Web -based party games come back with the injection of generated AI. Among the startups that participate in the trends, the current prediction is suitable for one startup that uses AI for social party games.
The company announced a $ 2 million seed funding round on Thursday. Little Umbrella will use the new capital to promote the launch of three AI -drive social games. This will be released next year.
Social games are especially revived in the online community, especially in Discord. This genre is attractive to players and their friends. Because they can play immediately, mainly rely on group dynamics. Jackbox games are an interesting example. The central focus is a party video game that attracts millions of players. It is reported that the players participated in more than 72.2 million games in 2021.
Little Umbrella believes that using AI to develop games as quickly as ever, itself can be distinguished. Furthermore, large -scale language models (LLMs) may be unpredictable, so if you adopt them as a game master, it is guaranteed that each round will be different and interesting.
The death of AI, a startup flagship title, hit immediately after last year. Within the first three months, the game attracted more than 20 million players. The success is not surprising because it features a cheerful premise. Players are trying to create a fatal scenario and see how they and their friends react. Using the generated AI, the game evaluates whether the player succeeds or fails, and allows five trials before each player is eliminated.
AI death can be used for free on Discord, Web, and iOS. Up to eight players can play.
Image credit: Small umbrella
Little Umbrella immediately starts a new party game and tentatively gives THE LAST SHOW by AI. The company explains as a dystopia game show hosted by Sinister AI Game Masters. In the game, players need to survive while voting their friends in the process. The company plans to launch a beta version in March 2025 Game Developers Conference.
The use of generated AI tools in video game development is increasing significantly. With this technology, developers can create ambitious games with minimal effort and reduce costs in the process. For example, Little Umbrella claims that AI can develop and release death in just 10 weeks. In contrast, Jackbox games will release game packs on an annual schedule.
Little Umbrella has developed a cross -platform social game kit called PlayRoom to Power Death by AI, along with future projects. This kit contains an AI orchestration layer that uses multiple custom models in partnerships with ElevenLabs, Inworld, and Openai.
The playroom is currently available by all video game developers and costs $ 10 to 150 per month, depending on the size of the team. There is also a free version.
Image credit: Small umbrella
The small gaming studio is led by Tabish Armed, a former meta Horizon World design leader. Ahmed stated that the development of cross -platforms would lead to a gap between demand and content availability, bringing a major challenge to the studio, recognizing the opportunity to create social experience on a platform that friends already interacted. 。
“For small umbrellas, we use AI designed for places where players gather with friends to create social games that are not dependent on platforms that are constructed and maintained at some costs, and demand and scalability. Accepted this task by filling the gap.
This team also includes Timothy Johnson (CTO), who used to work for Gallium Studios, which used to build AI simulation Worlds, and Sean WebSter (CBO), a former vice president of Applovin and SNAP partnership manager. Masu. In addition, Bill Robison, the art director of Little Umbrella, has contributed to popular titles such as “Boss Baby”, “SCOOB!”, And “Young Jedi Adventures”.
Investors who participated in the latest rounds include A16Z Speedrun, Breakpoint Ventures, GFR Fund, Venture Reality Fund ES (Mark Pincus VC company) and angel investor Matt Bilbey (formerly Electronic Ryan Peterson of Arts Exec) and Flexport.