The founders of Arrowhead Game Studios, which is behind one of the world’s biggest international gaming successes with the game Magicka, is now investing in the company Mind Detonator whose business concept is to capture talent at a very early stage and build the next generation of game companies far from the big cities.
– Mind Detonator is a fantastic initiative where we see a chance to give back and create an opportunity for more people to be part of an fantastic journey just as ours. I really wish there was something similar when we started our business, says Johan Pilestedt, CEO and founder of Arrowhead.
Mind Detonator is a unique investment in gaming companies in the early stages. It is a combination of local support, local investors and international game companies that help each other to create the best conditions for game developers to succeed.
Full focus on the game
Mind Detonator offers early financing for game teams from all over the Nordic region and an opportunity for them to build their games at full time, without traditional incubator requirements to learn how to run a business at the same time. Now can the entire work day be spent creating the game instead, and in the spare time the teams can find new energy in the Arctic environment.
– Mind Detonator breaks new ground. In our work to build Arctic Game Lab, we have looked a lot at incubators and other initiatives to promote growth among game companies and come up with our own unique solution. We and our partners have found a way forward where the teams we bring in will receive basic funding that gives them development time during one year, housing, studio and the possibility of additional financing after one year combined with the fact that during this time we also take functions in the teams. We believe that this, combined with our and Arrowhead’s network, can lead to game productions that find their audience, says Lars Lindblom, CEO and founder of Mind Detonator.
In October 2021, the first Game Village will open in Jörn in northern Sweden. An investment that is following the lifestyle trend with anti-urbanization and sustainability. In Jörn five teams, with up to five people each, will start their journey. It’s still possible to apply. In the long run, Mind Detonator aims to open more Game Villages, in other countries, and make at least 15 investments per year.
– In a first step we will bring in talent and teams from the Nordics to validate the concept, in step two we aim for more Game Villages in more countries to be able to help international gaming teams regardless of country, says gaming veteran Michael Stenmark who is now actively working to find talent for Mind Detonator’s first investments.
About Arrowhead Game Studios
Arrowhead was formed in 2009 in Skellefteå by students at Luleå University of Technology in connection with producing the game Magicka. This game was released in 2011 by Paradox Interactive and is today one of the world’s most downloaded games on PC. In 2012, the entire Arrowhead moved to Stockholm, where they have about 80 employees and have carried out a number of major game productions such as Gauntlet and Helldivers, etc.
Learn more at arrowheadgamestudios.com
About Mind Detonator
Mind Detonator is a game catalyst that operates outside the major cities. It is an initiative to complement and broaden the game industry and show the possibilities with smaller towns where there are good chances for a good life with a high quality of life and low costs, which provides the opportunity for a focused game production with high quality.
Learn more at minddetonator.com
