Capital, the media and digital investment bank, to advise it on its current round of fundraising.

Co-founders Phil Gaskell and Leo Cubbin says they are in talks with one “potential cornerstone investor” and also hope to secure backing from the digital and creative part of the North West Fund.

Former Sony executives Gaskell and Cubbin have set up the business with Will Clarke and Paul Higgins, the two founders of London-based film production and distribution business Optimum Releasing.

They believe RebelPlay can attract top developers with what they describe as a more equitable funding model than the existing royalty rate system. Normally developers agree to pay back an advance at a rate of say 20%, so it can take some time before they start to earn from a game. RebelPlay is offering a development fee that will be recouped by 100% of sales. After that point the profits will be shared.

“It’s very hard with a big publisher for a small developer to have a sustainable business,” said Mr Cubbin. “With our model they can start to earn money quite quickly and have a revenue stream coming in.”

Gaskell and Cubbin were involved in the development of blockbuster titles such as LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, Buzz, Lemmings and Harry Potter. The company has 15 games at various development stages to be released over the next 24 months.