Gardens, a game studio that privately unveiled a playable prototype at GDC earlier this year, announced it has raised $31.3 million in new funding. Among them are Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's company, former Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton, Valorant co-creator Stephen Lim, and Nintendo heirs. Included.

So, of great interest, what kind of game is it?Gardens is a studio co-founded by Chris Bell, one of the designers of Journey and lead designer of What Remains of Edith Finch, whose first game is " online PvPvE fantasy adventure sandbox ARPG" and is described as.

"Inspired by our fond memories of playing online RPGs, MMOs, and fantasy action-adventure games over the years and crossing paths with strangers," says Bell. The game builds on multiplayer ideas and lessons learned from past titles I have designed, including "Journey," "Sky," and "Way" from my student days, but in a more high stakes, transformative fantasy wilderness where cooperation is key, but betrayal is also a possibility. Draws players in. By incorporating novel cooperative gameplay that rewards players who help each other, it encourages friendship and dialogue in an interesting and disruptive way to PvP and conflict."

Two major investors in Gardens are Lightspeed Venture Partners, a global high-tech investment firm, and Krafton, the Korean owner of PUBG. Maria Park, vice president and head of corporate development at Krafton, described Gardens' private demo as " innovative and, above all, fun."

"The gorgeous fantasy wilderness is filled with other adventurers, magical creatures, and fascinating landscapes to explore," Park said.

"The multiplayer co-op elements emphasize the tactile interaction between players as they work together to navigate the world, solve puzzles, and awaken sleeping magic. For example, they can pick fruit from a tree on a friend's shoulder, jump across a chasm into a stranger's arms, pull armor off of a giant monster together, or join forces to cast a magic spell.

"Journey," released on Steam a few years ago after years as a PlayStation exclusive, is one of the most famous games of all time, and "Gardens" seems similar in concept.

However, whereas "Journey" was a transcendent experience that many people would put down once they had played it, "Gardens" seems to be creating something that is more engaging, maybe even endless, for investors, not necessarily in a bad way . According to the studio, investors are excited by the game's "combination of indie design innovation, creativity, and playfulness with global ambition and commercial focus."

"Indie-like design" is a funny phrase. We may look at this and think, "Why, it's as if this game isn't funded by a company called Lightspeed Venture Partners," but regardless of LinkedIn's power user supporters, I'm interested. There is a huge amount of untapped territory in social game design (putting 100 people on an island full of guns is certainly not the last great innovation), and Bell's background makes me think there might be something genuinely new and exciting about this project. According to the studio, the developer has a strong lineup, having also worked on "Blaseball," "Ultima Online," "Outer Wilds," "Tunic," "Dustforce," and "Ashen."

However, don't expect to play this game anytime soon; Gardens is publicizing the project for the same reason Blizzard started talking about an obscure survival game a while back. Gardens has posted several job postings on its official website, but has yet to reveal the release dates or names of upcoming ARPGs.

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