We infrequently see massive publishers coming in and funding indie developers, serving as a third-party to aid in the production of a game. This is precisely what’s happening as of the moment however, as it has been revealed that Square Enix has come forward and looked to back and invest in Danish indie studio BetaDwarf to help them realise and complete development on their project Vaultbreakers.
This game is regarded as an action RPG where players team up to face massive and deadly bosses in brawler combat. It claims to have a dynamic world that reacts to player actions, and while it is playable solo, it does have PvE and PvPvE modes too.
As for why Square Enix wanted to invest in this project and developer BetaDwarf, in a press release we’re told by general manager of business development at Square Enix Holdings, Hideaki Uehara:
“Square Enix is always looking for high-quality games and talented development studios. When I played Vaultbreakers, I was genuinely excited by the experience of connecting with other players and exploring its rich game world. After visiting BetaDwarf and learning about the team’s mission and passion, we decided to invest in them to help realize their dream and bring this game to players around the world.”
The funding will enable BetaDwarf to complete the game and see it expand its production capabilities, something that CEO and game director Steffen Kabbelgaard explains in a statement too.
“Being accompanied by Square Enix on our journey is an amazing access to a combination of knowledge, talent, and resources. We are already very far with our dream game Vaultbreakers: we have a huge amazing community, and we have already run 15+ tests with more than 50,000 players who constantly enable us to refine. So getting this additional support feels amazing when we are far into production already. I can really see how this enables a home run vs having just started on an uncertain journey – yeah, I’m just really excited about our situation!”
As of the moment, Vaultbreakers is wrapping up a playtest (which concludes tomorrow, on July 9). As for what comes afterwards remains unclear as there is no release date or window attached to the game yet.